That trick with the wipe-on poly is amazing. I have used it a few times this week to fix some gaps in dovetails that I cut. It is not as messy as the saw dust and glue method and works well with contrasting colored woods. Thanks for the tip!!!
Damn. Nice work orienting that grain to sweep right through the lid cut. Sepele is a fantastic wood to work with and you did a bad ass job showcasing its beauty
Beautiful work man. That tip is very clever and have honestly never heard it before. I’m so glad I can be a part of a community with so many skilled people like yourself. Great project Dave.
Thanks! I love being part of this community also. I learn something new all the time. You guys are inspiring me to do some metal work and I'm even making a leather wallet that I learned about from watching RU-vid tutorials.
Dude, thank you for making this out of a chunk of 2×4. I've been stressing over making a finger joint jig for a while, and all these videos all over the place have these supposedly simple jigs that require either hardware I don't have or skill I don't have. I appreciate this video more than you know.
I know others have commented on the poly trick, but I have to say that it's the first time I have ever seen this as well, and it's definitely how I intend to fill gaps in the future for projects I intend to poly like this. Beautiful keepsake box too btw.
Thanks! I like that method of filling gaps. Sometimes I apply some poly or boiled linseed oil and sand the surface on small boxes just to fill the pores and get a smoother finish.
Thanks for that poly tip, and now I'll share one with you. When you go to separate the lid, don't cut all the way through. Cut almost all the way, but leave just a thin, thin, see-through layer of material. This will hold the lid in place without fooling with all those spacers. Finish up separating the lid with a coping saw or any kind of trimming saw.
I agree with Sammy. The slurry you make with the wipe on poly filled in the gaps perfectly. I’ve always tried to use the sawdust/glue trick, but was never fully satisfied with the end result. Thanks for the info. First time viewer... really enjoyed your presentation and comments throughout your video.
Been woodworking for a while now and that's the first time I've seen the poly/slurry trick. Thanks for the tip! Amazing what this community can accomplish! Well done, sir!
I like the design and execution. Clean, simple and perfect proportion. I especially like your choice of timber and the way you grain matched. Really nice. I am going to make this box but I think I'll put a lip inside the top edge of the bottom, flock the inside and put a mirror inside the lid. I need a special gift for one of my sisters. You box joint box is it. The slurry technique you used was called filled grain. In my first career I was a gunsmith. I don't how it is now but when I was smithing most gunsmiths were generalists, you worked on what was in front of you, metal or wood. I liked stock making but stock making was then at least, the least financially rewarding for the time you put in to it. (The most financialy rewarding was changing lower barrel hammer springs in superposed shotguns). Back then poly finish wasn't widely used, it was fairly new. The times I used what was available it often fell out over time. I would think that would still be a problem with gun stocks, I don't know about pieces that aren't subject to shock. I got the best result when I sanded to 320, de-whiskerd with alcohol and 400, wet sanded with tung oil then let it dry, dry, dry. Then wet sanded with the grain with 600. By that time the stock would be dead smooth. Then bowling alley wax to buff and polish. That's the finish I'll use when I build the box. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thanks for the feedback! The additions you plan to make sound great! It's funny you mentioned the slurry trick as a grain filler for rifle stocks. It must be a common method for smiths. A friend of mine uses true oil or linseed oil and sand paper to fill the grain on the stocks he restores
@@TwistedWorkshop77 I don't know how I dropped it out but what we're talking about is a "gun stock" finish. Grain filled and dead smooth. You can get a faux gun stock finish with modern plastic finish, sand it, paint or spray the finish on, most of them are self leveling, at the most a light sanding with some fine paper, make sure you don't sand all the way back down to the timber and apply another coat. It looks nice, smooth, shiney and fairly fast. But that finish has depth to it and it's hard to do a nice job of repairing dings and hand worn spots. You can look at it and SEE the finish is laying "on" the timber. A gun stock finish, smooth, shiney and all looks like it IS the wood.
I just came across your video. I've made the same box only a bit larger and just made from a quality 1x12 pine board from HD. Actually I've made 3 of them for my grandkids 2nd Xmas's. Main difference is that I used a piano hinge for the lid and installed a spring-loaded hinge on the inside so the lid would stay open and the kids wouldn't smash their fingers closing the box.
@@jmherbst87 . No issues with wood movement. This would rarely be a problem with good kiln dried hardwood on a piece only a few inches wide. I would use a different method of attaching woods in different grain directions on large panels and table tops though
Great video and absolutely priceless tip. I’ve never heard of that technique which sounds so much better than using the glue and saw dust. Thanks again m
You can stack all of the sides up together and cut them pretty much all at once. Just need to do the first cuts individually. But once you have a cut on each side you can stack all 4 sides up and cut them all ganged up. I clamp the stack together with swivel pad face clamps to make it easier to handle as one piece. Cutting them all at once seems to make them come out to fit together better too. I think because they get registered and cut together? Give it a shot.
@@TwistedWorkshop77 try it, you'll like it. The one thing I remember that was an issue was blade deflection cutting the whole stack. Going through that much wood just makes a blade bend more than going through a single board does. So you might have to feed slower or something. It isn't quite the same rip. But you don't have to make nearly as many passes. If you go too fast you get too tight joints. You'll figure it out.
To speed up your gap filling, a tip I've used is to just go to dust collection on your sander and use that to instantly fill the gaps with your slurry. Lol, I missed the part where you said you don't like this method.
Lovely box - these sort of projects really inspire me as a beginner. One naive thought about the gaps in the box joints. They looked like a similar gap was appearing several times - could it be from your jig flexing as it was only held in one slot?
Nice project, I made boxes for my boys when they were young. They still have them at ages 30 and 28. And that’s a great tip with the alternative to glue and sawdust, especially with end grains that would soak up glue like a sponge.
Looks great. I really liked the idea of taping on the spacers to keep the kerf from closing up when you cut off the top. That hardware looks like it was easy to install and looks good on the box.
Thanks! I took a chance ordering the hardware online but its growing on me. It's hard for me to pick something out when I cant hold it. For under 10 bucks, it was worth the risk
Twisted Boards I agree. Unfortunately in today’s world sometimes buying things like hardware online is our only option. Fortunately I have an outstanding hardware store near by that has an outstanding selection but most people no longer have something like it close enough to them. Most of the brick and mortar stores have disappeared.
Love the wipe on poly tip. I've tried using CA glue and wood glue with sawdust and have never gotten a good color match. Thanks for sharing! I'm using this tip in one of my videos. I'll be sure to link to your video when I do.
So what grit sandpaper did you use when trying to smooth the lid and box? I ran into the same uneven issue when I used my table saw to cut it. Beautiful work by the way!
I agree with your liking for Gen Finishes Satin. They have changed the formula in recent years. The older stuff was thicker with an additive that would yellow faster and leave a more velvet finish. Making some finger box joint boxes now and will post my steps with 1/4" joints and knife kerf hinges. You can water down some filler and do a single swipe for the loose fit fingers and then sand and you may have to tint the filler stuff to match the wood color. You can buy the colorant from food processing companies. You have the MO accent or maybe TN?
I have really good luck with GF products. I have been their milk paints with good results too. It's not real milk paint but it has that flat smooth look to it. Good to know about the coloring. I will have to try it. And check out you video.
👍there are not many videos I am able to watch from the very beginning to the very end but yours are those kind of videos. I really liked the quick and easy finger joint jig showcase and the gap filling hack is just fantastic.
This would make a great starting point for a tool chest. Such a lovely job. The saw dust trick is one that I’ve never seen before and what a trick! Really enjoyed watching this. As a random thing. Did the sides come up as square when you had it in clamps? I always thought that the clamp force would bow the shape of it and therefore, it wouldn’t give a true square reading. Box makers normally use pinching sticks, as it’s more accurate, but perhaps the thickness of your timber resulted in less bow? I’m intrigued. Thanks.
Thank you. The sides of the box were so small that they didn't deflect much with the clamps. I can usually see the deflection on larger boxes and cases with the square though. I usually back the clamps off if I see it as it can cause small gaps on the end of the finger joints or dovetails. A set of pinch sticks is on my list of things to make and would be a better method for sure!
Hi I am new to the woodworking clan and was most impressed by your box -the entire video was so easy to watch and i learned a lot.may i ask you what steel wool was used at the finish of the demo-thanks Allan.
Very nice production work! Great camera shots and your editing was spot on! If I may suggest....yep I am gonna be "that guy"!!! Once you get everything cut to size do a 'dry fit and make sure everything is going to fit up like you want it and come out squire. Yes you should also check it after you do your glue up but if something a majorly amiss there is not a whole hell of a lot you can do about it short of ripping everything apart and playing hell trying to get the glued up joints to come apart. I'm sure that someone like Mr. Paul Sellers has said to do it this way in one of his videos but I came by it the hard way!
Great looking box👍👏 I think this is twice now that you have shared a tip I have not seen before. I'm close to starting a box joint project so will probably try out the poly/sanding trick. Thanks for sharing again 👍
G’day Mate, I’ve got one of those fancy Incra jigs I’ve not really used much & it was one of the first Woodworking items I bought, now I’m going to need to put it to use. All your videos are top class & you should be proud of the informational attention to detail you provide us, till the next time keep on making buddy 🍻👍👍👍👍
Great looking box! I've never seen anyone use polyurethane in place of glue when filling in cracks, it looks a lot better and looks easier! Ill havr to keep this in mind for my next project
@@TwistedWorkshop77 yea I've had that problem alot myself, I just didn't know there was a better way. I'm definently going to be using this method in the future! Keep up the good work
Loved the box project and especially the wipe on poly trek. Does the poly stain the wood before you put on final finish or do you put the poly on the entire box? Dan
Nice project and video. The quality of the hardware (in my mind) brought it down a little. Would have liked to hear an explanation of how to fix the initial finger joint jig set up if it was too tight or loose.
Thanks for the feedback. I wasn't sold on the hardware when I first received it but it is growing on me now. Next time I'm at the woodworking store, i need to stock up on hardware that i can see first hand. Ordering online can be difficult. I struggled with explaining the jig in this video. I should have at least referenced some of the videos I've watched that explains it better. Popular woodworking has a good plan and explanation on how to use it and I recently watched a video from "Make Something" where he made a nice jig
When you sand between the coats of the satin finish, is it a light sanding? Then, when you use the steel wool with the wax, are you applying the wax with the direction of the grain or does it matter? Thanks .
Yes. Just light hand sanding. I use a block with cork on it and then some 220 or 320 paper. I use 0000 steel wool and try to work it in with the grain. This leaves a satin finish thats super smooth
@@TwistedWorkshop77 Thanks. I’ve recently endeavored into woodworking. I’m in a wheelchair and wanted to do something productive and build a hobby. You’ve videos have helped me drastically. Thanks and I look forward to more of them!
