Raven inlay Jewelry and Make-up Boxes-Part 8

Hello Everyone!

The boxes are really taking shape now. I will continue with the glue-up and separate the lid from the bottom in this part.

As soon as each corner is glued and any waste cleaned up, I can insert the top inlaid panel and the bottom panel in the grooves.

Now all I have to do is spread some glue on the remaining corner joints and bring the two halves together. Notice how I have the glue blocks already taped in place so I'm not scrambling around later to find some. Organization is truly important in any glue-up

The box snugly in clamps and just waiting for a cure :)

After the glue has dried and the sides cleaned up, I cut the lid apart from the body of the box. I make sure not to cut all the way through to prevent the parts from binding and causing a safety hazard. I just leave a sliver of wood between the lid and the body and use a hand saw to complete the separation.

At the bench using a sanding base to flatten the top edges of the box and lid.

Well that's all for now folks! Please stay tuned for part 9!

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan

The new Fox Chapel Publishing 2010-2011 Fall Catalogue

Hi Everyone,

I'm so excited about the new Fox Chapel Publishing fall catalogue! Not only because I made the cover, but also because it is full of new and fresh woodcrafting books! In it you will find some modern and hip eco-friendly projects made out of twigs, branches and fallen trees as seen in the book called Tree Craft written by Chris Lubkemann. How cool is that!
Also look out for a book called Woodburning with Style written by my good friend Simon Easton. He gives you an in depth crash course in the art of pyrography. This book will appeal to woodworkers and artists alike. I can't wait to try one of the many great projects from the book.
This is just a tidbit of new and fantastic books in the new catalogue. Check it out today! Just click on the title of this post for the link.

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan

Heather's Netbook Cherry wood box-Part 4

Hi Everyone!

The project is really coming together! In this part I will be finishing the top and bottom of the box.

The above photo shows the box basically cut right in half. Notice the little lip that was left during the cut. I got rid of the lip by using a block plane to flush up the edges. I then further cleaned up the edges by sanding it with various grits of sandpaper. Rather than bringing sandpaper to the piece I brought the piece to the sandpaper. I made a sanding base by using a true and flat surface and a full sheet of sandpaper which I attached to the base using temporary spray adhesive.

Remember the panels for the top and bottom I was working on in the first part of this project? Well, since then I cleaned up the panels with various grits of sandpaper and cut it to size using my invaluable shopmade miter sled. Every woodworking shop needs one of these. If made properly, this one tool can yield great accuracy.

After the panels were cut to size, I cut a slight bevel on the edges of the panels. This will give an all around nice reveal as well as prevent the edges from snagging on anything causing aweful chip out.

I then used a couple of spacers to hold the panels in place while the glue sets up. Notice the nice reveal created by the cutting the panel about 1/4" smaller than the inside surface to the top and the bevel further enhances the reveal. I used a maple substrate to create the nice contrasting reveal. This reveal will also complement the contrasting maple splines on the corners of the box.

Bring on the clamps!!! You can never have too many clamps!

In the next part I will focus on installing all of the box hardware. We are almost there! So, join me next time for part 5!

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan

Heather's Netbook Cherry wood box-Part 3

Hi Everyone!

In this part I will be focusing on strengthening the mitered corners of the box. I favour using contrasting splines on the corners, not only for strength but for aesthetics as well. I will also illustrate the method I use for separating the lid from the bottom of the box.

To safely cut the spline slots on the box corners I used a shop made carrier that cradles the box securely while it slides agaist the table saw fence and over the saw blade. I simply used the thickness of the saw blade or kerf of the blade, which is usually about an 1/8" thickness.

Since the spline slot is an 1/8" thick, I also made my contrasting maple splines the same thickness. There are variables in play when you are dealing with multiple cuts such as these. Sometimes the vibration of the blade or maybe the movement of the box in the carrier could make the slot wider or smaller. Therefore I always individually fit each spline to each slot and I glue the splines into the slots one at a time.

After the glue dried, I used a flush trim saw to trim the splines, just proud of the box surface. I then flushed up the splines with a chisel using a paring cut. I then sanded the box sides with various grits of sandpaper to a smooth finish.

After I cleaned up the sides of the box, I separated the lid from the bottom using the table saw. This is a great method, when the box lid is flush to the box bottom. There is no way the lid will line up to the bottom when you attemp to build each assembly separately. Since the lid and bottom of the box was the same height, I simply found the center of the sides and split the line in half on the saw blade. To prevent the parts from binding as it comes apart, I did not cut the sides all the way through. I left a little bit of a lip to help keep the box together.


After all the sides were cut in half, I carefully split the box using a hand saw. I took extra care on this step, since I did not want to cut and ruin the edges.

Wow, this project is going by fast! Please stay tuned for part 4!

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan

Heather's Netbook Cherry wood box-Part 2

Hi All,

In this part of the project I will focus on the assembly of the box. I will discuss cutting the grooves into the box sides and the method I use to glue up the box. So please join me for part 2!

After the miters were cut on all side pieces of the box, I returned the blade to a 90 degree angle. I then set up the blade to the exact width and depth of the grooves to be cut into the top and bottom edges of the sides. These grooves will house the top and bottom panels of the box. I always make sure to make test cuts into an extra piece first, to fine tune the fit of the panels into the grooves. After I found the perfect fit, I then went ahead and cut the grooves into the finished pieces.

Before any glue-up I dry fit all the pieces to see if everything is fitting as it should. The easiest and most effective method I use for assembling miters is the clear packing tape method. First I lay all the sides with the miters facing down on a flat surface. I then butt all the corresponding miters end to end. With the pieces of packing tape already cut to length I then place a piece of tape firmly over each joint also making sure the top edges are lined up. Then I flip the assembly so that the miters are now facing up. I spread glue onto all the miters, but before I closed the joints, I inserted the panels.

I then proceed to wrap each miter onto the next to close all the miters around the panels as seen in the above photo. You might ask yourself, but what about accessing the inside of the box? Well, I have a great trick to seperate the top from the bottom at a later stage.

For extra clamping pressure, I use a band clamp. I then set the assembly aside to cure for about 30 minutes.

In the next part, I will concerntrate on the corners of the box, so stay tuned for part 3!

Thanks for joining me!

Roshaan

Heather's Netbook Cherry wood Box-Part 1

Hi Everyone!


Welcome to part 1 of my new custom request! I love custom pieces, simply because it keeps me on my toes and sometimes it throws you some pretty wacky curve balls. It also gives me great pleasure to know that it will be treasured and well used by my clients for many years to come.


Well, let's get started!





I honestly believe that the process is just as important as the outcome. Therefore I take great care in the preparation of any project. I first start with a drafted drawing as you all know, but I also start with a list of steps or tasks to be completed and in the exact order it needs to be completed. I call it my flow chart. I do this to keep the project in line and on time.

Speaking of which the flow chart for the box told me to first make a panel wide enough for the top of the box. This consisted of gluing up 3 separate boards of wood edge to edge to make the panel large enough. I simply used masking tape to join the boards. I then flipped the assembly over and exposed the seam, by simply using a wooden screw clamp to keep the seam open.

I needed to keep the seam open, so that I could apply some glue to the joint as seen in the above photo.

After the glue was applied, I simply removed the clamp to close up the joint. See the nice bead of glue squeezing out of the joint? This illustrates a successful glue-up! Since I have 3 boards to glue together, I waited for the first pair to cure, before I was ready to glue the final board.

While the glue was setting up on the panels, I then turned my attention to the box sides. I cut the miter joints on the box sides, by using a table saw with the blade tilted at a 45 degree angle. I cut a miter on one end of each side first and then clamped a stop block to miter the sides to the exact same length.

Before I went on to the next step, I did a dry-clamp of the box sides to evaluate the fit of the joints. Everything looked good, so now I was ready to move on...but you'll have to come back for part 2 :)

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan

Simply Wood on Amazon

So, I googled my name the other night and ...come on... I know you all google your own name sometimes...you know who you are. I was pleasantly surprised to find my book on amazon! Of course it's not being released just yet. The release date is scheduled for November 2010. I just wanted to share the link with you. So here it is...Simply Wood!

Roshaan

Simply Wood...

Two simple words, with a lot to say. These words also make up the fitting title to my new book. It is slated to be released sometime this fall. I received the first draft to review this week. I am absolutely thrilled with the outcome! The fiercely talented folks at Fox Chapel Publishing did a phenominal job with every detail of the book. From the editing, the photography, the layout and design...everything has a nice flow and nothing is out of place. Images of the book is, for obvious reasons top secret for now, but as soon as I get the greenlight, you will have a front-row seat.

Roshaan