Heather's Netbook Cherry wood box- the reveal

Well, here is the finished netbook cherry wood box!

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan

Heather's Netbook Cherry wood box-Part Final

Hi Everyone!

Well I am finally done with the netbook cherry wood box! The last week I spent oiling the box with a Danish oil finish. I also finished the box off with a rich plush felt liner to cushion the netbook while it is stored and especially during travel.

I applied about 5 coats of the oil finish over about a week's time. Notice the difference between the unfinished cherry to the left and the cherry with one coat of oil applied to the piece on the right. I love using an oil finish to bring out the natural beauty and richness of the wood's color and grain. Although the cherry is still a bit light in color, over time it will age to a nice reddish tone making the contrast of the maple splines pop even more.

The inside of the box received a felt liner to cushion the netbook. The felt was a breeze to apply because it already had a peel and stick backing. All I had to do was cut the felt parts to the exact dimensions of the inside of the box. I first applied the bottom and then proceeded to apply the sides.

After the felt was applied, I re-attached the stop hinge and the latches. I did however had to clear the dried oil from the screw holes with a drill bit.

I am happy with how the box turned out and I hope my client will be as well.

Thanks for joining me!

Roshaan

Heather's Netbook Cherry wood box-Part 5

Hi Everyone,

Well, we are almost there! It is starting to look like a great little box.

In this part of the project I focused on installing all the hardware, like the stop hinge and the latches. I prefer to install all hardware before I apply a finish in case I run into any issues. It is easier to deal with an issue while the box is still unfinished.

I had to cut a mortise on the back edges of the box parts to receive the stop hinge. This is a great little hinge if you want to keep the lid from flopping backwards. It will automatically stop the lid at about 100 degrees. I could have also used a lid stay with regular hinges, but it was not feasible in this application, since the box is meant for storing sensitive computer equipment.

I cut the mortise using a palm router equipped with a 1/4" straight router bit. I marked out the exact measurements of the hinge onto the box and just free-handed the mortise with the router. I stayed well away from the layout lines and just went in afterward to clean up the mortise with a bench chisel.

I then placed the hinge into the mortise to mark the screw holes. To accurately drill these holes I used a drill press instead of a hand held drill.

When all the holes were drilled I screwed the hinge in place to check the fit of the lid on the bottom part of the box. A great tip for driving in fragile brass screws is to lubricate the hinge with some beeswax. The screw will drive into the hole much smoother and it also will prevent the screw from snapping off into the hole. Believe me I have done it quite a few times and it is not a pleasant sight or an easy fix!

After I was happy with the fit of the box parts, I then attached the two brass latches. I think these latches adds a great finishing touch on a beautiful cherry wood box and it functions well.

In the final part I will be focusing on applying a finish and lining the box with a plush felt.

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

Heather's Netbook Cherry Wood Box

Hi Everyone,

Well, the sideboard is done and delivered and now I am on to the next custom order.


With the rapid advance of technology, nowadays you can take your computer with you everywhere...on a boat, a plain, a train, the rest room...well you get the picture. But with that ability comes a concern of how to safely carry it from place to place, without damaging sensitive parts. I have been asked to make a custom cherry wood box with a latch to safely store and carry a newly acquired netbook. It always amazes me how they get a ton of technology into such a tiny space! This netbook measures a whopping 1 1/2" high, by 6 1/2" deep, by 9" long! Wow, what will they think of next...a computer screen that operates with a simple touch :)


The box itself will be constructed using a simple mitered joint, which will then be reinforced with nice contrasting maple splines. It will have two locking latches in the front to keep the netbook securely tucked away in the box. It will also have brass stop hinges, so when the box is opened the lid will stay in place at about a 100 degree angle. To cushion the netbook, I will use a plush rich chocolate brown felt to line the inside of the box.


Boxes are deceptively difficult to construct. Because of it's small size every aspect of the box will be scrutinized and any flaw will be magnetized. So I have to make sure that my joints are nice and tight and that my finish is flawless. This is of course the end result I strive for in all the pieces I make...big or small.


The construction of the box has already begun, so I will be posting in progress pictures very soon. Please come back for part 1 of the netbook box construction.


Thanks for looking!


Roshaan