Man, I am done for the night! UPDATED new pics

[DaveO]

I started working on my Leigh Dt jig storage box last night, with panel glue-ups. Today between my activities this morning - handing off my old tablesaw, and child-care duties this evening while the wife went out to an X-mas party. I finally got all the boards cut to size, cut the DTs, glues, clamped, rabbeted for the back and installed the back, and sanded. Here it is with a quick MS wipe down.






Tomorrow, I will make the drawer that goes under the shelf, and the doors.

I do have a question for ya'll, I had thought I would go with two inset doors, but now I am not sure that would be the best way. I don't want to do a sliding door, 'cause Insomniac has already done that and I am coping him enough as it is. I am now thinking one door, Piano hinge at the bottoms with frame and panel construction, Will that stay true? Or should I split the width up. BTW, it's 31" long X13.5" deep X 11.5" tall. Thanks for looking and any advice you can offer. Dave

[D L Ames]

Dave, your DTs look great. You did a fantastic job on that. X-mas in November sure worked out well for you.

As for your door. I believe the piano hinge idea would work and the door would remain true. If you go that route is your door still going to be inset or flush (full overlay) mounted? If you go with a full overlay I think you will need to be concerned with leaving clearance at the bottom for the door to swing open without binding if the box is sitting flat on a workbench. Also you might want to add some sort of support (chain?) that would limit the door to drop open 90 degrees. If you go with a piano hinge and an inset door you will not have the binding issue but will have to use some sort of a stop when you close the door.

I guess the alternative would be to split the doors and have them open up to the sides.

Again, great job on the storage box and the DTs.

D L

[Big Mike]

Man, that Leigh jig sure does afford lots of spacing opportunities. Your dovetails look great. Think about where you are most likely to place your storage box while opening it and using it. That will help you decide how to hinge the doors/lid. I have my dovetail jig (Keller 1600), backing boards, clamps and bit storage box all in one large wooden storage box that has a hinged lid with a handle on top. The two templates and backer boards are nested against each other and held in place by retaining dividers. The space that is left is used for the clamps and bit box.


Purty work, Dave, real purty work!

[DaveO]

I had originally thought of making two doors with hinges at the side, flush inset. But I am kinda lazy and two doors would mean twice the work. So I am considering one door, with a piano hinge at the bottom, and a support chain. But I am worried that one bottom hinged door might interfer with the drawer that will be in the bottom, and if it will remain true.

The Leigh jig offers really nice spacing options, I wish I could get smaller pins though. I learned something on this round of dovetails....Red Oak sucks, I had really bad chip-out even with backer boards. Oh, well it's for the shop, that why I am practicing before I try to make something really nice or out of expensive wood. Thanks for the compliments, Dave

Dave...That's a good looking box.

DT's are next on the list for me after I finish the current project.

Won't comment on doors, that's been done enough already with some pretty sound advice.

Great job.

[Monty]

Hey, that's a mighty fine looking box you've got there!!! I considered a piano hinge, too. I think it would work just fine as a hinge -- that's exactly what they're designed to do. There are so many dang screws in one of those things, it's hard to imagine that it will ever move! Based on my own (painful) experience, if you do use a piano hinge in hardwood, drill good size pilot holes and either buy better screws or drive a same-size good steel screw in first before driving in the cheesy decorative screws. Don't say I didn't warn you!

The main reason I didn't use a swinging door like that is because I wanted to be able to clamp the jig to the top of the box, and clamp the box to the workbench... I figured a door hanging down from the front of the box would interfere with clamping the box to the workbench. This is probably not necessary, as the weight of the jig and the box together is probably plenty to hold everything steady.

The other reason I didn't is because I just wasn't sure how well the workpiece would clear the door. A hinged door will stick out about 3/4" (or whatever the width of your lid is) at the bottom. I think that this means you'll have to hang the jig over the front of the box an extra 3/4" to clear the workpiece that hangs out the bottom. I'm not sure about that, though... it may clear just fine - I haven't really checked it.

What kind of handles will you use? I was going to drill out hand-holes, but I sort of chickened out because it would let in dust (not that it matters, much ).

[Big Mike]

Chip out on routed through dovetails is a problem in several woods. Solutions that I have tried with varying degrees of success include using masking tape on both sides of the tail and pin boards in addition to backer boards, thin backer boards on both sides of your stock and wetting slightly your stock in the area to be routed. Wetting usually results in stringy fuzzies that have to be carefully removed or they will get caught in the joint when you try to assemble it. Also how tightly you clamp your backers against the stock being cut has some effect. Bits need to be as sharp as possible and slowing down your cut as you pass through the backside sometimes helps.

Most of the chip outs in your box can be effectively hidden by splinters of oak inserted in the gaps and glue with epoxy. Those on the outside surface can be filled with epoxy and when sanded flush will virtually disappear.

[DaveO]

Insom. I plan to have the door(s) closed and clamp the jig and the box all together on the work bench. I've got Beseys that are long enought to do the whole assembly. Either way I do the doors they will be inset, so I will have to measure to see if I can open the planned drawer enough to use it properly, because the door will sit up in the drawers path. Thanks for the advice on the screws I've BTDT , but it is always good to be reminded so I don't screw up again.

Stay tuned I should have made my decision by this evening and have the box all together....if I don't have any major screw-ups. Dave

[Monty]

Can't wait to see how you do the drawer, so I can copy you!

[D L Ames]

Dave, how about a set of Butler's Tray or Table hinges? These are full mortised and provide a smooth flush survice that would not interfere when oyu go to pull your drawers out. When opened, the edge of your box and edge of your door would support itself at 90 degrees. I would think these would be able to support an 11" tall door without any trouble.



A & B are $14.50, C is $10.50 and D is $8.50 at woodcraft. And look at these added benefits: They are are nice looking, will add more class to your shop, and will allow you to gain valuable experience installing full moritsed hinges which will come in handy down the road on other projects.

D L

[DaveO]

DL I may have to go that route. I think that I have a major design flaw that is going to exclude any hinge other than those. Unless I want it to be visible. I just really don't want to go to Woodcraft, it's an 1.5 hour round trip journey (of course that includes a half hour of drooling time, and about 15 minutes for them to ring me up. Dave

[D L Ames]

Dave, I was just thinking about these type of hinges again. I am not sure if these will work or not now for what you are trying to do. I think they will require the bottom of your door to mount outside of your box an equal distance as the thickness of your door stock.....if that makes any sense. Dang.....I thought I was on to something here. Hopefully someone with experience using these will chime in with so additional clarification or advice.

I know exactly what you mean on the drive and drool time associated with Woodcraft. Its a good 60-90 mins drive time for me as well.

D L

[DaveO]

DL, I just checked your post again, because I had the same suspicion. I think that you are right they won't work in this application. I think that my best solution is to remount my drawer slides in from the sides of the box to give hinge clearance, and side mount the doors. Dang, I hate hardware!!

Dave

[D L Ames]

Sorry Dave, I thought we had a possible solution there. Look on the bright side. At least we realized my idea wouldn't work before you spent 7 hours on the road..........90 mins to WC, 30 mins drool time, 15 mins checkout, 90 mins to home, discover the error, 90 mins to Fayetteville, 15 mins doing this to me for my dumb idea, and 90 mins driving back home.

D L

[DaveO]

Alright, after many mistakes and design alterations, this is how everything worked out. Once I realized that I couldn't have the drawer set up the way I had initially planned due to the hinge clearance issue. I decided to make the drawer less wide. That was a pain the arse, it took most of the afternoon...mainy due to the fact that I can't measure right, even on the third time I still have the other door to mount, and finishing to do, but I did get something accomplished tonight. Thanks for everyone's advice regarding the hinges, I was baffled

Dave