Woodwork Project: Jig for Mitered Corner Boxes - Using Hand Tools Only
Вставка
- Опубліковано 10 лип 2024
- Hand Tool Woodworking.
I recently set myself a challenge to build a mitered corner box using hand tools only. The hardest problem in that kind of project is cutting accurate 45' angles along the length of a board, so I designed this jig to help.
The reason behind all of this is the recognition that a new woodworker with a limited number of tools is often prevented from trying out some more adventurous projects because the usual methods demonstrated assume access to machine tools or specialist hand tools. I wanted to show how a novice woodworker with a minimum of hand tools could expand the range of projects possible.
This video probably is even slower paced than my usual videos, buts thats because I wanted to ensure I didn't skip over anything that a novice woodworker might not yet have picked up.
I used this jig to make a beach and walnut miter cornered keepsake box, and that build will be coming up in my next video. - Навчання та стиль
Finally, a straightforward and economical solution to the sloppy fit of the adjustable miter to the track in inexpensive Craftsman table saw! Thank you!
Thank you. I spent ages looking for simple solution so in the end had to work something out and figured it might be useful for others.
This is a game changer for my little apartment shop which is hand tools only. Thanks!
Hey Tim, it's great to hear your found the video useful. There is usually some kind of jig you can dream up to help achieve things with hand tools - sometimes improvising jigs is as much fun as the rest of the build. Enjoy you shop.
I agree at last something for the person with only basic hand tools. Perfect video
Thank you, I'm glad you found the video interesting.
AT last a common sense approach, not only a useful project to build but also the use of which will improve hand tool skills, as a retired mechanical engineer who has taken up woodwork as a hobby I have found this the most useful channel on you tube, as every other channel seems to feature a fully equipped workshop with dust extraction which must cost at least the price of a house and of course the ubiquitous table saw which I do not own as yet. Many thanks from a new subscriber. I could say so much more but time and space will not allow. Thanks again. Normski
Hi Normski, thanks so much for your comments. I'm trying to keep all my projects within reach of woodworkers with small spaces and limited tools. I am lucky enough to have a small table saw and band saw, but I use these mostly for dimensioning wood to approximate size. However, I try to stress the idea of building to the dimensions of the material available rather than to any specific measurements - that way hopefully it is possible for those without access to the machines tools to skip that dimensioning step and use what ever size material they can find.
The next video I'll be posting uses this jig in a project to build a mitered corner box just using the basic hand tools, hopefully you'll find that one useful too.
Very nice, very meticulous.
Glad you like it!
How refreshing to see an artisan at work,considering most of the videos on here consist of thousands of pounds worth of power tools,when all they come up with are coasters and box's.A real treat Sir.
Thank you Andy.
Wow… excellent tut! Bravo! 👏✨
Most big YTers use table saws and other machines to make a regular 90deg shooting board… let alone a carcass-miter shooting board!
I’m thinking like…”umm, most people that actually need a shooting board don’t have machine/bench tools” lol
Thanks, it was the same frustration that lead me to filming this project.
Thank you for sharing
Thanks for watching!
Hi I'm a new subby to your channel and have watched many, many videos on how to's n not do's and all the workshops seem equipped with every piece of machinery and hand tools an inspiring woodworker (wood) want or desire to have, like you I have very small workshop watching you work is extremely therapeutic, your patience skill and attention to detail is amazing and there's no ultra annoying background music and the best yet for me is that you don't toss your tools around the bench unlike many other woodworkers on U toob do! So huge thanks from me to you for sharing your skills and knowledge (and not tossing your tools around) 🙂 👏👏🖖
Hi Peter, sorry for the late reply. Thanks for you nice comments. One of the reasons I started the channel was because so many channels were based in large, well equipped workshops and it worried me that people may be put off starting a wonderful hobby/career because they get the impression that it takes a huge amount of money to get started.
I’ve been looking for what I now know is this video for months now. Thank you!
LOL - I did the same before I worked this out. Glad it was helpful!
Wish I could give this more likes.
I've been wanting to do some mitered boxes, but don't have the money or space for all the power tools. Thanks so much!
Glad I could help. Best of luck with your box building.
This is exactly what I was looking for. I want to make mitered corners for deep shadowbox frames, and every other shooting board jig called for some piece to be made with a power router with another jig or table setup. I will confess that I will be using a cordless power drill for the screw holes. ;-) Many thanks!
Hi Bear, I had exactly the same problem trying to find a jog which is why I thought this one up. I'll forgive you the power drill ;-)
Even though your video is 3 years old, its extremely useful, and I feel should be requirement for the beginner wood worker ( even myself)!!
I have become quite obsessed with perfecting miter joints ( 45°s)....
I can't begin to tell you exactly how many videos I have watched on the various methods of cutting perfect miters.
Again, thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much. I'm glad you found the video useful.
Nice to see hand tools being used. I forgot I have a tool box full of them. I am going to haul them out, blow off the dust and sharpen the hand saw' and blades and do a couple of project's by hand. Thank you for reminding me that you can get as much satisfaction using hand tool's as well as the bigger machines.
Thank you for your comment, it's great to hear your hand tools will be escaping their box.
I've been wanting to make one of these myself and wasn't sure how to go about it with hand tools but you've just shown me how to do it :) Thanks
HI, I'm glad you found the video useful. I went through a few prototype dead ends before coming up with this. I've used the jig for a few projects now and it's working very well so far.
I love this idea! This is what woodworking is all about, creating and solving problems and making things that are useful and or beautiful
Hi Adam, thank you. I do enjoy the problem solving aspect of woodworking. There is something uniquely satisfying as conceiving a jig or method and then finding it actually works!
Very thoughtful and clear. Thanks very much. I went looking for a better layout for a shooting board for mitre joints and found one, I’ll definitely go back and look at the others. Agree with all the other comments about the focus on doing more without a big shop, but I would also say that the focus on which surfaces and joints are key to success is good even for shops equipped with more power tools. Well done
Thank you.
If I had a table saw I wouldn't need a shooting board like this. Thanks for coming up with one that can be made by hand!
Thank you, that was my thought. I've seen a few jig builds on UA-cam but the idea of using machines to build a hand tool jig seemed daft.
This was very helpful. I'll be making one of these jigs. Thanks for sharing. Best wishes
Glad you found it useful. Let us know if you come up with any improvements when you make yours.
Great project! I learned a lot from this. The jig seems to work perfectly. On to making some boxes with my daughter.
Ah, that's great to hear. I love working on projects with my kids.
Thanks for this so many great tips I'd never though of
Thanks, I'm glad you found the video useful.
Thank you for sharing, it is awesome!
Greetings from Brazil!
Thank you too!
Great work! I'm building this jig next week! One suggestion would be to adhere a base board between the two rails that permanently raises the workpeice up to the height of the lower plane track. This would "zero" the cut automatically without having to find the right piece of scrap every time. You could still cut chamfers by keeping the workpeice back a certain distance.
Hey Will, great stuff, do let me know how you get on. Yes, your suggestion for adhering the base ( I think I called it a 'stage') between the two rails is a great idea, and if you have a piece of wood available which is about the same height as the bottom cutting edge it would be even better. As you spotted, I had my mind on the flexibility to cut chamfers on larger thicknesses which is why I hadn't considered this, but you are right some of that could be catered for by moving the work piece further back.
In practice, now I have been working with the jig for a while I actually have a couple of different thicknesses of stage which I use depending upon the thickness of the work piece.
However, you comment has inspired me to have another look at the design.
Best of luck with your jig build and any project to make using it.
best 45 jig i saw so far which is also very straight forward to make with some basic hand tools, and a measure of common sense and creativity.
Good one! subscribed
Thank you.
Keep up with your vids, the are great!
Thank you Derek. I have a few video projects in the works right now.
So simple yet brilliant
Thank you. The jig has come in very handy.
I just found your channel. Your quality of instruction and also you quality of production is superb. You do a fantastic job in your work and the way you present it. Thanks very much!!
Thank you Paul. That's nice of you. I hope to get back to a more regular schedule of project video uploads in the new year.
I recently built a jig using a different approach. I like this approach. Very creative and doable for a beginner. I think I’m going to build this one also, and compare to my other jig.
Excellent, let me know how you get on.
Really excellent video and highly appreciated. Thanks for your effort
My pleasure
Just finished making this. Really pleased with it thank you for the excellent idea. Incredibly easy to make too following your advice on buying popsicle sticks and regularised timber etc.
Excellent. That's great to hear. I think some people thought the popsicle stick idea was a bit of a joke at first.
genius
Thanks, I hope you find the project idea useful.
Thanks, I made one two days ago. I used it on a small box today. Worked like a charm!
Excellent. That's great to hear. Are you able to share any photos?
If I can figure out how to post to this I will, wish me luck.
@@jraglob5924 Ah sorry, I don't think you can post photos into a comment.
Very useful and perfect vid for a guy who got a few handtools and just learning like myself. Subscribed sure👍
Thank you. Most of the videos I add are for projects using minimal tools. There are so many woodworking channels in expensively equipped workshops that I think sometimes people get put off woodworking as they think they need to spend a fortune on tools before getting started.
Congrats Sir, magnificent video.
Thank you kindly!
Nice jig! I am trying to get set up to make spline boxes similar to yours but I need this jig! Thank you.
Good luck!
"... as every other channel seems to feature a fully equipped workshop with dust extraction which must cost at least the price of a house.."
I think this is the key as to why I love these videos by AITSW so much. I have next to no tools at the moment, but I have plans to raid a couple of flea markets in the near future. My dad had a shed full of "simple" tools, and I always wondered why he didn't just buy more. He had the money. But he didn't need all those other tools. He enjoyed doing things manually. I get that now, although I used to wonder why he didn't have a table saw at least. Obviously he just didn't feel the need to have one.
As he got older, he did acquire a few more (table saw, band saw, etc) but a lot of them still sit unused for a lot of projects. I guess that has rubbed off on me, because I can't wait to start gathering a tool or three here and there. Will definitely be following this channel, and making this jig. Pretty sure it will come in handy.
Thanks again Mike. I use this jig on a regular basis, I actually find it quicker and easier than setting up my table saw when making miter cornered boxes. As I covered in the video, the best thing about the jig is that it can be made with simple tools. I could have whipped up something like this using my machine saws but that kind of defeats the point.
Oh and a bit of advice, while you are gathering your tools, save a few coins to buy yourself a pack of lolly pop/popsicle sticks. I find a use for them on pretty much every project I build - in fact I might make a video dedicated to them at some point.
I actually put a pack back the other day when I was shopping at a crafts store. Something told me I might need some. Oh well, I know where to find them in the thousands at least. :-) I did grab some of the smaller sized ones, that are maybe a half or a third as wide. Thought they might come in handy for mixing and applying glue to small places, or wrapping in various grit sandpaper and making homemade sanding sticks.
I will probably be starting my first (in a long time) significant (for me) wood project today or tomorrow. It's Clayton Boyer's ( lisaboyer.com/Claytonsite/woodworkershygrometer.htm ) hygrometer. I just love the idea of these things, and I think it will make nice practice for learning how to cut out small wooden parts for some of the more complex projects he offers: The Number 6 clock is my first big project in the near future. Just need a few more items..
finally... i found your video.
Thanks you, I hope you find it useful.
You can obtain a perfect 45° angle on the frame by planing its miters on a classic shooting board. No need for sawing awkwardly against a piece of temporarily attached scrap wood with the tenant saw.
This is true - I use a shooting board in most of my work. However, the aim of the project was to build this without access to such things.
I have just seen your video on making this project. I am only just starting out with woodworking. Would it be possible for you to send the dimensions of this mitre shooting board. Thanking you Trevor from Australia
Hi Trevor. Good luck with your woodworking journey. I don't have the exact dimensions to hand, but i would stress that I built this with bits and pieces I had to hand. Thinly really important things are to cut accurate 45' at the end of the side pieces, to ensure the front is bang on 90' to the sides and to make sure the from rails are parallel.
I use lollipop/popsicle sticks in a lot of projects like this as the are factory engineered to dimensions with enough accuracy for woodworking. SO they are great for making spacers etc.
I have made this jig and something is out of square. When I cut the mitres the plane takes more material from one side, so the face of the mitre is not square to the edge. I am not sure which part is causing the problem. Any suggestions?
There are 3 areas of possible culprits for this kid of issue. The first is in the one end is further back from the edge of the board than the other, this will pull the rails out of square. The second is the 45 degrees angles not matching and the third is if the sides are not parallel. If you are pretty sure you jig is accurate it's worth double checking your plane is set correctly so the curling iron is showing the same depth along the entire width.
Since the piece to be cut is above the fence level, how do you avoid tear out?
I can't say I've had any issue with tear out. In general the combined use of a sharp plane iron, taking shallow cuts working with the grain direction where possible minimises tear out.
I suspect that certain wood varieties may be more prone, but nothing I have worked with as of yet has proven to be a problem.
The only thing I would consciously guard agains would be when putting a bevel on more than one amazing face of the same material, in that case I would use the technique of putting the bevel on the long grain edges first and then doing the end grain edges afterwards so as not to tear out the corners.
Took me back to Woodworking class... I did wonder why you opted for the combination square instead of the more accurate setsquare you had. (not that it made any difference).
I don't think there would be and reason beyond it just the square that came to hand at the time. I know what you mean about accuracy, though I do check all my squares on a regular basis and toss out any that can't be recalibrated.
You should make a shooting board first. With that you can cut the 45 deg taper.
Hi, yes, shooting boards are very useful - I use mine in most projects at some stage. I'd never 'cut' a taper with a shooting board, as that sounds like a lot of work, but certainly when tidying up after a saw cut and improving accuracy of the angle a shooting board is great. I didn't use a shooting board in this project as I'd then have to show the making of that, and this is already a supplementary video to the hand tool miter box project. Also, using the saw guide technique I was able to cut the 45° angle accurately enough for the job. Thanks for your comment, it's certainly good advise to use a shooting board to ensure the accuracy of those angles - especially for anyone unhappy with their sawing.