Project by Dave Polaschek | posted 05-10-2019 11:21 PM | 1091 views | 0 times favorited | 25 comments | ![]() |
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I needed a box to hold the set of gimlet drill bits I bought for making planes (they leave clean exit holes, or will once I sharpen them). Took a 3/4 piece of canarywood, resawed it to 3/8 and ripped it into four grain-wrapped sides. Cut the sides in half and put dadoes on the inside of each half to hold a piece of 1/8 hard maple to form a dust seal and friction fit for the lid.
Mitered the sides and glued them together, then added citrus dovetailed splines, eyeballing the spacing. Put a piece of hard maple on the bottom and used more of the maple to make an insert to hold the bits in place. Capped the top of the box with a piece of Bradford pear I stabilized as a test back in December, and the box was built.
Smoothed the sides on the belt-sander and shaped the top. A coat of BLO and some blonde shellac and it’s done.
-- Dave - Santa Fe
25 comments so far
GR8HUNTER
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8254 posts in 1679 days
#1 posted 05-10-2019 11:53 PM
simply 1 beautiful box love the dovetailed splines GREAT JOB :<))))
-- Tony---- Reinholds,Pa.------ REMEMBER TO ALWAYS HAVE FUN :<))
Oldtool
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3149 posts in 3157 days
#2 posted 05-11-2019 12:21 AM
Nice design & build, and the wood selection is pretty nice too
-- "I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The point is to bring them the real facts." - Abraham Lincoln
Dave Polaschek
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#3 posted 05-11-2019 12:30 AM
Thanks, guys.
I’ve done the dovetailed splines before, Tony. But practice makes better. I made a bunch of spare spline material too, so you’ll probably be seeing citrus splines again soon.
Tom, it was all scraps at hand. The canarywood was a $5 piece from the shorts bin at Rockler, and I’m pretty glad I grabbed it. It’s pretty and nice to work.
-- Dave - Santa Fe
doubleDD
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#4 posted 05-11-2019 12:35 AM
A lot of great effort put into the making. Nicely done dave.
-- Dave, Downers Grove, Il. -------- When you run out of ideas, start building your dreams.
oldrivers
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#5 posted 05-11-2019 12:38 AM
Well done, I like the dove tails, great job.
-- Soli Deo gloria!
Dave Polaschek
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#6 posted 05-11-2019 12:42 AM
Thanks!
Dave, there was also plenty of sitting and staring at it, trying to figure if the bits were going to fit and now get banged around and… I finally ended up stuffing a piece of bubble-wrap into the lid.
-- Dave - Santa Fe
Kelster58
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#7 posted 05-11-2019 12:59 AM
Looks like a very nice box Dave. Nice set of drill bits too. You added a lot of nice details to the box….pretty cool
-- K. Stone “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” ― Benjamin Franklin
Dave Polaschek
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6631 posts in 1549 days
#8 posted 05-11-2019 08:57 AM
Thanks, Kelly!
-- Dave - Santa Fe
robscastle
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#9 posted 05-11-2019 09:33 AM
Looks like something I would use to repair a motorbike tyre with….snicker snicker !
-- Regards Rob
Dave Polaschek
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6631 posts in 1549 days
#10 posted 05-11-2019 10:51 AM
Hmm. I don’t think it would work well on my tubed tyres, Rob. ;-)
-- Dave - Santa Fe
LittleBlackDuck
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#11 posted 05-11-2019 11:44 PM
Love to see others looking after their often neglected tool D’P’ (nearly spelled you with a small P… I assume you may prefer a big P). It’s incredible how we look after some of our tools and may at times spend more time on protecting them than using them (well I do).
I have kept my little secret for many years, however, since you’ve shown me yours I’ll show you mine…

forgive this Philistine as I don’t even know what the plane is called that the blades belong to… all I know is it had Record 044 embossed on it’s side and it ruined the crap out of my turntable… my Beatles will never sound the same!
PS. I didn’t buy it but inherited it, hence my ignorance… but as the missus would volunteer… arrogance!
-- If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
Dave Polaschek
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6631 posts in 1549 days
#12 posted 05-12-2019 12:31 PM
Appears to be irons for a combination plane of some sort, LBD. And now I’m the one required to say, “nice box!”
-- Dave - Santa Fe
LittleBlackDuck
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#13 posted 05-12-2019 06:40 PM
Nice to have a sparring partner!
-- If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
Dave Polaschek
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6631 posts in 1549 days
#14 posted 05-12-2019 09:38 PM
Float like a bee, sting like a butterfly?
-- Dave - Santa Fe
robscastle
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7649 posts in 3171 days
#15 posted 05-13-2019 12:16 AM
Float and waddle like a duck?
-- Regards Rob
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