The just completed chasing tools need a box to store them and keep them from banging against one another. The box under consideration will have drilled holes holding the tools vertically. Ideally the box will be decorated with a bit of repousse/chasing art.
The box will have a hinged top. The bottom will be thicker than the sides and have holes drilled for each tool. A support will sit two thirds of the way up and have the same set of drilled holes. The holes and inside of the box will be felted.
The overall box size is 3 1/2" X 3 7/8" X 5 1/8". The bottom, support and top will all be 2 5/8" X 3 1/2" and all set into dadoes only on two sides, front and back, as the sides will span the front and back boards. Three dadoes need to be cut in the front and back boards.
Yes, an odd way to build a box, but it best utilizes the available wood, and isn't designed to be a display piece. It will be forever known as the unorthobox.
Some oak, 7/16" X 3 1/2", was located and a 22" length was cut off. This was cut into four 5 1/8" boards on the table saw. These boards all have a pronounced warp across the 3 1/2" dimension, which should make assembly fun. The boards will be glued and some decorative dowels will be added for strength. The dadoes were cut in the labeled front and back boards with the table saw and the dado blades.
The top, support and bottom were cut to size from various scraps laying around the shop. The bottom and support were stuck together with two pieces of carpet in two opposite corners. One side was marked out for drilling and the holes were drilled. All were drilled 1/8" larger than tool size to account for felting or flocking.
Yellow glue was applied to the dadoes and the front and back sandwiched the bottom, support and top. Clamps were applied and did a good job removing the warp (about 1/32" in the middle).
The sides were glued on this morning after clamp removal showed some success in minimizing the warp. The photo below shows the clamped sides, that needed to be reduced in width by 1/4", forgot the dadoes!
As glue dried some thought was expended on the dowels needed to reinforce the butt joints. Walnut "nails" were the outcome. Two 9" scraps of walnut were cut to 1/4" square. One of these was held in a four jaw chuck and 3/4" of the end was reduced to 0.188". The piece was then parted off leaving a 0.15" head. This is shown below. Another inch of the walnut was then pulled from the chuck and the cutting repeated. The fuzzies were cleaned off of the heads producing eighteen dowels also seen below.
There was a lot of variation from dowel head to dowel head, so decided to just put the dowels in place and cut the heads off. Good choice as most of the square heads split when knocking the dowels into the holes. After a few hours of drying time the FatMax made quick work of removing the dowel heads.
Significant work on the sides was needed to flatten them. This was done with a handplane, seen in the first photo below. Planing was followed by sanding with 180 grit sandpaper using the orbital sander.
The box top was then cut off with the table saw. The blade was set to slightly less than half the width of the box. A scrap of wood was used behind the box to prevent tearout. The cut box is shown in the next photo.The two parts of the box were separated with careful hand sawing to minimize any scratching of the new edges, though these edges were next sanded with the belt sander to flatten the ridges. The edges of the box and top were very slightly sanded to round them, but not so much as to be readily observed. The inset top and bottom were sanded by hand.
The inside of the box needs to be sealed before applying flocking glue. The entire box and lid, inside and out was coated with shellac. Shellac was applied liberally to the inside in the hope that significant quantities made it to the bottom of the box with its holes. Shellac leaked out of the bottom, so I assume this flooding was somewhat successful. After light sanding one more coat was applied to the outside and the box left to dry overnight.
Flocking this morning. The inside of the box was flocked. First, the edges of the lid and bottom were covered with painter's tape. Then the navy blue flocking glue was spread over the insides of both parts. A disposable brush was used. Since the brush is small it was fairly easy to get glue into the bottom holes as well as around these holes. The sides below the support shelf could not be covered with glue, though also cannot be seen. The photo below shows the glue spread on the inside of the taped box and lid.
The box and lid were placed inside a kitchen trash bag, the spray tube filled with navy blue flocking, and the flock was sprayed on the lid and in the box bottom. The sprayer did a good job covering the lid, but more flocking was needed in the box bottom. Flocking was dumped into the bottom and the bottom shaken and tapped as it was tilted in all directions. The excess was poured out. The photo below shows the flocked bottom and lid. Dry time is 10 to 15 hours, so this will sit until tomorrow morning.
The flock and glue used here is part of a kit purchased a few years back for coating puzzle boxes made in a Jeff Vollmer (may his memory be for a blessing) class. The kit was purchased from FlockIt.
Meanwhile, it is off to Menards to pick up some small hinges and a latch to complete the box, a home for the chasing tools. The next morning the tape was removed and the excess flocking was dumped/tapped out of the box and lid. The finished flocking is seen below.
Brass hinges were available, but unfortunately no small brass hooks and eyes were found. Consequently, the zinc plated steel hinges were used to match the hook and eye.
Installing hardware completed the box. Hinges were laid on the box back edge and their sides marked. Knife lines were made with a chisel just inside these pencil marks. A line was drawn on the outside of the box between these lines about 1/16" deep, the thickness of a hinge side. The chisel was then used to remove the material between the knife lines down to the drawn line. When the hinge fit nicely the screw holes in the hinge were marked, drilled 1/16" and hinges screwed into place. With the lid held on the box the hinge lines were transfered to the lid. These hinge recesses were cut with the chisel, marked and drilled for screws. The chiseled and marked lid is shown below. The box and lid with hinges, open and closed are seen in the second and third photos. The lid and box alignment are pretty good.
A hook and eye were installed to complete the box. The hook was set in the center of the width of the lid and also centered from lid top to bottom. A 1/16" drill was used and the hole is not visible from the inside. After the hook's screw was installed the box bottom was marked for the eye. This drilled hole was also hidden by the flocking. With the eye installed the unorthobox is complete and seen in the three photos below, the last with tools happily ensconced in their flocked beds.
The box is not actually "finished". Two pieces with my first repousse and chasing work will be affixed to the top and front, but that work may be a while with three major ongoing projects, Not Quite Ferguson's Orrery, Cut Knurling Tool Holder, and a new Toolpost for the South Bend Lathe.