I started milling up some walnut for the next urn. This one will be for my husband, and he picked out the board from what I had stocked up (used top part of the board pictured with the arrow).
I had tearout on the curl portion with the jointer and planer so lesson learned not to use those tools with highly figured wood.
I thought this would be thick enough to resaw for a continuous grain, but don't think that was a good decision. The thickness is only about 3/8.
Good news is that after trips through the drum sander, that tearout is more limited, and would be to the inside anyway to have the continuous grain facing out.
Not sure how I will go about inserting the top with boards this thin - as I liked the floating top from my first urn project. Same concern with the base. I could start over with a new board, but was brainstorming (and not sleeping!!) on if I could glue an internal board to increase the thickness. BUT then wondered if that was a bad idea related to any wood movement or construction issues.
Interested in any thoughts on wall thickness - is this too thin...are there ways to recover/fix or should I just start over?
3/8" is still pretty thick. It's plenty stiff enough and strong enough. You can make a groove at 3/16". I've made boxes with 1/4" walls that are going strong 30 years later. One downside is the end result will not be as heavy or have as bulky of a look - a matter of preference there.
So, with a groove at 3/16, how much space should I allow for wood movement? The top will be wood, so thinking how much I should undersize, realizing there won't be as much within the groove as when I had a thicker wall. 🤔
Working through what sections I want to use. I think this will be good - parts have the curl and then the nice grain. With the resaw this "should" give all four corners. Looking at the sides
3/8 is plenty thick to float a top or bottom in a dado. Make the dado 3/16 or even a full quarter thick, and just be gentle when you’re assembling things. Once it’s together, the parts reinforce each other.
3/8 is plenty thick to float a top or bottom in a dado. Make the dado 3/16 or even a full quarter thick, and just be gentle when you’re assembling things. Once it’s together, the parts reinforce each other.
I typically don't glue wood panels, other than just a dab in the center of the ends. My worry was if the "thin wall" at the outside of the groove still be strong enough. From the consensus, sounds like it should be. I typically am an "over builder" so these fine measures feel uncomfortable (new territory).
And I need to figure out accurately doing an inlay as he wants a cross on the top. I purchased a router inlay kit so time to practice with that. Learning a lot with these projects!
This is what I used for my tea boxes which have 3/8" walls and a 4" wide top.
All the slots are 1/8" (TS rip blade kerf) For 3/8" thick walls....
Raise the TS blade 3/8". Cut the kerf with the blade set 1/8" from the fence around the perimeter of the lid, inside surface against the fence.
Without moving the fence, lower the blade to 3/16" or 1/4" (wall dado depth) and cut the groove along the top inside edges of the walls.
Trim off the lids tongue to 3/16" (for 3/16" depth dados) or 1/8" (for 1/4" dado) in from the edges of the lid.
The sides are then positioned 1/8" or 3/16" out from the walls outside faces for the top reveal and the gap in the dados for wood movement.
The walls that meet the lids end grain can be glued with a dab in the center of the slot and seated fully on the lids tongue. If you glue these ends so they are centered on the lid, you then can just assemble the rest of the box knowing the lid is centered side/side and front/back with the maximum room for expansion or contraction.
Splintergroup- wow...thank you! I had to reread several times to fully understand the process, but this is great!! Feeling better about moving forward.
Still may need to do something on the bottom (?extra piece glued inside to provide thicker edge) as for the first one, will be screwed in from the bottom. Fear screwing into only 3/8 could cause splitting or going through the side.
You could do that for the bottom if placing a box or bag inside would clear. Alternatively you could frame the bottom so it slips over the boxes outside, Then screws could be shifted slightly outward from the centerline of the sides for more "meat" on the inside for screws. Truly, if your screw pilot holes are correctly sized, they won't cause cracks in the sides.
Trick to the lid is to get your sides all mitered and glue-ready so you know exactly the size needed for the lid.
Here are some better details if you decide to try this style of lid at some point.
Splintergroup- you are the best! You should publish an "answers to frequently asked woodworking questions" book
I like this for the top, but the bottom will need to be attached later, after the cremains are placed inside so the frame idea might be more workable. I hope to pick up one of the temporary plastic boxes tomorrow so I'll have better confidence in sizing the wooden box.
