Sliding Lid Boxes.pdf
(
2911 KB
)
Pobierz
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
sliding
lid boxes
© 2009 August Home Publishing Co.
W
eekend
P
roject
S
liding
l
id
B
oxeS
Finger joint boxes aren’t
all that common any-
more. But they’re still
attractive, strong, and
easy-to-build.
B
efore plastic and cardboard,
people stored and carried
things in wooden boxes. The smaller
of these boxes were often joined with
finger joints. It’s a quick joint that’s
easy to mass produce, and with a little
glue, it’s quite strong.
I use finger joints for the same rea-
son. I can build a box quickly with a
table saw and a simple jig. In fact, I
can build a lot of boxes quickly, as
you can see in the photo at right.
LID
. The other thing I like about these
boxes are the lids. They’re irresistible.
As soon as you pick up a box, you just
have to slide it open and shut.
Because the lid fits inside rather
than on top of the box, the fingers
are cut a little different than explained
in the article beginning on page 3.
Basically, you just cut fewer fingers on
the front corners (margin photo).
Note: The step-by-step drawings
here feature the short pine box in
the photo above. Overall dimensions
for the other boxes in the photo are
included in the box on the next page.
SIDES & ENDS
. The boxes start out as
1
/
4
"-thick front, back, and sides cut
about
1
/
8
" oversized in width. After
the finger joints are cut, the box can
be assembled, as shown on pages 3 to
6 — except for a few differences.
FRONT ENDS
. When laying out and
marking the pieces, I also labeled the
front end of each side piece so I would
remember to cut them differently.
The fingers on these pieces aren’t cut
all the way to the top edge, see photo
in margin and detail ‘a’ below.
What I do is start with the back end
of these pieces and count the num-
ber of passes I make over the blade
(thirteen for the box shown below).
Then when cutting the front end, I
simply make two fewer passes over
the blade (eleven, in this case).
Note: The thirteen slots on the
back end will become twelve after the
waste is trimmed off the top edge.
{
The lid on this
box slides into
shallow grooves
cut in the sides
and back.
NOTE:
Cut pieces
to final width
after cutting
finger joints
a.
A
B
BACK
SIDE
!/8"-deep
groove
for lid
C
BOTTOM
(3
! !/16"
x 5
! !/16"
)
B
3!/8"
SIDE
b.
A
3!/8"
FRONT
Waste
6"
NOTE:
All pieces
-thick stock
4"
!/4"
!/4"
1
www.Woodsmith.com
© 2009 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reser ved.
1
GROOVE FOR LID
. Before trimming the
front piece, I cut the groove for the lid
on the top inside face of the back and
side pieces. This groove is identical to
the one for the bottom (
1
⁄
8
" x
1
⁄
8
").
TRIM FRONT PIECE
. After the grooves
for the lid were cut, I raised the blade
and trimmed off the top edge of the
front piece. This way, it lines up with
the bottom of the groove perfectly,
see detail ‘a’ on page 1.
Now, a
1
⁄
4
"-thick hardwood bottom
can be added, and the box can be
glued together, refer to page 3.
LID
. With the box assembled, work
can begin on the lid, see Fig. 1. The
lid is nearly identical to the bottom of
the box. But it’s
3
⁄
16
" longer so it ends
up flush with the front of the box. And
instead of cutting a
1
⁄
8
"-wide rabbet
along all four edges, the lid only has
three edges rabbeted.
I sized the tongues created by
these rabbets so they would just fit
into the grooves in the box. Then I
sanded the tongues on the sides of
the lid so it would slide in and out
easily. But leave the back edge tight
so it’ll hold the lid in place.
FINGER PULL
. At this point, the lid
will fit into the box, so next I added a
small recess so I could pull it out eas-
ily with the tip of a finger, see Fig. 2.
Figuring out just how to cut a clean
recess took some experimenting. But
I found a quick and easy method using
a drill press, a 1"-dia. Forstner bit, and
an angled scrap block, see Fig. 2.
First, I laid out the position of the
pull, see Fig. 2b. Then to prevent
chipout, I scored the pull’s straight
edge
1
⁄
2
" from the front of the lid.
a.
b.
2
a.
b.
3
a.
Now to support the lid, I trimmed
one end of a scrap piece of 2x4 at 8° so
it would hold the lid at a slight angle,
see Figs. 2 and 2a. Next, I positioned
the lid so the drill bit would start cut-
ting at the “point” of the pull. Then I
lowered the bit to the scored line.
PLUG GROOVES
. All that’s left now is
to plug the holes left by the grooves
at the top and bottom of the box. But
take special care with the plugs at
the top. If they extend too far into
the groove, they could prevent the
lid from closing. You can see what I
mean in Figs. 3 and 3a.
Finally, with the plugs glued in
and trimmed flush, I sanded the box
smooth and wiped-on an oil finish.
alternate box sizes
I like these boxes because I can
turn out two or three in no time at
all. In fact, I found myself trying
different woods and changing the
size of the boxes, see the photo on
page 1 and the drawing at right.
One note of caution, though.
Since the stock is only
1
⁄
4
" thick,
don’t make your boxes much
wider than 5". Otherwise, the lid
will more than likely cup.
2
www.Woodsmith.com
© 2009 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reser ved.
W
oodWorking
t
echnique
F
inger
j
ointS
The nice thing about building boxes with finger joints is that you don’t
need any special tools. And you can start and finish a box in a day.
F
inger joints always remind me of
two hands clasped together. A set
of “fingers” on one piece fits between
the “fingers” on the other. But what
provides the “muscle” here is glue.
These interlocking fingers create a
lot of edge-to-edge surface area for a
really strong glue joint — which, in
turn, makes for a solid box.
And while cutting all those tiny
fingers might seem tedious, it’s
really a snap. All you need is a jig
that you can build in about fifteen
minutes with a few shop scraps.
Plus, you don’t need a shop full
of tools. To make the fingers, I use a
table saw with a miter gauge and a rip
blade (or any other blade that cuts a
flat-bottomed kerf).
FinGer Joint JiG
To build a box with finger joints, a
series of kerfs are cut with the table
saw. The pieces are supported and
positioned with the help of a simple
jig — basically, just an auxiliary fence
with a key to index the fingers.
FENCE & LEDGE
. My auxiliary fence is a
piece of stock temporarily clamped to
the miter gauge, see drawing below.
But I also add a
1
⁄
4
"-thick hardboard
ledge under this fence. This way, the
workpiece doesn’t ride directly on
the table (and over the blade insert
that may not be flat and level).
KEY
. While the fence and ledge sup-
port the workpiece, a small key added
to the fence is really what makes the
jig work. It’s cut to match the width of
the kerf left by your saw blade. And
this key is positioned so the distance
between it and the blade is identical
to the width of the key itself.
To add the key, I clamp the fence
to the miter gauge and cut a notch in
it (Step 1, page 4). Then I cut the key
from a scrap to fit tight into this notch
(Step 2). A tight fit is critical — you
don’t want any “play” when fitting the
kerfs of the workpiece over the key.
SETTING UP THE JIG
. With the key glued
in place, the jig is built, but it’s not set
up. There are two things to do: posi-
tion the key by adjusting the miter
gauge fence and raise the blade to the
right height (box on page 4).
ADJUSTING THE FENCE
. When setting
up the fence, the distance from the
a.
3
www.Woodsmith.com
© 2009 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reser ved.
FinGer Joint JiG: step-by-step
key to the blade has to match the
thickness of the blade (and the key).
Otherwise, the fit of the fingers will
either be too tight or loose, see box.
I start by positioning the key with a
second, identical key (Step 3). Then I
check the setup by cutting a series of
finger joints on two test pieces, (Step
4). But I don’t just use any scraps that
happen to be lying around. Instead,
I make my test pieces identical to
my final pieces in width and thick-
ness (but not necessarily length). I
even use the same type of wood. This
way, I can use these test pieces later
when plugging the holes left by the
grooves for the bottom.
Using a second key to set the first
will get you close. But you’ll probably
still need to “tweak” the fence one
way or the other, see box and tip in
margin at right. It’s important to be
patient; it will probably take several
adjustments (and test cuts) before
the fit is perfect.
I like to end up with a snug fit so
that when dry assembling the pieces,
I have to work the pieces a bit to press
the fingers together and pull them
apart. This way, I can usually avoid
using clamps when gluing the boxes
together. But more on that later.
SETTING THE BLADE.
After the key is set
and the fence has been screwed to
2
1
After setting the blade height
Next, you’ll need to size a key
that will fit tight in the notch
that was just cut in the fence.
Then glue it in place.
so it’s slightly below the thick-
ness of the stock, cut a notch in
the fence (and the ledge).
{
When setting up
a finger joint jig,
I make any
micro-adjustments
“visible” by draw-
ing a line across
the jig and table.
3
4
Now, using a spacer the same
width as the key, move the
fence so the spacer fits between
the key and the blade.
Test the setup and make
needed adjustments to the
fence and the blade. Then screw
the fence to the miter gauge.
the miter gauge, I set the height
of the saw blade. Of course, when
you’re done, you want the fingers
per fectly flush with the mating
pieces. But here, when setting the
blade, I let the fingers protrude just
slightly — less than
1
⁄
64
". (I’ll sand
them flush later.)
To set the blade height, I position
the workpiece next to the blade. I start
with the blade below the height of the
workpiece and sneak up on the final
height as I test the fit (box below).
This way, the fence will back up the
cut, and there will be less chance for
chipout when cutting the fingers.
Fine adJustments
Loose fit.
If there’s a gap between
each finger, simply slide the key
and fence away from the blade.
Tight fit.
If the fingers won’t fit
into the slots at all, then slide the
key and fence towards the blade.
Short fingers.
If the blade is set
too low, the fingers will be short,
so raise the saw blade slightly.
Long fingers.
If the fingers extend
too far, the saw blade is too high
and needs to be lowered.
4
www.Woodsmith.com
© 2009 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reser ved.
Plik z chomika:
aramita
Inne pliki z tego folderu:
7 Tips for Working With Plywood Tips.pdf
(5906 KB)
5 Router Table Upgrades.pdf
(1544 KB)
17 Profiles - 3 Bits.pdf
(5498 KB)
10 Rules for Case Assembly.pdf
(2023 KB)
Adjustable Dado Jig.pdf
(2731 KB)
Inne foldery tego chomika:
( Woodworking )
2004
2007
2010
2011
Zgłoś jeśli
naruszono regulamin