Oak / Mahogany Box

[blakes11]

Hi all,

 

Just finished up with a box i've been making out of some cut oak. Be great to see what people think.

 

I've loaded some photos here:Blake Photography | Wood Craft

 

The wood was great to work with but the hinges were a nightmare!

 

Hope people like it. Goes to show that no wood is waste wood.

 

Cheers

[Vertigo Arb Ltd]

Very very skilled mate, beautiful box there

[outdoorjoe]

Hey nice box! good skills mate

[eddiegts]

Very very nice I would love a box like that unsure what I would use it for! but would still have one

 

 

Sent using Arbtalk Mobile App

[Guss109]

Looks great did you go the traditional route of real brass hinges and flat head brass screws?

[Stubby]

Beautiful workmanship bud . looks similar to the ld writing boxes people used to have back in the days when you wrote letters !

[muttley9050]

Lovely box, what was the problem with the hinges?

[blakes11]

Thanks for the kinds replies guys. I'm certainly gonna have to find stuff to put in it, i've only got two sets of cufflinks!

 

Lots of lttle areas that can be improved upon but the hinges were the biggest headache. Wanted some nice little brass ones which weren't too imposing. Haven't had much experience with them before so assumed that one hinge was much like the next in terms of quality so got a couple of flush hinges (which aren't flush when the screws are inserted by the way!) from one of the big shops. I drilled a couple of pilot holes and with no effort whatsoever one of the screws sheared off leaving most of it in the wood. Figuring i'd cut my losses and take it back for a refund 3 more sheared off taking them out!! Absolutely gutted!

 

Ended up using a dremel to sink the broken screws into the wook and buying two, bigger, butt hinges with a different hole pattern, with what appeared to be better screws on the advice of the shop (a different one). did the job ok but still not massively happy as the hinges are now scratched to sh*t and i'm scared to take them back off.

 

Is the general consensus to use different screws than the ones that come with a hinge?

 

I think i'm going to start another one for the missers and want to improve on all these areas.

 

Great forum by the way. Been carving little bits for years (to a low standard) and i can see this would be a great resource for ideas etc.

 

Cheers

[Woodworks]

Nice job on the box

 

Hinges are a PITA

 

Expect to have to increase the countersink on the holes as they are almost always too small. As for screws shearing off I am presuming they were solid brass screws. If you can buy some steel screws with exactly the same thread and use these for all fitting and only put the brass ones in at the end. Buying exact screws may not be possible if you don't have a quality hardware store. Alternately buy extra brass screws. First drill pilot holes for the thread and the shank with right size bits. Then use some screws but put a bit of beeswax in the hole first to ease and resistance. If at any point you think you have stressed a screw too much remove it and bin it. Finally when all fitting nicely I would replace all the screws with new ones and for finishing touch give the heads a polish with super fine abrasive. As I say a PITA

[muttley9050]

Firstly cheap hinges with cheap screws are terrible but readily available. I try to buy all my hardware from my local hardware shop called quick Sharp. They are pretty honest about quality and sell huge ranges, avoid DIY sheds as there priced to sell.

Working on construction, I do a lot of swinging doors etc and hinges andvlatches are always cheap. I tend to set out these hinges and pilot drill, then take a slightly larger steel Philips screw than the hinge screw supplied. Use power driver to drive in then remove and use screwdriver to fit proper screw.

It's important to remember that brass is soft and screws Will snap easily in hard wood no matter what the quality.

Another tip is when you have rebated your hinge cover face in masking tape to avoid screwdriver damage.

Pilot holes only need to be 1mm smaller than screw, get yourself a drill guide to make this easier to work out.