Little Box of Nothing
February 11th, 2009I Sort of Made Something
I had a magnificent day with my saws.
I took my amazing new board–which I created using a planer sled–and I turned it into a box. Sort of. It’s the worst box ever made, and I haven’t figured out how to do the top, but it is, in fact, a box.
I was hoping to use the router and the bandsaw a lot, but the table saw is a jealous mistress. It seems like it’s almost always easier to think up a table saw method than a bandsaw method, and I think I have a phobia about the router. I have never been able to make one work well.
I cut myself four box sides, and I managed to miter them with a jig consisting of a strip of scrap screwed to the miter fence. Then I used the table saw to make dadoes for the bottom of the box to fit into. After that, I hooked up the new Dynabrade orbital sander to polish up the pieces, and I glued them together using packing tape instead of clamps. This is what Doug Stowe does, and it’s genius.
Unfortunately, I had some problems. First of all, I really have to clean up my table saw top. Grime is getting on the wood. Also, my throat plate is crap. I have aligned it as well as possible, but the reality is, it’s worn out. It has to be replaced. I was cutting soft wood today, and it made the problems with the throat plate obvious. It scores wood as the wood goes over it, because the wear has made it irregular.
I also need a real splitter. The one I have works fine, but it’s a pain to take out when I use my Gripper push thing. Maybe the answer is to make myself a new throat plate from scrap MDF and install my Microjig splitter, which I have never used.
The Dynabrade is pretty cool. At first, it didn’t turn all that fast; I must have screwed the air connection up somehow. I didn’t know anything was wrong. It seemed to work okay, but it wasn’t impressive. Then I unhooked it for a minute to add machine oil, and when I hooked it up again, it took off! That thing is fierce!
I should have watched Doug Stowe’s box-making DVD again before trying to make a box, but I was just fooling around, so I didn’t bother. I’m sure it would have answered some questions for me. For example, he puts splines and miter keys in his boxes, using his table saw to cut the dadoes. So far, all the blades I’ve tried leave a kerf that has a top that isn’t flat. I don’t know how he gets around that.
Today I pulled a Festool blade out of the pile of blades that came with my saw. Seems very nice, but it didn’t give me a kerf with a flat top.
I wanted to do splines or miter keys, but cutting the dadoes was difficult for two reasons. First, the kerf problem. Second, the difficulty of putting splines in 1/4″-thick wood. I didn’t even try the table saw. I tried the bandsaw, but the blade likes to turn a little if you cut into a tall piece of wood. I keep adjusting the bearings; they seem to need more work now that I run the saw occasionally.
I can’t recall, but I am pretty sure Doug Stowe used much thicker wood when he made splines in the video.
I guess I should butch up and buy a piece of hardwood. I’ll need to make a resaw fence first.
Even though I didn’t really achieve anything, I learned a lot. Not just about technique, but about safety. It’s wonderful, having tools.
February 11th, 2009 at 9:57 PM
“…the blades I’ve tried leave a kerf that has a top that isn’t flat”
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He’s using a FTG (flat top grind; sometimes just called FT) blade, which can also be called a rip blade.
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You’re using an ATB (alternate top bevel) blade, also called a combination blade.
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Go here http://tinyurl.com/cjrxga and here http://tinyurl.com/alnjnk and read.
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February 11th, 2009 at 10:44 PM
“Second, the difficulty of putting splines in 1/4?-thick wood. I didn’t even try the table saw. I tried the bandsaw, but the blade likes to turn a little if you cut into a tall piece of wood.”
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Maybe the router would be better? A Craftsman hand-router with clamped on rails helped me put dadoes into an Entertainment Cabinet I built…of course, if you don’t have the right bit, that’s another matter.
February 11th, 2009 at 10:47 PM
And yes, I know you have a phobia about routers…just think of them as “in the hand” Mills. 🙂
February 12th, 2009 at 2:45 AM
Box joints?
February 12th, 2009 at 7:48 AM
You need a flat top grind tooth configuration, typical of rip blades. Very aggressive. Look in your pile of blades for one with a tooth count of 24. This is the most common tooth count for rip blades. OR, a triple chip grind should work. This configuration consists of alternating teeth-one flat top followed by one with the upper corners clipped off. If you use the more common ATB or Hi ATB tooth configuration, yes, you will get a little ridge in the bottom of the dado.
You now have the ability to accurately mill rough stock. I’d find a hardwood dealer(not the BORG), and get some. I’d start by making a series of boxes out of poplar, or soft maple. Both are fairly mild working, and won’t break the bank, so you won’t cry too much if a project fails. Use these boxes to develop the milling and joinery skills you need to gain confidence, then move on to something a little nicer. Hardwood dealers also typically have a scrap heap, which they sell for cheap. That’s a good source for material for splines and such. $2 should get you enough walnut or mahogany for plenty of contrasting splines, and you may even find something exotic. No ebony though, there is no such thing as scrap ebony.
Don’t know how bad off that saw table is, but try taking the ROS to it with a scotch brite pad and some WD-40. As for the throat plate, there are many options, factory, aftermarket, and shop made. Personally, I’d find some mahogany or poplar(very stable), and make ’em out of that. Slap that MJ splitter in there.
February 12th, 2009 at 12:06 PM
The only woodworking I know is from watching Norm Abram. He’s always using a dovetailing jig with his router. So now you need one of those. Oh, and dovetailing bits. And strap clamps. Don’t worry, I’m sure it ends somewhere.
February 12th, 2009 at 3:24 PM
I am glad you are moving into actual woodworking for woodworking’s sake. I am almost finished making a desk for my little girl and I had a blast using my router to make mortises and dadoes. I found the router to be much easier than the table saw for the bottom dado, but that is because I have a small “temporary” saw that I will replace when the garage grows a few bays. I too am trying to determine the best method for affixing the lift top.
February 13th, 2009 at 10:49 AM
You probably already have this, but Kelly Mehler’s “The Table Saw Book” has a great chapter on cutting joints with your saw.
Routers scare me way more than the table saw, so that’s always what I try to use first.
I need to find that scrap heap, too…