Secret hinge boxes....

[Woodbloke]

After a good old rummage this morning, hidden inside this assorted pile of offcuts :



...of Walnut, Oak, Olive Ash, Paduk, Mahogany (not 19th cent Ian) Swiss Pear, London Plane & American Cherry are an unknown number of secret hinge boxes, popularised by Rob Cosman (like him or loathe him...take your pick) and very scientifically stored in an old sawn off water butt that I did earlier today. The boxes will eventually be given to Wessex Rehab at Salisbury District Hospital to raise funds via their ever popular 'Stars Appeal'. The video linkie is worth a watch as it's a shortened version on how to make these boxes. I've no idea how long these will take but they will defo be done in 'slow time' and carry into next year. I did some of these a few years ago and there's probably a thread on it is somewhere.

Just remembered....forgot to include some bits of Bubinga in the bucket. Silly me - Rob

 

[Cabinetman]

Think I’d move the Bubinga to the pile marked “bits of wood too difficult to do anything with.”
I wouldn’t hold back on the Victorian stuff necessarily it’s for a good cause.

 

[Woodbloke]

Think I’d move the Bubinga to the pile marked “bits of wood too difficult to do anything with.”
I wouldn’t hold back on the Victorian stuff necessarily it’s for a good cause.

Agreed about the Bubinga Ian, but all the stuff in the water butt bin is offcuts. As yet, there's no current small stuff from your excellent Victorian Mahogany, but in due course there will be. Today and yesterday was spent messing about with a trial dowel jig in Bubinga and making the 'real deal' in Greenheart, which is even harder than Bubinga, but surprisingly machines and hand planes quite nicely, the caveat being that your blade is a bit sharp. The Greenheart jig:



...is shown with 3 aluminium foil shims (from Waitrose quiche flans) to bring the cutter up to the right height. The fore n'aft position and angle of attack of the cutter is also critical, but if you get it right (which takes a lot of faffing) you'll eventually start to produce:



...polished dowels which are, give or take 0.01mm, spot on a quarter inch. This dowel is in London Plane and the box it'll installed into will eventually be personally delivered to our friends in Japan at Christmas - Rob