[Woodworking] Box making

[Tikiman]

DAB's recent thread got me to thinking about how I used to make end grain cutting boards for gifts. Had a lot of fun making those boards, but haven't made one in a while. Got hooked on boxes. Made a bunch with miter joints and reinforced them with slip feathers - the usual stuff. Decided I wanted to learn to cut fine dovetails. Started out practicing with crap wood. Threw a whole lot away. Gradually got better at it and tried it on real wood.

I use the machines in my wood shop to get the wood knocked down to size and squared up and then bring the pieces over to my basement shop where I only do hand work. I installed a nice bench down there, some good lighting, and have a boombox so that I may listen to local radio while I tinker. Hybrid woodworking - half done by machine, half by hand. All boxes have suede lining and are finished with just oil and wax.

[Tikiman]

Once the dovetails are finished, the fun part is over. Back over to my wood shop where I have some operations on my router table and table saw to do. Then, back over to my basement shop for the lining and finishing operations. Compared to the cutting boards, these boxes are actually rather economical to make (aside from the time factor). I can make one of these boxes with a piece of lumber 7" wide by only 36" long.

[Tikiman]

I have made these boxes out of many different timbers. Black walnut is always nice because you sometimes find such wonderful figuring in it. I love to find "scars" in the wood and incorporate them in the finished design. Found an amazing piece of quilted hard maple that I had purchased years ago and forgotten about. That made a rather nice box.

[DAB]

:faint:

You win this round.

I have a dovetail jig. Hand cut? Nope.

[Tikiman]

:faint:

You win this round.

I have a dovetail jig. Hand cut? Nope.


I have a dovetail jig as well. A Leigh D-4. I use it for large items like blanket chests and guitar amps (which I hand build down to the circuits). You should consider giving hand cut dovetails a try. Buy some cheap poplar or pine and go to town. Once you've gotten the hang of it, try to get them to the point where a dime will not slip between the tails. I actually keep a dime on my work bench to test this. Believe it or not, cutting the dovetails is my favorite part of making these boxes. I find it extremely relaxing. Like a day at the beach. :cert:

Here's a black walnut V-front 35 watt tube amp built entirely by me. Half-blind dovetails courtesy of the Leigh D-4.

[Budman]

Beautiful work Tiki!

Dovetails are something I really need to work on. Well, really what I need to work on is patience and attention to detail.

[Tikiman]

Beautiful work Tiki!

Dovetails are something I really need to work on. Well, really what I need to work on is patience and attention to detail.


Some people like to cut the tails first and then the pins. This would never work for me as I make the distance between the tails so small, I would never be able to transfer the marks onto the pin board. I cut my pins small and then transfer them directly to the tail board where I carefully cut just inside the lines. These are sometimes called "London pins". Apparently, three or four hundred years ago woodworkers over in Europe were always competing with each other as to which could do the finest work. The guys from London decided to make their pins so fine that less than .020" would be between the tails. People started calling them "London pins". No real reason to do it other than to show that they are handmade (certainly no router bit exists that could do that).

[Strats-N-Vettes]

I have a dovetail jig as well.
I use it for large items like blanket chests and guitar amps (which I hand build down to the circuits).
Here's a black walnut V-front 35 watt tube amp built entirely by me. Half-blind dovetails courtesy of the Leigh D-4.



This is the reason I like you and wanna be your friend....so....when you croak; I get to have an amp or 9 from your will. :woohoo:







Seriously; have always been a fan of your amp building skill. :yesnod:

[Tikiman]

This is the reason I like you and wanna be your friend....so....when you croak; I get to have an amp or 9 from your will. :woohoo:







Seriously; have always been a fan of your amp building skill. :yesnod:



Thank you! :kimblair: I am always fooling about with them. Here's what's on my bench at the moment. The Bassman in the back is an original '64 (6G6-B) that I own. It needs to be recapped and have the pots cleaned up some. The one in the foreground is a '55 Bandmaster (5E7) that I built from scratch and need to build a cabinet for it. The little one right behind it is a 5 watt Champ (5F1) that I also built and is waiting for a suitable cabinet to be constructed for it. I am toying with the idea of making it look like an old fashioned radio. Perhaps something "art deco".

[StaticCling]

Awesome thread! Beautiful work and those Archtops! WOW! :wow:

[Grey Ghost]

Thank you! :kimblair: I am always fooling about with them. Here's what's on my bench at the moment. The Bassman in the back is an original '64 (6G6-B) that I own. It needs to be recapped and have the pots cleaned up some. The one in the foreground is a '55 Bandmaster (5E7) that I built from scratch and need to build a cabinet for it. The little one right behind it is a 5 watt Champ (5F1) that I also built and is waiting for a suitable cabinet to be constructed for it. I am toying with the idea of making it look like an old fashioned radio. Perhaps something "art deco".

Nice work!

Deoxit for the pots?

I found a Kay Widowmaker for only a couple bucks at an estate sale. Haven't plugged it in...

[Dan47]

Amazing. :yesnod:

[Tikiman]

Nice work!

Deoxit for the pots?

I found a Kay Widowmaker for only a couple bucks at an estate sale. Haven't plugged it in...

Sweet! Do the three prong modification and enjoy it! Modifying a Little 60s Kay 703C Amp into a TONE MONSTER! - YouTube

[snide]

Nice box, 'man...

Sirius.

[ratflinger]

Carpentry, done properly, is always a work of art - well done.

[DAB]

first thing i need to do is learn which is the pin and which is the tail..... :slap:

maybe next year..... :DAB:

[Strats-N-Vettes]

Thank you! :kimblair:
I am always fooling about with them. Here's what's on my bench at the moment.
The Bassman in the back is an original '64 (6G6-B) that I own. It needs to be recapped and have the pots cleaned up some. The one in the foreground is a '55 Bandmaster (5E7) that I built from scratch and need to build a cabinet for it. The little one right behind it is a 5 watt Champ (5F1) that I also built and is waiting for a suitable cabinet to be constructed for it. I am toying with the idea of making it look like an old fashioned radio. Perhaps something "art deco".

Tikiman


Start at 13min and watch to 20min (or whole thing).
I think a large amp with Kumiko patterns would look cool.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPlEr2mtKcA

[Tikiman]

Tikiman


Start at 13min and watch to 20min (or whole thing).
I think a large amp with Kumiko patterns would look cool.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPlEr2mtKcA



That guy has the patience of a saint. What he did with the strips is interesting, but as I watched it, I started to think about a Kumiko grill in lieu of grill cloth. It would be a highly ambitious project. And I would worry about the structural integrity of it. But it would look cool. I've built two amplifiers so far where I have stretched cane over the speaker board. Both turned out very well and have held up well.

Here's an example of a cane grill front on a '57 Twin made from bloodwood. I also inset a plate glass window over the circuit board (my work) so that it would be visible without removing anything. Note the two rectifier tubes. This amp is also the only one where I used Kendrick Blackframe speakers. All of my other designs use Tone Tubbies with hemp cones. Costly, but I like them.

[Strats-N-Vettes]

That guy has the patience of a saint. What he did with the strips is interesting, but as I watched it, I started to think about a Kumiko grill in lieu of grill cloth.
It would be a highly ambitious project. And I would worry about the structural integrity of it.

But it would look cool. I've built two amplifiers so far where I have stretched cane over the speaker board. Both turned out very well and have held up well.

Here's an example of a cane grill front on a '57 Twin made from bloodwood. I also inset a plate glass window over the circuit board (my work) so that it would be visible without removing anything. Note the two rectifier tubes. This amp is also the only one where I used Kendrick Blackframe speakers. All of my other designs use Tone Tubbies with hemp cones. Costly, but I like them.



In lieu of grill cloth?...no way.... even caning would be unacceptable in a player amp.....caning as art? = yes
There's also the cool deep glass look done with fiberglass as he did.
I am curious what that would do to the tone/sound performance?

I think purple heart with Kumiko in gold would look cool. = LSU colors.

Post photos of yourself when you're done so I can inspect how much hair loss and grey the Kumiko caused...:Jeff '79:


I swap out stock speakers with Weber stuff if needed.
https://www.tedweber.com/

[Tikiman]

Strats-N-Vettes

Here's one that might interest you. At first blush anyone would assume that it is just another Fender Deluxe (5E3). There are so many of them out there and every boutique manufacturer has a version. But this one is a 5C3 Deluxe. These were made from 1953 to 1955. As far as I know, nobody makes these. If you want one, you are going to have to build it yourself. And for good reason. The 5C3 circuit uses 8 pin 6SC7 preamp tubes. Even though the tube is a twin triode like the 12AX7, it only has one cathode that feeds both sides of the twin triode. It employs a grid leak bias first gain stage. This is how you bias a preamp tube in which there is no cathode resistor. Instead, a capacitor and large value resistor (5 meg) are in series with the grid signal circuit. Grid current leaks out through the input circuit causing a negative voltage to appear on the grid, thus biasing the tube. The capacitor and large value resistor are used to keep the negative voltage fairly stable. Grid leak bias circuits are obsolete and haven't been used since the '50's. This amp is a dinosaur!

But I wanted one. And, if I couldn't buy one, I was just going to have to build it. :rasta:

This thing through a 12" Tone Tubby is a tone monster. It starts to get dirty at 2. At 5, you are squarely into early Billy Gibbons tones (think Mescalero CD). At 10, you have Neil Young Rust Never Sleeps tone. All without pedals. Just pure, sweet tube distortion. Guitar - cable - amp.

One of these days I may build another one. Just because.

[TripleBlack]

Those are amazing projects! :hurray: It must be incredibly satisfying to combine your circuit building skills with woodworking. This stuff is art.

I'm also a woodworking expert - an expert at watching woodworking videos that is. :D My expertise tapers off drastically at very simple picture frames.



Have you built any guitars?


Thank for posting these!

[Tikiman]

Thank you. I have never built a guitar. I have modded them (Orange Drop capacitor mod on a Les Paul), replaced my share of dodgy pots and switches, and even replaced pickups, but I have never built one. I do all my own set-up work however and have for the past 45 years or so.