Special box

[Millwab]

A friend asked me to make a box for their cat cremains. 
Of course I couldn’t just make a plain box
 

[Scrappile]

very nice box!

[Dak0ta52]

Excellent job! Dovetails look really smooth.

[Millwab]

16 hours ago, Dak0ta52 said:

Excellent job! Dovetails look really smooth.

Thanx Rodney. Still rather new with box joints and having trouble getting them together before the glue starts to set. Don’t know if I’m cutting them too tight or I need to look for a different glue. 

[Bill WIlson]

Nice work on the box.  It will be much appreciated.

I'm familiar with the stress of gluing box joints.  I've got my process down pretty well, but it took some practice.  Always dry fit to make sure there aren't any surprises during glue-up and have all of your clamps, cauls, etc ready before you apply the glue.  Don't know what glue you are using, but Titebond has a variety of products, with a wide range of working time.  Most woodworkers use Titebond II, but it has the shortest working time of their common WW'ing glues.  Titebond III has about double the open working time of TBII and Franklin Liquid Hide Glue is even a little longer. 

They offer another version called Titebond II Extend, that is even longer than TBIII or Liquid Hide Glue.  

Good old Elmers White glue will also work well and give you a longer working time than TBII.

[rjweb]

Beautiful box, RJ

[Millwab]

9 hours ago, Bill WIlson said:

Don't know what glue you are using, but Titebond has a variety of products, with a wide range of working time...  Titebond III has about double the open working time of TBII and Franklin Liquid Hide Glue is even a little longer. 

Thanx Bill. I did a little reading/watching about hide glue. From what I read it not only has a longer open time but also has a lubricating benefit which could come in handy with the finger joints.  I’ve got another project in the queue that I’m planning on using 1/8” fingers for. Think I’ll pick up a small bottle of hide glue to try it out. Appreciate your input. 

[Millwab]

What a difference a glue makes!  Putting together a shadow box frame with 1/8” finger joints using a full 1” thick wood.  The dry fit was snug but not binding. Previously I used yellow glue to do the box above (1/4” fingers) and had a problem with the glue starting to "grab" before the joints were seated. This time I used hide glue and despite the dry fit being snug, the pieces went together without any problem whatsoever. The lubricating properties of the glue actually helped everything slide in place without needing any "persuasion".

[Sparkey]

Very nice box.

[wombatie]

Lovely.

Marg