Here's the first beginning of a natural edge box using the new "Donkey's Ear" table saw sled. I haven't put in the groves for the bottom, rabbets for the top, put on finish -- nothing yet. I just wanted to show that the donkey's ear bevel edge cutting system works well on the new sled. It's not even glued up; just an elastic band for now.
I could use some suggestions for the top. I'm fearful that cutting the rabbets will wreck the natural edge -- that the bark will fly off. How would you suggest that I proceed?
I was wondering whether bark is going to stay at all, a layer between outer bark and sapwood (cambium?) is the first one to go. I would look into "stabilizers" - not sure what's the components, but it's a liquid with water-like consistency that soaks it and hardens. It's sold at big box stores. That thing would make sure bark stays where it is, I have used it on worm damage in planes, it dries very, very hard.
Not sure about mechanical properties though. I would cut a rabbet before glue up and would probably use masking tape to prevent bark from flying off. Or try separating it in one piece, cut a rabbet, soak it in the stabilizer and then glue it back.
The bark stays on well with thin supper glue. I use Titebond Instant Bond. But any of the others work as well. As a turner, I am used to doing it on natural edge bowls. For some reason, I have a different feeling about it here. Not that it would come off by itself; my concern is about using any kind of rotating blade. I'm beginning to think that I better use a hand tool method. Perhaps I could use a saw and chisel to start and finish with a router plane.
... a glued on ledge strip and "drop in" lid. You probably want to wait til the last before closing the mitres, to install the ledger. Just thinking of maintaining rim stability.
However, this suggestion seems a substantial design revision from what you are indicating so far.
By the way, I really like the bark salvage and quarter grain. Sycamore?
Bruce and Steve.... I'm going to do just what you suggest. Not sure yet whether to use a thin ledger strip or a broader kind of box within a box as Steve suggests. If I were to do the latter, I think I would not let it go all the way to the bottom. Then I would glue in a thin board at the bottom not much different from the what I'll do at the drop-in top. This would depart slightly from the usual grooved-in bottom. I'm not worried about expansion because this is a quite small box:
4 1/2 x 2 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches high.
Not sure if it's sycamore. I'll post a picture to see if Bruce can tell.
PEG -- polyethylene glycol -- is a green wood preserver. Not sure if it would work if the wood is already dried out? From what I read and hear a number of green wood turners utilize it to turning rounds.
In your picture, the closest corner and furthest corner appear to be misaligned by about the thickness of the cambium layer, but I can't see the other two corners. Am I hallucinating, or have you got something out of alignment on your saw or sled, or did you get confused when you unfolded the four sides?
It's a bad picture; the next picture shows it better. Even that one doesn't look quite right because I haven't glued it up yet; it's just held together with an elastic band right now. AND... I confess to using a less than perfect blade. I just ordered the Forrest so-called 'Ultra Thin' -- 10 inch, 40 tooth, 5/64 inch thick blade just for this sled. I should probably consider this box to be a prototype. I'll make some better ones and won't show them here until they are all done. But i can tell you that the beveled edges will fit just right.
Did you see this earlier one? It's not natural edge. But the method is exactly the same. This one is complete. I believe you'll find there are no significant gaps or other errors in this one. You can't see the grain match too well because the grain is not that prominent.
Bruce and Steve... I took your advise about a ledger strip to support the lid. It took more time to do that than to make the rest of the box! I just finished putting on a coat of BLO to bring out the natural edge bark, which is supposed to be the highlight of this box. Tomorrow I'll start adding coats of shellac. Can I use what's left in the jar from last time (last week) ; or should I make up a new batch? I plan to smooth each coat of shellac with 0000 steel wool after that coat dries. Also I'll take Jack Dover's advise about starting with a very thin coat of shellac because last time I got some orange peel that I had to get rid of. After that, I plan to finish with the Beale buffing system.Wish me luck!
Can I use what's left in the jar from last time (last week) ; or should I make up a new batch?
If there's enough shellack in a jar to dip a brush or a rubber not disturbing a layer with impurities at the bottom of a jar — then go ahead, it's still shellack.
I generally don't care for live edges so I wasn't expecting to like it, but I do. Nice work!
One thing you could try next time is to glue on a thin rectangular piece on each inside face before you cut the miters so you don't have to mess around with the ledger. Easier than trying to cut a rabbet in the live edge!
Thank you for the thumbs up and for thinking about my methods. I really can't do as you suggest for this kind of box because the reference faces of the box sides become the INSIDE of the box. It's a critical aspect of the so-called donkey's ear sled (that I believe I have invented) to make a natural edge box -- at least the way I have chosen to do it. I can certainly cut the groves to later accept the bottom panel before cutting the bevels, but I can't have anything "sticking up" on the inside, reference faces; these have to lie flat on the sled table. What did occur to me after I did all the work on these little ledges, was to just first fit a rectangle in there and then cut out an inner rectangle from it to leave the ledges, and then glue that in.
What I'm suggesting is a full inside face glued onto the existing inside face - you shouldn't have a reference problem that way, it will be as if you had made thicker sides and somehow cut a rabbet in the live edge. You could even use the next leaf of the flitch you are resawing so that the viewer can't tell that each face is two layers.
Ah, I see! Yes, that would work beautifully! I thought you were talking about adding a STRIP. That wouldn't work. Two strips of the same thickness would.) Indeed, if I weren't also after complete grain wraparound, there wouldn't be any reason not to add strips on the inside and use the outside of the box faces as reference faces. I that case, on my TS, which has a left leaning blade, I would also have to put the boards on the left side of the blade when cutting the bevels.
I know the collective wisdom but I had a jar with some mixed for over a year and it dried quickly. If it hadn't dried quickly on a test piece I would have done something different.
