italian biker

Hello all, I inherited a Craftsman router, Craftsman table also. Along with that inheritance came my father's handguns. I would like to learn to make some nice boxes for them with either box or dovetail joints. I'm fairly mechanical, good with tools, but never dived into the intricate stuff. I've built benches, decks, work tables, etc.., but never decorative stuff.
What I want to do is have a nice outer box, with a raised inlay to shape of the handgun, covered with felt. I plan on doing the shaped inlay on the router with a cutting bit using some cheap soft laminate, then cover with felt. And a hinged lid. The outer box is what I'm not sure what would be a good type of wood to use, and should it only be glued with out finishing nails. Im not thrilled with that router table though. I'm thinking about a new one.

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Welcome italian biker!

This site is a great resource for learning!

Have a great day
John

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John

Cleaning my glasses will not make me look any better, but will make what I'm looking at better!

Hamlin

Hi,
Welcome to the router forums. To add to what John said, this is the best place for info.

For your jointery, I would suggest starting out with box joints. These are quite simple and a little bit less frustrating to get right than dovetails. I don't do and havent' done much inlay work so I'll leave that up the others with better experience.
You can use any type of wood, depends on what type of grain/look you're after. Use glue and brads, NOT finishing nails.
Almost forgot, go to your local library or bookstore, browse around for some books on box making. These will not only give illistrations on the "how-to's" but also for looks and design(s) you may wish to use or create your own.

We have many box makers here on the forums, they'll chime in soon.

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Ken

"A VETERAN"
"Whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life". That is HONOR, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it." -Author Unknown

nzgeordie

Gidday italianbiker and welcome. One thing you might want to consider if lining your box for the handgun is to use flocking rather than felt, especially if there's a recess the same shape as the pistol. It's sprayed on (with a supplied hand pump) and makes a better job at following tricky contours. Take a look at;

www.donjer.com

I'd agree about the box joints to start, they're easier with a router and homemade jig.

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Pete
I've cut it twice and it's still too short! But only at one end.

italian biker

Thanks for the info and the warm welcome.
NZ, now that you mention it, I have heard about that stuff before. I'm sure I've probably even seen it on something like a jewelry box. I will definitely start out with box joints. My fiance is good with finishes, as shes restored furniture quite a bit. I don't care for my router table all that much, because there isn't alot of range for the fence, and it's a cheapie craftsman. The miter gage moves loosely in the slot. In practicing on scrap, I think I would like a table with T channel, for both moving the work piece and for the fence and and a much better quality fence. During that practice I thought that it might be nice that if I'm work on something without the fence, that a row of T, parallel on each side of the bit might be handy at times.
What do you all think of that idea.

italian biker

Not to sound ignorant, what's the difference between brads and finish nails?
Question two. I've seen a combination brad nailer/stapler device. Are these useful or is it better to have seperate devices?

nzgeordie

Phew! Talk about two nations divided by a commom language Brads are aka 'panel pins' for securing beading, moulding or panels and come in variety of lengths (3/8, 3/4 and 1') are the common ones and are meant to be driven below the surface and then filled over. I'm guessing that 'finish' nails are the same thing.

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Pete
I've cut it twice and it's still too short! But only at one end.

Check twice!

To my understanding, a brad and a finishing nail are in the same family and do the same job.

They went to separete schools together!

John

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John

Cleaning my glasses will not make me look any better, but will make what I'm looking at better!

bobj3

Hi italian biker

Just my 2 cents

When you use a brad nailer you don't want to see the hole,many of the nailers/combo nailers will put in brads, but will also put in a dent that you don't want to see or need to fill the dent with junk...(wood filler)

It's best to have a pin nailer that's made just for that job...they can put in 1/4" long to 1 " long the norm..and about the size of a paper clip wire or smaller..you dont want it to show or be proud of the stock when you put it in place, if you do it just right the wood fibers will fill the hole...they have almost no head to speak about...

Most finish nailers/brad use nails that have heads on them and are used to pull in the stock until the glue sets up...you may call it a min.clamp system if you like...

The right tool for the right job elec.brad nailers work great for the light duty jobs but the air type work well also if you have a reg.guage on the tool to set the depth of the pin/brad...you don't want to use a 2 pound hammer to set one..just a tack hammer so to speak....



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Mike

The difference between pin nails, brads and finish nails is the diameter. Since this is going to be one of your first projects I would suggest you try building a "magic box." This is an easy project to master and looks very nice. Practice building a couple from the cheapest wood you can find then build your project from a nice hardwood like red oak or hickory. Search the forums to see the "magic box" plans.

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Mike
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