1st Template cut for boxes

We are baby sitting our youngest granddaughter for the week end
Jean took her to see her sister, leaving me time by myself to make progress on my boxes.  Thank you dear.

So first was to clear out my bench.  You would think that a small bench forces you to keep it clear as you work, but... Nah, not really

A tad cramped but I am used to work wherever, how ever, 

underground, at sea or in the air :-)

Next was to cross cut my pieces to their final dimensions.  A job for the mitre saw station, but which ones? I only have 7 :-)

Gambling that the blade in the NOBEX would give me the finesse cut on my stock

Using my existing correctly sized smaller piece to set it up

Once solidly clamped in place, I could easily cut duplicates.

A lot quieter after a quick swipe of wax on the blade, it's a tad rusty :-)

The mitre saw is attached to a board which is locked to the bench top by one holdfast.  

Two would be better, but I would need to add one more hole. 

The longer piece had to be inserted from the other end, so I used the built in length stop

The rod is locked in place by the screw knob

The NOBEX cut piece on top

Not bad, still a bit of  fuzz, but not as ragged cut as the other saws

Having cut sufficient pieces for my two boxes,

time to take it down back in storage.

Saw shown in its stow position, brilliant

Once all cut to size, time to ensure we have square stock.  This is critical for not only the subsequent layout, but if you want to end up with a square assembly you gotta start with square stock of equal lengths, meaning once all my boards had their edges shot, I re-shot them together making sure they were kept flush at the other end.  We are not talking much of a trim here, a few passes perhaps, but then you know for sure that you are going to be square.
Yes, you end up with a slightly smaller by a smidgen box, but I gave myself plenty of wiggle room.

Swapping the mitre saw for the shooting board

Both ends were shot

All the cut ends from the NOBEX have a slight bump in the middle, indicating my blade is cupping during the cut.  Not by much but enough to be detected by the square and felt by the shooting plane  .

First inclination (fix) would be to increase the tension on the blade, but the adjuster nut is already full on.

I will experiment with judiciously added washer(s) to see if I can bump the adjuster range to correct.

In cheaper Asian imports frame I would be leery to increase the tension, very flimsy plastic frame on many, but on this one, the frame is quite stout. One or two washers should do the trick. To Be Found Out Later (TBFOL)

That is one thing that I was leery of in this very figured stock.

Crack line in the darker veins.

I will soak in some Krazy glue into it to stabilized it.

Don't want it to split on me while dovetailing !!

Truing one edge

Oups, the pile on the right, I have been a tad too enthusiastic

and took too much.  Pile on left is closer

flat and square is what I'm looking for

 

Then re-shot my ends together, then flip my board sandwich and do other side.

This way I know they are square and same length

My two piles ready for marking and cutting dovetails

The wheel type gauge excel at marking hard wood cross grain,

 but the mark is kinda faint for my old eyes.

Needs more light to see what I'm doing.  I darken my lines with a pencil

For the cross cuts, I deepen the mark with my knife, 

it's after all a first class cut.

Cut most of the waste with my fret saw

Then its only a matter of chopping close to the base line

One pass on each side

Then pare to the baseline

Rinse and repeat and we have our first template to cut two joints

By then I was sweating buckets, time for a break.  Need to go get some gas and mow my lawn.  With all the rain we are getting, it's growing like crazy but it is hardly dry enough to cut before the next rain.  Want to get it done before I let John Deere pick up my tractor for its annual maintenance.  This time I told them don't even bother with sharpening the blades, just replace them.

One template done, grass mow, time for a cold one

Bob, getting a good licking from Rudy