Working on the lid’s sides are next shown highlighted in
the rendering. After getting cut to
match the height of the base assembly they get cut to length on the chop
saw. A stop is set to get close but at a slightly oversize length then playing card spacers are added to trim to a perfect
fit. The cards are right at one
hundredth of an inch thick so it’s easy to make tiny adjustments and in this case,
I only needed one card.
Next is to size the lid, highlighted in the top drawing
that goes between the just sized sides.
First, is cutting it to width and there are some considerations to be
taken into account to determine the size.
To start I am adding a small stainless-steel washer just under .04”
thick on each side to act as a spacer between the base and the lid. In addition, because I want a little play
between the washer and the wood another .01” or so gets added. This totals .05” on each side or five playing
cards plus the thickness of tape to hold the cards in place. The bottom photo shows the far side in place
and the near side laying down so the cards and tape are visible.
In the left photo everything is clamped up ready for the
lid to be fit. The right photo shows the
lid cut and fit in place. Note how the
grain lines up between the glued-on lid at the top and the movable lid at the
bottom. The only reason they don’t match
better is when the two pieces were cut apart to make the 30-degree bevel I lost
some material from the saw kerf.
Gluing the lid to the sides is next. The left photo shows the clamps set into the
bench vise to hold them securely in place.
After a test fit a narrow bead of glue is sparing applied to the lid
then it’s clamped in place. If you look
at the right photo the red arrow points to the glue joint where there is very
little glue squeezed out meaning there is enough glue in the joint but not enough
to make cleanup a problem. It’s
important to make sure the left edges of the two pieces are aligned and that
the face of the lid is flush with the sides or a tiny bit lower. If the lid and sides don’t line up perfectly
it easier to bring the narrow side down flush rather than trying to bring the
much wider lid piece down flush. Once
the glue cures the process is repeated for the other side.
With the second side glued on any inconsistencies between
the top and sides are sanded flush. In
this case the joints were almost dead flat so very little work was
required. With that done it’s time to
smooth the exposed sharp edges of the lid and base using a 1/8” radius bit in
the router table. For clarity I am going
to start with the completed routing showing the finished result. The top photo is of the lid and base with the
edges rounded. Not shown is the bottom
of the base which also has its edges rounded.
The bottom photo shows how using a 12” steel ruler I set the fence flush
with the guide bearing identified with the red arrow.
Here is what the routing setup looks like for the short
edges. A push block is used to help keep
the piece square to the fence and vertical.
The top and bottom edges are much easier to route since they can lay flat
and be stable. The insert is a close
view of the router bit.
As mentioned before there are stainless-steel washers
that go between the lid and base assembly.
They act as a spacer and bearing surface to keep the oak pieces from
rubbing against each other. Before being
installed they need some finishing work.
During manufacturing when stamped the edges along the back and the where
the hole was punched has sharp edges.
Those edges need to be rounded so they don’t damage the oak surfaces
they will be rubbing against. The top
photos below show the washer (red arrow) set up in the lathe. Smoothing the outside using a fine file is
easy. The hole’s edge can’t be done on
the lathe but must be hand held and smoothed using a small round file. It’s fiddly time-consuming work but then
there are only two washers required.
While doing metal work I decided to make the brass feet
and pivot pins. They are shown in the
drawing below. Starting with the feet a
3/16” diameter brass rod gets marked for the length needed and is put in the
lathe shown in the bottom photo along with a parting tool (red arrow) to be
used in the next step.
The small parting tool is used to cut a little vee groove
to provide a solid starting point for the hacksaw blade to keep it from skating
around when making the cut. The bottom
photo shows a closer look at the parting tool that’s about 7 ¾” long. While a wood turning tool it’s made from tool
steel and can easily cut the groove in brass.
To make the cut I find that holding the hacksaw blade
with a pair of vice grip pliers and steading my hand on the lathe’s tool rest
works better than having the blade in a typical hacksaw frame and trying to cut
freehand. 
I don’t’ cut the piece completely free but leave just a
tiny bit left. This is because the rod’s
end is held in the tailstock and I don’t want any problem with the rod when it
comes free. After stopping the lathe
it’s easy to just snap the rod off.
Finishing work is to remove the stub with a file
flattening the end then putting a small bevel on there as shown in the
photo below. Last is sanding the exposed
piece starting with 150 grit paper and ending with 320 grit. Once that’s done the piece is flipped the end
beveled and sanded. One down and three
to go.
The same basic process is used to make the hinge pins
except the part of the brass rod that gets glued into the case gets a series of
notches cut in them that will help lock them in place. Below are all of the brass parts ready to be
installed.
Next Up – Finishing & Hardware Installation
