# table saw cove miter spline box (in progress)



## btyirin (Aug 14, 2008)

I decided to test out the new saw and cut some cove. Until now I had never done it before. Very cool stuff. Then I decided to test myself. It might look simple but I had to come up with some new jigs and do some thinking on this one. The miters are compound angles to give the cove a bigger sweep. I did a 45 degree bevel and set the fence at 45 degrees for the cove. the hardest and longest part was cutting the splines flush with the box. Lots of hand work. I didn't have a plan in my head for this it just evolved on its own. 

The box is sanded to 60 grit so far. I'm going to shape the handle a little more and call it done. Just finish the sanding and get the wipe on ready. Can't wait to see the color come out






​


----------



## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Bri man I love this one. The shape is awesome and the offset handle in contrasting wood is fantastic. I can't wait to see the finish on it either. Great work, as always.
Ken


----------



## STL_apprentice (Dec 20, 2010)

Great work. Looks awesome. Can't wait to see the finished pictures.


----------



## haugerm (Nov 19, 2009)

Very cool and creative. How did you get the splines so precise on those curved edges?
--Matt


----------



## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

You're just having way too much fun! You are taking box making to a new level.

Bret


----------



## btyirin (Aug 14, 2008)

Thanks guys! 

Ken, I was gonna finish it today but my wood just got delivered so I'm going to need to organize the shop a little before this box gets any color. Hopefully this weekend



haugerm said:


> Very cool and creative. How did you get the splines so precise on those curved edges?
> --Matt


 I cut the splines in after I glued up the box. I just eyeballed some lines on one corner and ran it threw the table saw (carefully) on a little sled.



Lola Ranch said:


> You're just having way too much fun! You are taking box making to a new level.
> 
> Bret


 Too much fun indeed! Since the jointer arrived I am turning into a freak. I really don't want to come out of the shop at all.

Bri


----------



## Fudwrecker (Jan 27, 2011)

this is a work of art - great job - it really "flows"

did you cove with the table saw? I know you would need a special jig for that - but what about the blade - as you pushing wood across on an angle does it need to have a special teeth configuration or is a specific blade better than others?


----------



## btyirin (Aug 14, 2008)

Fudwrecker said:


> did you cove with the table saw? I know you would need a special jig for that - but what about the blade - as you pushing wood across on an angle does it need to have a special teeth configuration or is a specific blade better than others?


This was my setup for the cove. The wide pieces of birch ply used to be my straight edge for my router edge jointing setup. It wasn't a very good setup. But it worked well for this. As far as blades go.........I don't know. I took my good blade off and put the 40 tooth blade that Grizzly sent me with the saw. I wasn't sure what to expect. But I wasn't gonna use my 100 dollar blade. Hopefully some one with more experience will chime in on what the best blades to use for cove are. With all the angles and potential coves that can be created it would seem to me that one blade might work better for a certain angle then another. I wasn't expecting a perfect cut and knew I was going to have to do some sanding. However I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth the cutting went. You would think that it would burn the wood. But no, it cut very smooth. I can't remember how many passes I took but it was alot. I was only cutting about a 1/16th off at a time. I skimmed the last pass very slowly hoping to get a smoother result. Still had to sand though. Quite a bit. 














​


----------



## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

I used a 50 tooth, not sure wich blade would be correct tho. 

And I do remember the sanding, sanding, sanding. :smile:


----------



## Geoguy (Feb 22, 2008)

Kenbo said:


> Bri man I love this one. The shape is awesome and the offset handle in contrasting wood is fantastic. I can't wait to see the finish on it either. Great work, as always.
> Ken


What he said - Good Job!!


----------



## cowboy dan (Apr 11, 2010)

the cove looks awsome. i havn't done this yet for myself.... i did however used my ts to cut some curves for my console. my bandsaw blade kept flying off and i couldn't figure why. i resorted to cutting sideways free hand on the ts. next time i will stop and figure things out. the ts isn't a bandsaw....lol.

are you doing anything shpecial with the inside of this one?


----------



## cowboy dan (Apr 11, 2010)

mdntrdr said:


> I used a 50 tooth, not sure wich blade would be correct tho.
> 
> And I do remember the sanding, sanding, sanding. :smile:


 off topic, but i love your wall of old hand tools.


----------



## btyirin (Aug 14, 2008)

Thanks guys! I'm working on another one right now. Same cove profile but I flipped it upside down so the sweep is different. I made this one in walnut. I'll use maple for the splines. 



cowboy dan said:


> are you doing anything shpecial with the inside of this one?


These are pretty small boxes. Kinda for decoration more or less. I hadn't really thought about what could be done on the inside. I did have an idea to give them as gifts to my family and fill them with sand from Long Beach Island. This was our favorite vacation spot growing up and we all moved away from each other and none of us are close to the shore anymore. Aside from that I got nothing. Any ideas? I'm sure if I think about it I can come up with something 

Bri


----------



## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

*stack laminated curved table saw cove molding*

That's a mouthful.

The first photo shows my very rudimentary jig. If you look real close you will see that I patched where I had a curve cut out in the jig fence. I also had to raise the fence off the table so the top of the molding could rub against the fence. I had to patch the curve for the straight side pieces.

The second photo shows the molding in place on the curved front cabinet. For an extra challenge I set the entire shop on its side and had to work wearing anti-gravity boots.

The third photo shows a cove bonnet I did a while back using table saw cove.

Bret


----------



## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Very nice.

Try a dado head,tilted........you have to experiment with the specific degree.It seems to change depending on the angle that the stock is run at.BW


----------



## btyirin (Aug 14, 2008)

Bret, those are REALLY awesome. 


Dado blade....... That would allow you to also make smaller cove, right? I have an 8 inch. I'm going to have to try that. Thanks, BW

Bri


----------



## MikeS (Dec 31, 2009)

Guys, those are inspiring pieces. I think one day I am going to give that a try too. Thanks for sharing.


----------



## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

Very nice looking box! :thumbsup:
Cutting coves on the TS takes a lot of trial and error. On Matthias Wandel´s homepage there is a Cove Cutting Calculator that reduces a lot of the guesswork.


----------



## ch0mpie (Nov 10, 2006)

Nice work. I was also surprised how easy it was to cut a cove on the ts the first time. Also, if I was doing a cove were I needed a smaller blade I would use my circular saw blade in the ts, not the blade from my dado stack.


----------



## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

Some one mentioned a lot of sanding on the table saw coves. Try using a curved scraper. That's what I've been using and it eliminates almost all the sanding. Sanding is not my favorite thing either.

Bret


----------



## btyirin (Aug 14, 2008)

*Scrapers*

Bret, I have limited experience with scrapers. Would something like this from woodcraft do the trick? 

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2020022/19046/Curved-Scraper-Set-4.aspx


----------



## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

btyirin said:


> Bret, I have limited experience with scrapers. Would something like this from woodcraft do the trick?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## btyirin (Aug 14, 2008)

*Finish is on*

I'm going to grab a set of those scrapers asap. Thanks, Bret. 

Here's how the box came out. I did my current finish on it. 1/3 BLO, 1/3 gloss poly, 1/3 spirits or thinner or turp. No wax yet. Sadly the cherry looks blotchy this time. I have heard that cherry can be tricky. Until now I never had a problem with it. 

On a brighter note........I got to use Kenbo's light box again :thumbsup:

Bri





​


----------



## gus (Oct 31, 2010)

great photo. amazing box.


----------

