There was certainly a little creativity and cleverness that I put into the design of this box. Because of that, I have enjoyed the process of making them. Yesterday, I had three batches in various stages of completion and began detailing one group.
Chamfering the Edges
The first step was to chamfer the edges. This detail makes the edges stronger, more comfortable to handle, and more tidy in appearance.
For my prototype, I simply used a file to add the 45-degree bevels to all the edges. It was a slow process – if I had to guess, I’d say it took 20-30 minutes to add the chamfers to one box.
That time requirement was too much for my timeline and budget, so I searched out a carbide chamfer bit with the smallest pilot available. I found this bit with a brass pilot at Infinity Tools. I buried most of it in a scrap piece of particle board for maximum support of the workpiece and safety.
The router bit helped speed things along immensely, but since each box had 68 edges which needed to be chamfered, it still took a while. When I found my rhythm, I found that I was able to chamfer the edges of one box in about 90 seconds.
Some Rejects Due to Damage
In the process of detailing, I found some problems with tearout from a previous operation. This box was rejected because of that.
Not All Damage Results in a Reject
In many large-scale production environments, a box like this would likely have been rejected. But this wasn’t your average production environment – I set this one to the side. I haven’t decided yet what to do with it, however.
Finishing the Chamfers
The router bit did the bulk of the work and created even chamfers. It did not reach into the corners, so I had to clean up the 16 corners of each box by hand, using a file.
I later switched to a chisel to cut the chamfers and continued to use the file to fine-tune as required.
This was a 1/4″ butt chisel that I modified, by cutting off the handle and regrinding the blade, for chopping dovetails. For this application, its short length was the greatest benefit that allowed easy one-handed control.
Fun Shots
While detailing the boxes, I got inspired to take some pictures with my camera and tripod.
I am a member of Inlet Artists, a group of Port Moody artists working together on a project called Hands That Shape Our Community. The project celebrates local artists with photos of them creating their art and including their hands in the photos.
A Reminder
I am offering these boxes for only $50 until the end of November. This price includes shipping within North America and I am donating $5 from the sale of each box to the Canadian Cancer Society.
The Anniversary Box has a way of fascinating people who handle it and I know that, as a reader of my blog, you’ll appreciate it.
Your investment in an Anniversary Box shows your support for my blog, my career, and cancer research. I expect to ship the boxes around the end of November.
Links:
Sculptural Woodwork by Chris Wong 