Making a box with Spalted Beech

Sean Farrell

This is possibly the 1st time i have worked with a hardwood as in using both hand and power tools. I've made boxes out of Mdf and pine and found them easiy enuf to work with(apart from dust)
I had a piece of spalted beech that was lying around the garage for a long while so i tried to make something out of it.
I never realised how hard ...beech was to work with, and having it bow out of shape didnt help. I covered the beech in a damp cloth in an attempt to straighten it out without much success...i think the pieces were too small.
So i sharpened my chisel set, got out my dividers , used my maths and with great initial great enthuasiam marked out my pins and tails.
Pretty soon i realised i was out of my depth with the whole back to basics hand tool business and returned to the drill press and router set up. God was i relieved.
So ok i changed my joinery from dovetail to (ooo) biscuits with the box.u cant see the biscuit slots on the sides in photos...but believe me they're there alrite.
I had to give up on that also as the beech was so warped that the whole box alignment was off.
So...in order to retrieve the project i resorted to ...yes i'm embarrassed...the old screws hidden by plugs trick. Here's the result.
Apologies to the experienced woodworkers out there for wasting ur precious time looking upon my efforts.:o..and here are some more photos of what i can do with less challenging woods...i hope this helps in redeeming myself and my reputation.
So what have i learned...
1.clean my router bits regullary for one...yep u can see the burn marks on the sides where the photo inserts go.
2. Go back to evening classes and learn the woodwork basics....
3. Learn how to sharpen My Chisels the correct way

I appreciate u reading this so far and well done keeping ur patience and concentration to get to this point. I'm really going to test ur resolve now my asking anyone where i can get 16 mm crank hinges for the lid of the spalted beech box. I once went to Hafele in Santry...the guy was'nt too pleased to take my tiny order of 20 and i'm lacking the courage to face him again.
Thanks in advance.

tabby aspreme

Sean your making life hard for yourself, Mark the tails and cut them out, then mark the pins from the tails using a marking knife or a sharp pencil, be sure to cut the correct side of the line, prior to cutting make sure you have each corner clearly numbered, practice on some pieces of scrap timber first.

peter bermingham

Youtube is your friend for learning joint making and the like, A good Japanese rip cut saw is handy for dovetails and a dovetail marker is handy. As for sharpening chisels have a look at this i know there top of the range chisels he is sharpening but the same principal applies to any chisel https://youtu.be/9aDPZzMvVTA . I got a €75 set of Stanley chisels spent days flattening the backs of them honing a 30 degree bevel on them, then put on the micro bevel, I also have a set of them lie-Nielsen chisels and the Stanley ones are just as sharp now they don't hold an edge as long, what i am saying is you can get very good results from cheap chisels its about having your tools tuned and practice practice and don't give you will get their. http://www.axminster.co.uk/japanese-hassunme-rip-saw-110041 http://www.axminster.co.uk/veritas-dovetail-markers-610131

recipio

The next one is always better Sean, you need straight stock otherwise boxes are impossible to assemble square. Cut the beech oversize by 5mm or so and leave it in a warm room for about two weeks, then plane and square again. Use a marking knife to mark the dovetails and keep the chisels razor sharp. Those boxes are heirlooms now - keep it up !

Calahonda52

Re
I once went to Hafele in Santry...the guy was'nt too pleased to take my tiny order of 20 and i'm lacking the courage to face him again.

Go back again, they have mellowed, the recession helped

Miname

Beech is a tramp for moving, even when you have it made and sealed it could be 10mm out in the morning. Wear a dust mask with spalted timbers as well, they are carcinogenic.