Homebuilt acrylic case project part II

[General Septem]

Are you planing your stock before you try routing? I know it's an extra step, but it'll get you right in there for repeatability, so all you'll have to do is shave a few mils with a medium width chisel blade before you can fit up.

 

Edit: I work with a knifemaker that may have a few large pieces of cocoabola for sale at a decent price, let me know if you'd like me to talk to him about it.

 

I normally plane it, but if it's already the thickness I need then I usually don't. I'm sure I'll develop habits as I get into production though.

 

What kind of knives does he sell? I might be more interested in a new knife than the cocobolo actually.

 

 

I stopped at the lumber shop today. I couldn't find any cocobolo but I did end up getting some purpleheart. So what's going to happen is the two corners on top will be purpleheart and the two corners on the bottom will be wenge.

 

I didn't get more wenge for two reasons. First of all, I couldn't find it in ideal dimensions. I could have dimensioned what they had, but I figured I'd take the opportunity to get something different. Second, I recently learned that wenge is endangered. I'm not going to go crazy over it, but as long as there are other woods to choose from, the extra creative challenge is not unwelcome anyway.

 

I was way too tired to be using a router today, but I hope to get some work done tomorrow. Stay tuned.

[Technohydra]

Purpleheart is nice, if a bit tough to work, for me anyways, hehe. He makes custom knives of all types, via grind method. Pro-grade heat treating and the works. I think he uses sawblades as stock.

 

Anywho, gotta run, Homebrewers association meeting, hehe!

[General Septem]

Got some more work done today. I took the purpleheart I bought yesterday and cut the sockets/tails in them. Then I fitted them with a chisel and glued them together. The result:

 

 

@Technohydra: Really? I thought this stuff was a dream to work with. It routed real nice and chiseled real easily. I know my one chisel was sharp, but the other one I used wasn't. What ways is it hard to work with for you?

[Technohydra]

It wouldn't be if my shop bought hardwood bits instead of crappy steel that never gets sharpened...

 

Add to that that I'm an amature woodworker and you get a bad mix.

[General Septem]

And here's what the dovetails look like with all the waste trimmed and sanded flush:

 

 

 

I used a little bit of water in that first pic to simulate what it'll look like finished.

[Technohydra]

Very well executed. Too bad my specialties are metal and stone. I'm not chiseling a marble case, thanks much.

[General Septem]

Thanks.

 

Well a marble case would definitely be unique. :nod:

[General Septem]

And more dovetailing done today. This time I cut the sockets in the end grain of the two side panels. Finally all the dovetailing is done, so I cut the dadoes for the middle and bottom panel.

 

One thing about cutting dadoes is that you have to keep in mind if you want them a certain distance apart on center or a certain distance in between the dadoes.

 

For instance, if you want two dadoes 7" apart, if you wanted them 7" on center apart, then you move the fence over 7". If you want 7" in between the dadoes, you have to move the fence over 7" plus the width of the dado. ...Let's just say that's an easy mistake to make. :nod:

[General Septem]

Here are some pics of my most recent development, by the way: