Australian Wood Review – September 2019

30 Australian Wood Review

PROJECT

Assembly

The generous side offcuts were now used as clamping

cauls but first modified a bit so they would deliver

pressure where needed. A piece was ripped from each

edge so they were slightly narrower than the box sides.

I then glued on a strip of wood that had been ripped

at 45° to each edge of the caul. These strips gave me

parallel clamp surfaces where the two corners met. And

finally the cauls were faced with sandpaper so they

would stay put during the glue-up (photo 10). Since I

was working alone I used tape to hold opposite cauls in

their position while I applied clamps (photo 11).

After the glue dried the outer surfaces were sanded –

using profiled sanding blocks made quick work of this.

The sanding blocks were made using the same bandsaw

jigs used to cut the original outside profiles. These were

made extra thick so they would be comfortable to hold

while sanding. Based on past experience with this wood

I knew it to be dry and thirsty. For that reason I sanded

spacer

spacers

for various height slots

stop clamped in place

45 ̊ support fixed to stop

sandpaper

base secured to work top

side stop clamped to work top

joiner fixed to base

with bolts and T-nuts

workpiece with offcut

Fig.3 Biscuit joiner jig for mitres, not to scale

up to 600 grit trying to burnish the surface of the wood

in order to slow down the absorption of the oil finish I

planned on using.

Making the lids

The lids were dimensioned to fit just inside the box

walls and their thicknesses were varied in proportion

to their diameter. I cut square blanks just oversized of

the final diameter in thicknesses of 10mm, 15mm and

20mm. I then drilled a hole in the centre of the tops of

the lid blanks that would later receive the dowel used to

connect the pulls and the lids.

The lids have a 30° chamfer on the top surface with a flat

spot in the centre for the pull. Again I turned to a jig to

help me process the small lids safely on the router table.

This time I simply cut cavities in a bit of MDF to hold the

individual lid blanks as I routed. The parts fit snugly in

the jig and I was able to chamfer all four sides quickly and

safely, one lid at a time (photo 12).

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