-(voice over) the woodwhisper's sponsored by powermadic and clear vue cyclones. - on today's show we're going to make this here jewelry box because i'm italian from jersey, and i've got a lot of jewels.
woodworking joints list, ♫ (lyrics) hit it (upbeat music) - gary rogowski is an accomplished woodworker, educator, and author.
he literally wrote the book on joinery and he teaches classes at his school in portland, oregon called the north west woodworking studio. when gary emailed me andtold me he'd be in the area, i jumped at the opportunity and said, "come on down to the shop. "spend as much time as you can here, "and let's build something together."
and that's what this is. of course, we couldn'tfinish the entire project in the short two daysthat we had together, but we got most of it done, and then i filled inthe blanks at the end, and, hopefully, did his jewelrybox design some justice. right now, if you wantto build this project, you can go to our website and download the sketch up plans and the cut list,
and here's gary to tell youall about this jewelry box. - this project was acommission some years ago for a friend of mine who wanted a gift for a surgeon who had donesome work on his mom. it was done the style iwas working in at the time, a sort of an oriental flair to it, but utilizes some verysimple techniques on the bandsaw that we need to set up first before we launch into our good wood.
let's do some set up on the bandsaw. make some practice cuts first. - (voice over) it's critical that the practice pieces are thesame width as our actual box side pieces at twoand a quarter inches wide. the fingers are laid outin roughly even thirds, and the fence is set tocut along the outer line. we'll cut the mortiseboard making one cut, and then flipping itover for the second cut.
now we need to cut a shim that fits snug into that bandsaw curve cut. the table saw and a little trial and error should eventually yield the perfect shim. - rather it be a littletight than too loose. shim goes here. we make the next two cuts. -(voice over) now these cuts are for the adjoining tenon board.
when you put the two boards together you should see something like this. with the outer piecesof one board cut away, and the inner piece ofthe other board cut away, the tenon should slideright into the mortise. let's cut away the waste, so we can do an actual test fit. now it's a bit snug, but that's always betterthan being too loose.
before cutting the jointson the actual work pieces, gary cleans up each facewith a smooth plane. - and look at the difference in the color. now i sand, don't get me wrong, but if your hand plane is working nice, there is a clarity of cutthat is just unmatched. - (voice over) he then establishes the shoulder line on each piece using a cutting gauge set to about a 16th of inch
over the thickness of the work pieces. this is going to result in fingers that sit proud of the sides. white pencil makes the line easier to see. now back to the bandsaw, we'll start with the mortise cuts first. it's a good idea to do them all at once, and be sure to mark the waste, so you don't get confused.
now with the shim in the place we can make the matching tenon cuts. before cutting away the waste, gary uses a chisel to clearly establish the shoulders making foreasy chiseling later on. now you don't want tocut directly on a line, but the closer you get, the less work you have to do later. for the tenon pieces,
gary uses one of the side pieces as a makeshift fence. - that's a nice fit. that's a great fit. the hardest thing is cutting the shift. really that's the hardestpart of this joint. -(voice over) now back at the workbench, we'll use a chisel toclean up the shoulders. only go about half way,
and then flip the board andchisel from the other side. this ensures that the shoulders are nice and even on both sides. the tenon pieces are donea little bit differently, pairing in from the outside edges. a quick test fit, and everything looks pretty good. now we can make our bottom panel groves using the router.
using stop blocks on both sides allows us to make a stopped grovein the mortise pieces. and the tenon pieces justget a simple through grove. now we can measure for the bottom panel and cut the plywood to size. instead of using felt orflocking for the box bottom, gary likes to use decorative paper. the paper is adhered to plywood bottom using water-based finish.
simply apply a good, wet coat to the ply, and then a nice wet coat to the paper. press the two together, and work out any bubbles. then apply more water-based finish to the top of the paper. a wood block can then be used to press the paper nice and flat. don't worry too much about the wrinkles as
they only add to theleathery look of this paper. the paper is then wrapped around the edge, and the panel is left to dry. once completely dry, the extra paper can betrimmed right to the edge. and the test fit confirms the panel size. before we can do the assembly, we need to add a slightbevel to the fingers, which is done with ablock plane and a chisel.
because the bottom panel is so snug, there really is no need to glue it in. we'll just focus on gluing the fingers. with a few clamps and some claws the box comes together nicely. - so we got the box glued up. time to work on the lid. mark has, thankfully, glued up our panel. we've got a nice quarter-sawnwalnut panel for the top,
but we need to hold that top flat and breadboard in so that, they're a nice way of doing it, not the best way, butthey're nice way of doing it. - (voice over) at therouter table we can now cut the stopped the groovesfor the breadboard splines. once again, a stop on each side gives us consistent results. the panel is done with a similar set up,
and we'll get to that full quarter inch depth of the courseof a couple passes. to help keep thebreadboards nice and tight, gary uses a smoothing planeto create a sprung joint. by putting a slight dipinto the breadboard end, we'll be able to apply pressure and glue it at the center while forcing the ends to remain nice and tight. when the two breadboards are put together
you should see a slight gap in the middle. now to make the loose tenons. we cut some walnut stock, so it fits into the groove perfectly. the grain needs to beoriented across the joint, so we'll cut a few pieces to approximate size at the table saw. the splines are then glued into place all the way across the top panel.
(hammering) once dry, the splines are trimmed to the perfect length all atonce at the table saw. now to attach the breadboard, glue is added only in the center, about four to five inches, and that allows the panel to expand and contract with changes in humidity because the breadboards are sprung joints
all we need is a singleclamp at the center to pull them nice and tight to the panel. to help reinforce the finger joints, and to add some extra pizazz, we'll add some bambooskewers as dowel pins. they'll be cut to size at the bandsaw. a brad point bit allowsme to drill precise holes, and a tooth pick is perfect for getting glue into that tiny space.
the pegs are then hammered into place. the excess is then trimmedwith a flush trim saw, and the service is sanded smooth. (jazzy music) - (voice over) now to install the hinge, everything we need to know about mortising for the hinge leaf willcome from the hinge itself. the hinge is draped over the end with one of the leavesfolded over the back surface.
then carefully trace around the hinge with an x-acto knife. the depth of the mortise will be marked using a cutting gauge. now the entire mortisewill be made using chisels. i'll start by establishingthe outer boarders, carefully chiseling into the knife line. for the side's chopping right on a line would actually push that chisel back,
so i'll leave a little bit of material in front of the line first, and then i can safelychop directly on the line. now i can set the chisel inthe cut line for the depth. as long as i keep my chisel level, it should create a niceflat bottom for our hinge. all that's left to do is clean up the corners and test fit. for the lid, i'm going to transfer the
locations exactly using an x-acto knife. the marks are tiny, but they allow me to place a square on the edge and extend that line with a knife. then i use the henge itselfto establish the back line. the depth is set with the cutting gauge, and the mortise is chiseledout just like before. as a final treatment for the top, i'll chamfer the edges of
the breadboard using a chamfering bit. and that small, little, inside chamfer is done with a chisel. now the box needs some feet. i'll take some threequarter inch square stock and file a chamfer on allfour sides of the end. a stationary sander wouldmake quick work of it, if you have one. with a stop block in place,
i then cut a foot from the blank, and glue it to the bottom of the box. i'll then repeat this process three more times for the remaining feet. now i'm back to the hinges. it's a good idea topre-drill for the screws, and a self-centering bit likethis one does a great job. now these brusso hinges come with a handy steel screw that you can use to
establish the threads in the hole, and that prevents you from stripping the decorative brass screwsthat we'll use later. a little wax here helps as well. because the top is so thin, i need to trim the brass screws to fit. the process of pre-drilling is the same for the box sides of the hinge, only the screws are left at full length.
now, we can attach the lid and see how everything lays out. if the edges feel consistentall the way around, our work with hinges is done. now it's a good idea,but totally optional, to make a set of dividersfor the interior of the box. i'll cut a few pieces ofscrap to width and length, and assemble a very simple grid work. the cross pieces will beheld in shallow dados,
cut with a couple passes at the table saw. notice i'm using twostop blocks to make sure that the dados are cutaccurately and constantly. because the blade leaves alittle bit of a ridge surface, i'll use a router planeto clean up the bottom. the result should be a nice, snug fit that drops right into the box. the box has a decorative handle that i'll cut out of some ebony.
i tried to copy the shape from gary's original using some french curves. before cutting the curves, i drill the bottom of thehandle blank for dowels, and that's going to help usattach the handle to the lid. complimentary holes aredrilled into the lid itself. the handle is then cutto shape with a bandasw, and smoothed at theoscillating spindle sander. the final shaping andsmoothing is done by hand.
- now the finish we're goingto use today is waterlox. it's a very high quality, but pretty expensive,wiping varnish finish, and the way that i'm goingto apply it results in something that i think isperfect for a jewelry box. it's fairly light dutybut super easy to apply. and if you want to dig a little bit deeper into the world of wiping varnish finishes, you can check out my dvd,a simple varnish finish,
at the wood whisper's store. alright, let's get to that jewelry box. to apply the finish, i'll use nothing morethan blue, shop towels. i wipe on a generous amount since the raw wood isgoing to soak it right up. don't forget to finish the bottom. and here's a cool tip. if you don't have a lid foryour secondary container,
you can just use your glove to lock out the air and protect the left over finish. the next day, i give everything a light sanding with three 20 grip paper, and then vacuum the dust,and apply a second coat. this one goes on faster and easier since the wood is partially sealed. the goal is to just wet the surface and wipe away the excess.
now for the third and final coat, i'll employ a cool trick. instead of sanding the dried finish and the applying a new coat, i'm going to apply the final coat with a 500 grit sanding pad. that will smooth thesurface while creating a little bit of a slurry that helps fill the pores.
the excess is wiped away, and the resulting surfaceis incredibly smooth. the internal grid workis then glued together. and the handle is glued to the lid. well it's a seemingly simple box with a lot of different techniquesinvolved in making it, but you don't have to do all of those. there's lots of different waysyou could join those sides. you don't have to dobreadboards for the top.
you could really simplify this box, or complicate it, all you want. it's the great thing about boxes, is they're really a great exploration woodworking techniques. now i'd like to thank garyfor stopping by the shop. it was a great experienceand a thrill for me to have one of my personal woodworking heroes in my own shop.
really awesome experience. so, thanks everybody for watching. thanks, gary, for hanging out with me, putting up with me. and download the plans for this. build one for yourself. thanks for watching. (playful music)