Recently I was asked to make five plywood boxes with box joint corners. I'd never done box joints before, but you know how it is when you have a wood shop, some people think you can make anything. Maybe it was the fact that, when asked, I said "sure, I can make anything!". Anyway, after some great advice from the members of this site, I finally got them finished. Of course I can look at them and see every little mistake, but I call them a complete success because the customer was happy, he offered me repeat business, and his check was goodThanks to everyone here who offered help on my post inquiring finishing of the Baltic birch plywood. I ended up going with lacquer, but still need to practice my finishing technique.
As with every new project I take on, I looked at this one as an opportunity to learn new lessons and acquire a new tool or two in the process. I'd been looking for a good excuse to buy a new dado set, and this was the perfect reason! As for the lessons, well, here's a small sampling. Some I knew previously, some were particular to this project, but all will be remembered.
Maybe the most important thing I learned was that when someone offers you $500 to make five 'plain plywood boxes', don't be fooled into thinking that is too much money. When I first started, I thought I was getting a lot for what they wanted. By the time I was finished, I wasn't so sure..lol. Pricing was never my strongpoint anyway. I figured each box took about 4 hours to make and has just over $20 of materials. I'm sure I could whittle the time down a bit, and probably many on here could put these out in their sleep, but at that rate $100 ea. isn't going to make me rich
Here are the top 10 things I either learned, or was reminded of, during this project:
10. Box joints are not easy. They are deceptively simple looking, but boy do they have to be precise!
10a. Setup is EVERYTHING!
9. VERY IMPORTANT...use a backer board when cutting box joints in plywood!
8. If you have loose fitting joints, all the glue in the world won't make them right.
7. If you have perfectly fitting joints, you won't need as much glue as you might think.
6. I use too much glue.
5. Blue painter's tape works well for keeping glue off of areas you don't want glue on, but needs to be peeled off before the glue hardens completely.
4. It is easier to wipe glue off when wet, than to sand or scrape it off when it is dry!
3. The edges of Baltic Birch plywood are hard, they will eat sanpaper alive!
2. My time saved is more valuable than the cost of an extra sheet of sandpaper. If it's worn out, CHANGE IT!
1. The feeling of finishing a new project, and having a satisfied customer, can outweigh the frustrations and aggravations in almost any project...almost
Thanks again for the help and advice. Here are a few bad pics to critique.
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Lori K
