# Alternative methods challenge-3 tier box



## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

On the weekend, I worked 30 hours of overtime and when I got into work this morning, the ministry of labour told me that I was not allowed to work today because I was over the limit for hours worked. Consdering that I didn't get any shop time at all this weekend because of the overtime, I went home and decided that today was a good day to start the challenge.
I've accepted the challenge of constructing all of the projects listed and I thought that I would start with the 3 tier box. So, without further adieu, I give you the start of my build.


For this particular project, the plans call for cherry for the frame. I don't have any cherry and I really like walnut, so I have chosen to construct the inbox out of walnut and maple. I pulled down a chunk of walnut and checked the plans.









Parts A, B, and C are all 2" wide X 1/2" thick with the longest piece being 12". I decided to cut a 13" piece from the walnut to take care of the frame pieces.









Over to the jointer, and as with all of my tools, before using them, I check to ensure that they are square and alligned. In this case, I verified that the fence is 90 degrees to my table.









I then surface jointed the 13" board. As you can see in this photo, there is more to me than just a pair of hands. :laughing:









Then, I used my straight edge and checked that the wood was flat after jointing. Being happy with its flatness, I carried on.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

From this point, I headed back to the jointer to edge joint the walnut board. The safety equipment that you see me using (push pads, ear muffs, safety glasses) are not there for photo purposes. I use them every time without exception and so should you. :yes:








I then used my straight edge to check that the edge jointing that I just completed has given me a flat surface.









Checking for flat surfaces is fine and dandy, but if those two surfaces are not 90 degrees to each other, then the act of running the board through the jointer is pointless. It is for that reason that I check to ensure that the jointed face and the jointed edge are 90 degrees from each other and perfectly perpendicular.










At this point, I took my stock over to the surface planer and ran the walnut through for a few passes. You may want to note the separator in this photo. If you don't use one, you may want to consider it as it keeps a great deal of chips out of your collector.









You can see in this photo, that I have planed the stock down to 2" thick. It is not by coincidence that this measurement is the same as the width of the frame pieces.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Now to the table saw. I've installed my ripping blade and just as before, I check to ensure that the blade is square to the table.










The blade is then set so that it is slight above the thickness of the stock. 









My fence is set to 1/2" and from there, I rip my 2" thick stock into 1/2" pieces.









Here we can see that I have all of my 1/2" pieces stacked and ready to be marked according to the plans.










In this photo, I am showing the amount of an off cut that I had. It measures slightly thicker than 1/4" and it is the only piece that is left over from from ripping the strips.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

The plans call for 4 A's, 2 B's and 2 C's. There are also some D's in there. So I use chaulk, and mark all of my pieces so that there is no confusion when I start to cut them to their nominal sizes. You can see that I have one extra board just in case there is an oops cut. :blink:










Enter my fine crosscut blade and you guessed it, I check it for square against the table. In the spirit of alternative methods, I used my square this time instead of my fancy digital angle meter.









I then installed my miter gauge on the saw and set up to do a test cut to check that it is cutting at a perfect 45 degree angle.









Satified that my miter cut is a perfect 45, I carry on. When dealing with miters and such, it never hurts to check your cuts and double check. Verifying your miters will save a lot of frustration down the road.










The pieces labled A are then cut. Pay attention when cutting these ones guys. I almost reversed a couple of the mitres.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I carried on, cutting the pieces as per the drawing specifications, checking mitres and measurements all the way along. And here we can see the pieces for the frame, cut and ready for a dry fit.










I clamped all the pieces together for a dry fitting to test the mitres and the tightness of the joints. I'm glad to say that all corner fit beautifully and I was very happy with their fit.









It was now time for me to make a spline cutting jig. I have one that I use for my picture frames, but it wouldn't have worked for this project. So I installed my multipurpose junky blade and checked it for square. It may seem that I am really over emphasizing the checking for square, but it is a 2 second habit that can save you hours of frustration and headache.









I ripped a 2" strip of scrap 3/4" MDF and mitred it and shown here. I also had another piece of scrap 3/4" MDF and cut it to a useable size. The size is really up to you, but you want to be sure to make it a size that is easily man handled.











I then used my combination square to lay out the 2" wide piece to ensure that it is at a perfect 45 degree angle.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Lookin' good there, Ken


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Looking good so far. Great tutorial. Thanks for going to this extent.












 







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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Using my square as a guide, I screwed the 2" piece to the MDF back board. Be sure to take your time here and make it exactly 45 degrees. Having this guide off from 45 will cause serious headaches when trying to install the splines.









Once the jig was constructed, and I had the fence set up to cut in the center of the 1/2" thick boards, I set the height of my ripping blade to 3/8", clamped my boards to the jig and one by one, cut my openings for the splines. Make sure that you use a clamp here to hold the stock.










Here, we can see that I have all of the slots cut for all of the splines.










Now, it's time for some glue up. I glued all of the part A's to the part B's and clamped them in my 45 clamps. I use Qtips moistened in water to clean up any squeeze out. 









Here, we can see the parts clamped up and waiting for the next step. Tomorrow, I will be cutting the slots for the side splines and continuing on the assembly of the frame. I hope that this thread isn't too picture heavy and I also hope that I'm not giving too much information. I'm just trying to cover the novice wood workers as well.








See ya tomorrow.

Oh yeah, one more thing. I did a little calculation and for the frame of this 3 tier inbox, it calls for 2.5 BF. I checked the calculation on this, and it's actually 1.25. A little misprint, but I'm sure that you guys would have caught on to this as well.


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Nice tutorial Ken. I think you are going to sell a few 3-tiered in-box projects!


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## Katoman (Nov 13, 2009)

Very nice tutorial for the novice. Thanks. 

That's got to be the cleanest shop I've ever seen. :thumbsup:


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## Chris86 (Aug 27, 2011)

Very informative, thanks!

I'll be watching this thread closely.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

You didn't waste ANY time, huh Kenbo!? :smile: 

I just can't even bring myself to do the challenge seeing how thorough you are with this!

Excellent work:yes::thumbsup:

~tom ...it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...


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## Biscobob (Jul 25, 2011)

Ahhh, look Igor the master is in his lab again. Only this time we know what he's making. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Fantastic tutorial Ken, great to see your attention to detail played out in the pics. I wonder how many of us were looking at everything around you instead of what you were actually doing.:yes: Nice work. :thumbsup:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I know that I said I was going to continue tomorrow, but magically, some free time smacked me in the forehead and I headed out to the shop. So, here we go.

This is a picture of my very primitive spline jig. I mostly use it for cutting splines into my picture frames. Primitive? Yes. Does the job? Definitely. This jig is made the same way I made the other one earlier in the thread, except you make two, 2" guides and screw them at 45 degrees to the bottom of the board and 90 degrees to each other.









After setting the height of my blade for the splines slots, I clamped my frame into the jig and cut one spline slot. I then unclamped the frame, reversed it, clamped it and ran it through the table saw again. I then repeated the procedure with the second frame parts that were glued together earlier.









At this point, you should have something that looks like this.









I then adjusted my fence 3/8" to the right, clamped my frame into the jig and repeated the whole process. Once this is done, you should have something that looks like this.









Well, that is it for tonight. Honest this time. Tomorrow, I will be milling the splines and glueing them in place as well as milling the wood for the drawers and possibly starting the construction of those. I'd like to thank you guys for the kind words, they are appreciated. It was also mentioned about how clean my shop is. I pride myself on it. I clean up after each procedure and sweep all debris into a pile off to the side. If there is one piece of advice that I can give new woodworkers, it would be to get in the habit of good housekeeping. You pay a lot of money for your tools and if you keep them clean and in good working order, they will last you a lifetime. There is a huge safety factor involved here as well. We don't need to be tripping or slipping on a mess on the floor and end up hurting ourselves. Survived the saw blade, but slipped on a piece of walnut and threw your back out. Doesn't make any sense. A place for every tool and every tool in its place. Woodworking can be frustrating at times and the last thing you need is to add to the frustration by not being able to find a tool because it wasn't put back in its place. Make it a part of your woodworking day to put aside time for housekeeping. Clean as you go and I promise you, your woodworking experience will be a better one. Stay organized, stay tidy, and stay safe.







Thanks for looking in, I'll continue tomorrow.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

firemedic said:


> You didn't waste ANY time, huh Kenbo!?


 
I did take on the challenge of making all of the projects involved and they don't get done if I don't work on them. You guys know what I'm like...........once I start a project, I can't stop.




> I wonder how many of us were looking at everything around you instead of what you were actually doing.


 
Maybe I shouldn't have posted the last picture then. :laughing:


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## Biscobob (Jul 25, 2011)

Kenbo said:


> Maybe I shouldn't have posted the last picture then. :laughing:


 
In a way, that was the best pic of them all. I assume Mrs. Kenbo was behind the camera, tell her good job. :yes:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Biscobob said:


> In a way, that was the best pic of them all. I assume Mrs. Kenbo was behind the camera, tell her good job. :yes:


 
Actually, I took it myself with the timer on my camera. So, thanks for the compliment on the photo. :thumbsup:


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## AFMac (Aug 5, 2011)

Wow outstanding work so far. +1 thanks on the outstanding attention to detail. Good stuff!


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

annnnnd consider this my official resignation from this little challenge. 

:notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:


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## Warnock (Apr 4, 2011)

Kenbo said:


> Actually, I took it myself with the timer on my camera. So, thanks for the compliment on the photo. :thumbsup:


Wow, and I do mean WOW. Ken, I counted 35 photos so far, and you are not even finished with the frame. You must be spending at least as much time on the documentation process as you are on the woodworking aspect.

I heartily applaud your time and dedication to the project. I can honestly state I learn just from carefully reading your posts and looking at the photos and using that information. Always (so far) well presented and in a logical fashion.

Good looking shop too, puts mine to shame, at least today when I have a total mess getting ready for a rummage sale and trying to build some new working tables and storage areas prior to the onset of that white stuff falling from the skies.

GREAT tutorial Ken. Always educational and enjoyable to view, please continue the outstanding work. Keep up with the OT at the day job too, we learn more here when you don't get to work. Not sure I understand your boss, but then governmental jobs are oft confusing with regulations and constraints.

Have a great day Ken. Again - awesome job on the tutorial.

:notworthy:


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## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

I knew it! I took a bet with myself that you would be the first one to post in this thread :laughing: The rest of us are just sitting and thinking about where to start........
Awsome start and a great shop you have there :thumbsup:


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## kyle526 (Jun 6, 2011)

Very nice tutorial Ken... :thumbsup:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Okay guys, I'm back again today and I didn't get as much done today as I would have like to, but I'm still pretty happy with the progress. So, here we go..................


To start the process of the maple splines, I dug through my off cut pile and scrap wood and got this piece of 1/8" thick maple. There is plenty of stock here to do all of the splines and then some.









My ripping blade was already in the table saw, so I checked it for square and ripped 3 strips of the maple. The width of the strips is equal to double the depth of your miter splines that we cut with our home made jig. The picture makes the strips look warped, but in reality, they are raised on a wrinkle in my routing mat. 









Test fitting the splines into the slots is an important step that you don't want to skip. A spline that is too tight will cause you some serious trouble when you are glueing and assembling the frame.
Ask me how I know this.......:blink:










At this point, I marked the length of the splines leaving about 1/2" at either end for play.










Heading over to the bandsaw, I cut all of the required splines to length. For this process, I considered using my scroll saw, but there wasn't a blade currently in it and the band saw was convenient. These cuts are not crucial and they don't have to be exact.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Here, we can see all of the splines cut to their rough lengths. We require 4 longer splines for the mitered corners and 16 shorter splines for the already glued sections of the frame.









Applying glue gets a little messy at this point, so make sure that you have something handy to clean up any squeeze out that is going to happen. Apply glue to the spline and a little in the slot as well and insert the spline into the slot of one of the mitered pieces.










Apply glue to the protruding piece of the spline and also put a little into the slot of the mating mitered piece and assemble your joint. As you can see, there is a little squeeze out, but Captain Qtip comes to the rescue with a moistened tip to clean up the slop. 









Continue glueing and assembling the pieces being sure to clean up as much of the squeeze out as your can. Continue on to glue in the shorter splines into the other slots.









If all is well, you should be looking at something like this now. The frame isn't quite finished yet, but I am going to put it aside and move on to starting the drawers for this project.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

*Moving on to the drawers*

So here we are starting the drawers. I see by the plan's cut list, the longest piece that I require is 13" and they are all 2 1/2" wide. I've chosen maple for the drawers and I always like to give a little extra, so I set the saw to hack off a chunk of maple 13 1/2" long.










Check the jointer for square and ensure that the fence is 90 degrees to the table and joint the piece of maple. I'm cutting back on the photos a little here, because the jointing process was covered pretty thoroughly in the earlier sections of the build, but the same methods still apply.










The jointed board is then checked for square and from there, we head to the table saw.










I then ripped the maple into 2 1/2" pieces, rotated each piece and ripped the 2 1/2" blocks into 1/2" strips. These 6 strips will be the parts that are marked F in the plan's cutting list.









Well, that's as far as I got today. I had a few issues with some other things that took away some of my time for this project but that should not be the case for tomorrow. Looking to finish the frame tomorrow and carry on with the drawers. Fun build so far.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

*Okay, so where were we?*

When last we left this project I had just finished cutting the pieces marked as F. Today, I repeated yesterday's process and jointed another piece of maple, both on the surface and edge, checked it for 90 degrees, ripped it into 2 1/2" strips and then ripped those pieces into 1/2" strips to acquire the 6 pieces needed for parts labled E. Here, we can see all of the 12 pieces ready for the next step, but for now, I'm going to leave that and continue with the frame.










At this point in the frame, it is time to cut all of the splines off so that they can be sanded flush. My preferred method to do this is my bandsaw. However, with the frame being the shape that it is, no matter what position I placed the frame in, I couldn't get it positioned safely on the saw. For this reason, I decided that I would use the scroll saw. I put a #7 blade in the saw and cut the exterior splines as close to flush with the walnut as I could.










I then positioned the blade on the interior of the frame and started to cut the inside splines flush with the walnut frame.









Again, due to the nature of the frame's shape, I wasn't able to completely cut the interior spines flush. It is for that reason, that I decided to finish them off with a flush cut saw. I normally don't use my flush cut for trimming splines because it can have a habit of breaking the spline prematurely and making a little bit of a mess. Luckily, that was not the case this time.










Once I had the splines roughly cut flush, I finished off the interior splines with a 1/2" chisel, taking light cuts until the splines were flush.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

At this point, I was ready for sanding the frame. I ran several grits of sandpaper over the frame, making sure that all splines were flush and that any left over glue residue was removed. If you have been sucessful up to this point, you should have something that looks like this.









I was now ready to round over the one edge of the inbox frame. So, after installing my 1/2" roundover bit in the router table and hooking up my D/C to it, I was ready to rout the profile. Taking light passes at first, to avoid tear out, I finished of the 4 edges with the recommended profile.










After a little bit of sanding, we end up with something that looks like this.










Now I have to say, that throughout this project, I haven't really read any of the instructions. I have only looked at the pictures and followed the dimensions, and everything else has been done in the fashion that I see fit. However, I did notice, that they wanted a 1/2" roundover profile routed in the top of the frame pieces. There was no way in heck, that I was doing that. For some reason, it just didn't seem safe to me, and I have a saying that if it doesn't feel good, don't do it. In this case I refused to do it. I got out my pencil and marked each corner with a 1/2" roundover.









From there, I headed over to the scroll saw to cut the profile. C'mon guys, did you really think that this project would be completed without my scroll saw being involved at some point in time? :laughing:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

At this point, a 5" disc sander took care of any imperfections in the round over. I sanded all corners and confirmed the profiles.










From there, more sanding. I didn't like the sharp edges on the frame, so I ran a 220 grit sandpaper around the entire frame to soften the edges just a bit. Here, we can see that the frame is finished, minus the drawer glides which I will be installing after I finish making the drawers.










And now, on to the drawers................
Having installed my fine cross cut blade in the table saw and confirming its squareness to the table, I set up my miter gauge and set the fence to cut one end of the previously cut maple stock. 









From there, once again, I made a test cut and verified that my miter gauge was in fact cutting at a 45 degree angle.









I then measured the interior dimension of my frame and it was 10 1/8" from edge to edge. This measurement was consistent on both the top and the bottom of the frame. This also coincides with the 10" dimension that the cut list calls for in the front of the drawers, allowing 1/16" play on either side.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

At this point, I cut all the required pieces for the drawers with the 6 length pieces being 13" in length and the 6 front pieces being 10" in length. I don't see the need to show a photo of this process, because it was covered earlier in the thread.

It's now time to cut our dados in the drawer pieces. This next picture serves as a reminder to all of our new woodworkers and even our veterans, to unplug your equipment whenever doing any kind of work on them. It only takes one time for your shirt to get caught on the power switch to energize the saw and lose a digit. Unplug your tools guys.










Now that the public service message is over, back to the build. I installed my dado blade at this point and set it for just a little more than 1/4". I like a little play in my drawer bottoms. I then set the height of the blade to 1/4" as stated in the layout drawings of the plans.










Setting my fence to allow 1/8" of material to be left at the bottom of the dado, I went through each individual piece of maple, choosing which sides I wanted to be facing up. I then cut all of my dados in the lower half of the interior of each piece.









And here we have all 12 pieces complete with their dados, ready for assembly tomorrow. The drawer bottoms still have to be cut and the drawer slots as well as some drilling, but that is something that will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm still having a blast with this one, I hope you're enjoying following it.


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## Cracker749 (Sep 1, 2010)

Your patience and commitment to check for square and safely use all your tools is nice to see. It shows in the quality of work you produce. Keep up the good work!


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

You're on a roll man! Really great to walk through these projects with you.

(Though I keep looking for the drum set in the background... :laughing


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Let me simply say... this is a great tutorial, and really nice work!

I am very impressed with your talent and precise details.


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## eigersa (Apr 17, 2011)

once again speechless with your amazing skill.


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## tcleve4911 (Dec 16, 2006)

I feel like I'm in the woodworking class I always wanted to attend.
You are in the process of teaching a lot of us some great techniques.
For me, I am inspired to gear up for some of the methods you use.
I've been a carpenter for 30 years.
I consider myself a Newbie woodworker.
Thank you, Ken.
I know I will not win or even enter the competition, but I will follow this tutorial and make one just for the shear satisfaction. 
:notworthy:


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

You sure do put together a great tutorial. Thank you very much. Guys like me need the expert guidance of a true craftsman such as yourself. The build is coming together nicely. I love the nice tight, precise cuts and splines. Truly masterful work.

Nice miter fence too!


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

I don't know, Ken. You've set the bar pretty high. Thanks for your participation in this little experiment. Great thread so far. Makes me want to get home and start my own projects for this thing...


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Ken, I know you have a full time job, and like me you're probably too far into that career to consider changing careers, but have you ever considered teaching? Your tutorials here are awesome. I'm motivated to get into the shop every time I see one. I'm not participating in this build challenge as I'm on limited shop activites for the next two weeks due to a minor surgery, but I eagerly await your thread (and all the others as well) just to see how folks go about their projects. Keep up the amazing work on the thread.

One of these days I'll have to do one of these for some turning project.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Looking great Kenbo!... I just don't know how you do it... The documentation I'm talking about!

I really love your attention to precision as well!

:thumbsup:

~tom ...it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

And I'm back. I just want to say thank you to all of you guys for your very flattering comments. It's kindness like this that make me enjoy making these tutorials that much more. A very humbling experience for sure. Thank you. :thumbsup:


At this point in the build, all of the walls of the drawers have been cut and the dados to accept the bottom has be cut as well. I did a test fit with the drawer and checked for squareness and tight miters. I was happy with what I saw and so, I continued.










When I measured the inside dimensions of the dry assembled box, they were 9 1/8 X 12 1/8. The dados are 1/4" deep so the bottom boards should be 9 5/8 X 12 5/8. However, this doesn't leave any room for play at all, so I subtract 1/8" from that measurement, making my final cut size 9 1/2" X 12 1/2". I checked the cutting diagram and happily found that the magazine seems to think the same way that I do. The measurements were the same. 
I headed over to the table saw, installed and squared the appropriate blade and cut my 3 drawer bottoms.









Before we can glue up our drawers, there is some more prep work that has to be done to the drawer pieces. We will start with the countersink holes that are required for the top drawer. I chose the 2 most appealing drawer sides and marked where I wanted the holes. I then headed to the drill press and after marking the holes with my awl, I drilled all four countersinks. Be sure to use your depth stop on your drill press, as these holes will be exposed and a uniform depth will be much more professional looking.










You should have something that looks like this. There hasn't been any sanding done yet, so they look a little fuzzy. I'm thinking that I need to sharpen my countersink bit. 









Now on to marking the cutouts for the drawer front faces. I again, chose the drawer faces that were the nicest looking and marked a center line on each. From there, I marked another line, 2" on either side of the center. I laid out the lines for my rounded inside corners and headed to the drill press again.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

At the drill press, I marked my insdie curve holes with an awl, and used a 1/4" brad point bit to drill out my inside corners. I could have cut these with a scroll saw, but the drill bits give a perfect rounded edge that is ideal for these exposed drawer faces.










Hearing the sobbing noise coming from the corner of the room, I realized that my scroll saw felt left out. I felt so bad, that I gave it a fresh coat of wax to make it feel better and then used it to cut the remaining cuts on the drawer faces.









I then sanded all of the drawer pieces on their inside faces to a grit of 220. I didn't sand any of the outside faces, as I will only have to sand them again once I install and flush cut the walnut splines. The drawer bottoms, however, I sanded on both sides. The insides are sanded because it is much harder to sand them once the drawers are assembled.
Here we can see all of the parts, ready for assembly.








And after another dry test fit run in the clamp, glue is applied to the mitered corners and the drawer is clamped up. Be sure to clean up all squeeze out from the inside of the drawers. Again, I say that Qtips work great for this. Continue clamping and glueing until all 3 drawers are fully assembled.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

*Time to cut some thin strips*

I've got some time to kill here, as I have no intentions of cutting the spline slots until the glue is 100% set up. That's not going to happen tonight, so I will cut some splines from some scrap walnut. When I made the maple splines for the frame, I used some 1/8" maple that I had on the wood rack. For the walnut splines for the drawers, I didn't have any 1/8" walnut, so I have to cut some. I thought I might show you guys a method of cutting thin strips that works for me.
First off, I start with a 1/8" set up block. You don't need a fancy set up block for this, a tape measure will work just fine.









You then want to place your combination square into the track of your table saw. Place your set up block against a tooth of the saw blade and adjust your combination square so that the blade of it touches the set up block. If you are using a tape measure, adjust the blade of the combination square so that it is 1/8" away from the tooth of the blade.









Now, slide your combination square away from the blade. Holding the square tight in the t-slot, place your stock against the rip fence and adjust your fence until your stock touches the blade of your combination square. Once it is there, lock your fence down.









Now, follow through with the cut.










Place your stock against your fence again, place your square in your t-slot, adjust your fence until the stock touches your square, lock down the fence and cut. Repeat this process until you have enough spines for your job.









Don't forget a few points here.
Check the blade for square.
Use push sticks.
Make sure your saw is unplugged while setting up your square.


Keep your combination square locked down at this measurement until you have all of your splines installed. Should you run out, and need to cut more, the square is already set and all your have to do is cut some more splines. 
Unfortunately for me guys, this is it for a few days. I'm going away for the weekend and sadly, this project will have to wait until Sunday when I return. I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am enjoying making and posting about it.


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

What an amazing thread. I am really glad you guys took up this challenge and are taking the time to chronical it. It does us all a great service and is entertaining as all get out. The box is looking great!


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Nice tip for cutting the thin strips.


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## kpo101 (Aug 5, 2011)

Kenbo, I really like your professional work ethic. Do you realize that about 15-18 more smaller projects documented like you have done here ( with the instructions and pictures ) I think you could possibly have a good selling projects book. Good job and keep up the good work.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

kpo101 said:


> Kenbo, I really like your professional work ethic. Do you realize that about 15-18 more smaller projects documented like you have done here ( with the instructions and pictures ) I think you could possibly have a good selling projects book. Good job and keep up the good work.


Ahh, links to "Kens plans" would be interesting. Lol 

Ken, besides a top notch ww'r, your photo and writing skills are beyond description. Thanks for sharing with us.


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## lawrence (Nov 14, 2009)

Kenbo..you are my new hero...I have never seen anything like this...the documentation is unbelievable.
Roy Underhill and Norm have nothing on you sir. I missed this post because I was looking in the wrong place...johnny pointed it out and I just read the entire thing at once.....I was overwhelmed by the attention to detail and the professionalism here.....jeez....I think I have a tear in my eye........JUST FREAKEN REMARKABLE


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## Webster (Mar 6, 2009)

Good show Ken!
Lots of great tips also.
I must say, the anticipation is really, really mounting here....looking forward to seeing the finished box.

Rick


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

After spending a weekend at the cottage, I think that Mrs Kenbo knew I was hanging for some shop time. I backed into my driveway and she said "If you want to go into your shop, go ahead. The kids and I can unload the truck." I think that all she saw was my dust as I shot off to the shop. :laughing:

So, after the dust cleared, I unclamped all of the drawers, and made sure that there were no large amounts of glue at the corners. Glue at the corners can cause your drawer to sit poorly in the spline jig, messing up your spline slots.










I installed my ripping blade and checked it for square against the table.









From there, I set the height of my blade to 3/8" and locked it down. This will be the depth of my spline slots.









Clamping the drawer in my handy dandy spline jig, I set the fence so that the spline slot would be 1/4" lower than the top edge of the drawer. I then ran all four corners of the drawers through the blade, then rotated the drawer and cut the slots in the lower corners of the drawers.









At this stage of the game, you should have some drawers that look like this.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I then proceeded to shift my fence 3/8" to the right. From there, I repeated the above process untill all of my spline slots were cut.
You should have something that resembles this.










Inserting a length of the walnut splines that we cut earlier, I marked a rough length that I wanted the splines to be.








This length is not crucial, as I said earlier. A piece of painter's tape on the band saw table is a great way to mark a reference point for cutting the splines.









I then proceded to cut all 48 splines. I cut 2 extra splines for the  factor.









I then proceded to glue in all 48 splines, cleaning up the squeeze out as I went. Be sure to dry fit your splines before glueing. It's a lot easier to adjust the thickness of your spline before you get it smothered in glue.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

And here, we can see that all of our splines have been glued in. I'm not going to mess with them tonight, but instead, I will move on to cut the rails needed for the drawers. Stay tuned folks.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Outstanding Kenbo. I envy your shop and skills. I am a mere wood cutter when compared to you. :thumbsup:


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## ArmedFerret (Aug 24, 2011)

bookmarked.


just like oh so many of your other threads.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I had some time after dinner, so out to the shop I went. I'm hoping to get the final steps completed and the project assembled tomorrow but anything can happen at this point.
While I'm waiting for my splines to dry, I decided that I would make my drawer guides. The plans call for 1/2" thick stock that is 12 1/8" long so I set up my miter gauge and cut my stock to length. I'm usually one that like to use the proper blade for the proper cut, and in this case, I forgot to change my blade. Those with a keen eye might notice that I have a ripping blade in the saw. It never made a difference to my cuts, so I didn't worry so much about it.









I then installed my dado blade, with all chippers in place, and set the height of the blade to 1/4". This will be used to cut the dado to recess the drawer guides into the frame.









I set the stop on my miter gauge to cut the edge of the dado, 1 3/4" in from the end of the stock. I then verified that measurement and moved my stop to the left to continue removing stock until the entire 1 3/4" of the board had been dadoed. (that was a mouthful)









I then measured the interior dimensions of the drawer frame and squared a mark on the stock. I then set my miter stop to coincide with this measurement. I then made the first cut. Once I was satified with the fit of the guides, I moved the stop to the left and continued to remove stock until it was removed to the end of the guide.









A dry fit is called for here, and once I was happy with the fit of the guides, I installed my ripping blade, squared it to the table, set my fence at 1/2", and confirmed the measurement. I then proceded to rip the dadoed stock into 1/2' strips. Here, we can see the 4 completed guides. Tomorrow, I will be rounding the edges and installing the guides.









That's it for tonight, but tomorrow is another day. Thanks for looking.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Kenbo said:


> From there, I set the height of my blade to 3/8" and locked it down. This will be the depth of my spline slots.
> View attachment 29227


THAT'S what that's for! I have a store bought push stick with the"stair steps" on the back end of it and I couldn't figure out what it's purpose was.

Now I know.


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## ArmedFerret (Aug 24, 2011)

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Now I know.




sorry kenbo, i don't normally hijack like this but i couldn't help such a great setup. :shifty:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

So I'm back today to continue with the project. The first thing that I wanted to do, was cut the splines as close to flush as I could. I used my favourite method of the bandsaw, being careful not to gouge the maple walls of the drawers while I'm trimming.









After all of the splines were cut off, I proceded to sand all of the drawers to a grit of 120, just to make sure that all of the splines were flush. At this point, you should have something that looks like this.










It's now time to round the corners of the drawers using a 1/2" roundover bit. I set the bit into the router table and, using my straight edge, brought the fence level with the bit's bearing. Using the fence as support, I routed all of the drawers corners and sanded again. This time, however, I sanded to a grit of 220.









You should now how 3 drawers that look something like this.









Having all of the drawers finished and ready for assembly, I now headed over to the drill press to drilled the counter sunk holes in the rails for mounting. Following the plans, I drilled a countersink hole, 1" from the inside edge of the dado, at each end of the rail.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I then used a circle template and drew my rounded profile at each end of the rails. You want to be careful here not to mix up the orientation of the rails, as the profiles are different and the rails only mount in one directions. (The back of the rail overhangs the frame by about 3/8".)










Heading over to the disc sander, I rounded the profiles on each end of the rails. I finished off the shaping on my random orbital sander. If I had it back, I would have used my oscillating spindle sander to sand the profiles due to the fact that the disc sander takes off too much material, too fast. There's a little more control with the oscillating.










Here we can see all 4 rails, shaped, sanded and ready for the next step.









The next step, is to rout the recesses that will accept the drawer rails. I'm going to be using a 1/2" straight bit for this. 










I then set the height of the bit to 1/4" which coincides with the thickness of the rails, once they are installed. In the spirit of alternative methods, instead of using my step gauge, I used a 1/4" set up block with a 1/8" set up block on top. I raised the bit until it was touching the 1/8" block making the bit 1/4" above the table.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I wish I had taken a few more pictures of this next step because pictures are a little easier to follow. The 1/2" dado in the side walls of the drawers have to be centered. The drawer is 2 1/2" high. The dado is 1/2" wide. If we subtract the 1/2" dado from the 2 1/2" side wall, it leaves us with 2". If we require equal space on either side of the dado, then we have to divide this measurement by 2, giving up 1". It is for this reason, that I placed a 1" set up block against my fence, and slid the fence until the block rested against the bit. I then locked down my fence. One step done. The dado starts at the rear of the lower 2 drawers and stops 5/8" from the from edge of each drawer. I drew a line at 5/8" from the front of a drawer, laid a square against the fence so that it was resting against the leading edge of the bit, and then lined up the line on the box with the edge of the square that was resting on the bit. The opposite side of this setup, resembles the final resting place where the drawer will have to stop in order to stop the dado at 5/8" from the front edge. I used a c-clamp to lock down a stop block at this position. (Holy crap, I think I just hurt my head) Don't use a quick grip clamp for this. You need something that isn't going to move and a quick grip can slip.










I made a test cut on some scrap and took carefull measurements. I measured several times, because the last thing that we want at this stage in the game, is a poorly laid out dado that would ruin the drawers. Once I was satified with the layout on the test piece (I actually got it perfect in one shot. :huh I carried on to rout the dados in both drawers. Pay attention to the orientation here guys. You have to rout from the back of the drawer to the front.









Now, it's time for assembly. I cut 2 pieces of scrap MDF to assist in the mounting of the drawer rails. One piece measuring 1 1/2" wide and the other piece measuring 4 1/2" wide. I clamped the 4 1/2" piece to the frame, butted a rail to the top edge of the MDF, paying attention to the orientation and screwed the rail to the frame. I then repeated this step on the opposite side, paying attention to the rail's orientation.











Once both upper rails are installed, I clamped the 1 1/2" piece of MDF to the frame and screwed the lower rails to the frame, holding the rails flush to the MDF. I then repeated this procedure on the opposite side. If all is right at this point, this should leave a gap of 1/2" between your middle and bottom drawers.









If all is right with the world, you should be looking at something like this.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Just a though*

For me, designer guy speakin' here, the hard line rectangles for the handles don't compliment the nice rounded corners of the boxes.
I am reminded of the curved cut line on the Keepsake Box I made a while back. Consider making it a graceful curve or even just radius the top corners and or bottoms. Granted the opening will get longer, but that will also help the looks.... Just my humble opinion... again.... sorry Ken. :blink: bill


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I then slid my drawers in place. Laying a 1/2" thick piece of wood on the top of the middle drawer as a spacer, I laid the top drawer in place and screwed it to the frame. I used 1/4" flat washers for spacers, as they were 1/16" thick and one on each side will give me the 1/8" thick spacing required to match the gap of the lower drawers.


























And there you have it guys. A really enjoyable build from start to finish. I didn't read any of the intructions of the plans, I only used the dimensions but I am pretty pleased with the outcome of this project. My plan is to seal it with tung oil, and then finish it with wipe on poly. I'm not a big fan of the plywood in the bottom of the drawers, so I'm thinking that I would like some thin cork in the bottom. I considered felt or flocking, but I thought that it would stand out too much. Cork is my choice.
Thanks a lot for following along.
I'm now heading on to alternative methods challenge project number 2. Hope you like it.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

woodnthings said:


> For me, designer guy speakin' here, the hard line rectangles for the handles don't compliment the nice rounded corners of the boxes.
> I am reminded of the curved cut line on the Keepsake Box I made a while back. Consider making it a graceful curve or even just radius the top corners and or bottoms. Granted the opening will get longer, but that will also help the looks.... Just my humble opinion... again.... sorry Ken. :blink: bill


 
No trouble Bill. Your opinion is always welcome here on my threads. I think this one might be a trick of the photo because there is a 1/4" rounded profile at the top and bottom corners. I have to agree with you, that a squared opening for the drawers wouldn't fit in. Good call.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

The project is done, with the exception of the finish. You have all seen the assembled project so you know what it looks like. I went back out to the shop and took the project apart to apply a coat of tung oil. I just wanted to show the way that the splines on both the frame and the drawers, really pop once the walnut is darkened with a finish. Awesome stuff.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Once again, a great demonstration and wonderful work.

I never would have thought to use a router to round over the corners of the boxes. I'd have used a band saw and disk sander...

That's what makes these Alternative Method projects so interesting. Seeing how we do things... alternatively.... :thumbsup:


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Very nice Kenbo. That is one smart looking 3-tier box! Thanks again for being so diligent in documenting your process. :thumbsup:


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## kpo101 (Aug 5, 2011)

I still haven't figured out the counter-sunk holes in the top drawer?

I think i got, it you are going to mount it as a fixed drawer.


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## kpo101 (Aug 5, 2011)

My bad I missed your last few pictures.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Typical, Ken. I haven't even gotten home to have a chance to start and you're already finished with one of the projects. Thank you very much for your participation in this whole thing... another fine project from shop kenbo.

PS: I agree entirely with your choice for cork as the drawer lining... it seems to go more appropriately with an office environment too.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Looks great Ken, well done. The 'keys' really add a lot of detail.












 







.


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

Turned out wonderfully! You are one industrious man Ken.


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## abetrman (Mar 18, 2011)

*Very nice!*

Could someone tell me what the alternative method challenge is?


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

*Thread link*



abetrman said:


> Could someone tell me what the alternative method challenge is?


http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/alternate-methods-challenge-29851/

See link above. It came from a desire to do some of the projects in WW magazines but we don't all have the tools and jigs required. Thus "Alternate Methods" was launched.


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## Webster (Mar 6, 2009)

Great job Ken!
Good reading and very inspirational.

You don't have to take the time to do these tutorials, fortunately you do, and seem to enjoy making them....almost as much as the woodworking part.
Your dedication is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Rick

Great idea for cork for a drawer lining too :thumbsup:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Today marks the completion of another alternative methods project. I applied the finish over the past few days and today, I installed the cork linings in each of the trays. I hope you guys like the final results.


































Again, I will list the tools that I used.
Compound miter saw
Jointer planer
Tilt box digital angle meter
12" straight edge
Various squares
Thickness planer
Calipers
Table saw, fence and miter gauge
Combination square
Clamps:45 degrees, spring, quick grips and frame
Band saw
Scroll saw
Flush cut saw
Chisels
Router table
Disc sander
Height adjustment gauge
Drill press
Set up blocks
Various sanders
Awl
Counter sink bit
1/8" bit
1/4" brad point bit
1/2" round over router bit
1/2" straight router bit


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## AFMac (Aug 5, 2011)

Man, that is flat out beautiful. It's great how a simple everyday object can turn out to be something so great to look at.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

AFMac said:


> Man, that is flat out beautiful. It's great how a simple everyday object can turn out to be something so great to look at.


I agree. It's not simply a desk organizer: it's a real piece of art. Very nice.


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## slicksqueegie (Feb 9, 2011)

awesome work once again!


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