I have a question about the attached photo. Would I mill the sides of this box flat, cut the joints, glue the box together and then round the sides? Or round the sides before you cut the joints? Then, what would be the best method to round the sides?
Thanks!
Replies
I would build it square and cut the profile later on a shaper.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
What if I don't have access to a shaper?
Shaper, router, or handplane - either way make it square first and do the outside profile after the joinery.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
The issue will be the size of the sides. You will also be milling across end grain. A roundover router bit might work. The largest I've seen are 1 1/2" radius which would work on sides about 3" wide. You could always alter the profile slightly instead of a half circle. A large bit like that will cost $130 or so. Since you will have to cut from both sides, you may be running against the grain on one side of each piece. Sometimes you can run up on edge, rather than flat to the router table, to help with tear out. Small cuts and a slow feed can help. Working around the piece in a counterclockwise way will help with end blow out on the exit. It might be a good idea to build an inside form to keep from stressing the joints while you shape the sides. You can always shape it with hand tools, too. Make a sheetmetal template to check progress. You could make a cabinet scraper to fit the shape and do the final shaping with that. Shaped sanding blocks can be made or found. It's also possible to cut the finger joints on shaped material as long as there is a flat back for reference. You would have to shape in the sticking out fingers after assembly. Another alternative would be to miter the corners and cut in some "fingers" actually splines, for a similar look. With this method, contrasting woods can add a unique interest.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
The more I've thought about this, seems that a person could build a jig for the TS that might help. If you could support the box on a board that would rotate in an upward motion from flat on the table to perpendicular to the table, you could make numerous cuts to nibble away at the side profile. Then, smooth the sides with hand tools. My concern is making that board sturdy enough to support the box when it is being pushed through the blade. What do you think?
I would just bevel the table saw blade and remove as much waste as possible using the rip fence. Then finish the shape by hand with scrapers, rasps, sandpaper, etc.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
There's an article in Woodworker's Journal, Dec. 2002, showing a similar box being milled. Solved a mystery for me, for sure. This box is a more typical "S-shape" Bombe. The author glues it up, and uses the table saw to cut the angle to get the narrow part of the curve, then uses "a wide collection of hand tools and sanding blocks" to get the final shape. Lots of work, but pretty. FYI, for the cove part of the S he used the table saw in typical coving approach.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
J, definitely glue it up in the square, then shape the sides. Then the question is "How Many?"
For anything up to five or so I would just shape those sides with handplanes, scraper and sanding block.I would use the table saw to remove most of the waste. For a spiffling job it would be good to shape a sanding block to suit.
For multiples: it looks too big for routing and is there a bit that shape anyway. You may use a router to do some of it and finish the restby handplanes-dubious.
If I had many to do I would grind a cutter that would do the whole shape preferably-depends on the size: otheerwise you have to do it half and half.Cutter would go in slotted collars. There is no issue with break out-you start with the correct edge first. Even if there was a break out issue for some reason it is solved by use of a push block-which should be in use anyway especially on the shorter sides.Philip Marcou
Edited 2/12/2007 4:19 am by philip
definately make it rectilinear then round over the sides by whatever method you have available...hand plane & scrape or sand...table saw & scrape or sand...oscilating belt sander...maybe a router, but not sure you could find a bit with the proper size radius...a shaper with the right tooling...whatever works for you....
Another idea might be to rough shape with whatever tool you have (bandsaw/table saw, jigsaw) and use a rasp to hand file it. Not that large of a piece. I just bought one of those Aurio (sp I know) handmade rasps and it is amazing how much material you can waste quickly. Get it close and then some sanding.
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