As much as I'd like to say I finished the Air Force project I last wrote about - things kept cropping up, and I couldn't scrape together the time necessary to complete it.
Good news is - I've used these no-mortise hinges so many times, I could probably install them in my sleep. I like everything about them - the color, their low profile, and the ease in which they install.
But - even though technically, a mortise isn't needed for these, I chose to cut a small, shallow ones, so that the lid would sit perfectly flush with the bottom. If I didn't, the lid and the box bottom would have a small gap in between them.
Who can live with that?
I roughed the mortise out on my tablesaw, using the fence to cut it an equal distance from each end of the box.
Good news is - I've used these no-mortise hinges so many times, I could probably install them in my sleep. I like everything about them - the color, their low profile, and the ease in which they install.
But - even though technically, a mortise isn't needed for these, I chose to cut a small, shallow ones, so that the lid would sit perfectly flush with the bottom. If I didn't, the lid and the box bottom would have a small gap in between them.
Who can live with that?
I roughed the mortise out on my tablesaw, using the fence to cut it an equal distance from each end of the box.
And then cleaned up the surface with a chisel
and a sanding block.
When the mortise was clean, I used a vix bit to pre-drill some holes. There's nothing worse than getting everything laid out and then drilling your screw holes off-center. So a vix-bit helps drill a perfectly centered hole.
Since this box is made of Beech, which is extremely hard, I knew that in addition to pre-drilling the holes, I needed to lubricate the screws. Some people use soap, some use wax - I spritzed my with a shot of WD-40. Or as some people call it - Jamie's favorite perfume.
Peter Korn's - Working with Wood is one of my favorite reference books, and in it, he wrote about the value of having work surfaces of varying heights. Depending on what I'm doing, I use one of three different benches - and for sanding this box, I pulled out the lowest bench I have, to make sanding a little easier on my back.
Here is the mama bear bench on the right, and the baby bear bench on the left.
Here is the mama bear bench on the right, and the baby bear bench on the left.
After a little more sanding, there are just two things left - add the coin ledge inside, and then oil the entire piece.
Classes start up again this week, so my time is going to be in short supply. Hopefully, I'll get an hour or two to complete this!
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