- The Wood Whisperer is sponsored by Powermatic and Titebond
and the special sponsor, Duluth Trading Company.
I'm wearing their undies right now.
So in the past year I've decided to add more pocket knives
to my collection.
I don't know why, I must be really bored.
But pocket knives are pretty cool
and if you get into collecting them
there could be quite a few varieties out there
and you might someday want some way to store them
or display them.
Now I don't really care about displaying them so much,
but I didn't want them all in my nightstand drawer,
so I designed a box that would hold them,
but also work great for display purposes
and it features a lock to keep the kids out.
Not exactly a theft deterrent,
because I could just walk away with it or break the glass,
but it will keep kids from getting in there.
So let me show you the details.
So the top is just a basic mitered frame.
We've got some keys holding everything together,
a little Macassar ebony strip there for decoration,
and a retainer clip holding the glass in place,
beautiful Brusso hinges,
I've got a locking mechanism here at the front,
and there's storage I would say for anywhere
from 14 to 20 knives, depending on the size.
The box itself is held together with box joints
or finger joints, whatever you wanna call them.
The main box material is bubinga,
walnut panel on the bottom,
and of course, that ebony decorative strip.
Let me show you how I made it.
Before making any cuts I used some scrap
to determine the overall size of the box,
as well as the shape of the inserts
that will hold the knives in place.
This will give me enough information
to start cutting my good stock.
I have a real nice piece of bubinga
that I think will look great.
The parts are cut to rough size at the band saw.
That includes the box sides and the box top frame.
Because we'll be doing some box joints later
it's a real good idea to cut a couple pieces of scrap
to the same width as the box sides.
The side stock is milled flat and square at the jointer.
Then planed to final thickness at the planer.
At the table saw I'll cut to final width and length.
Now let's make a box joint jig.
The method I use here is 100% copied from William Ng.
I want my box joints to be about 1/4 inch wide,
so I switch to my dado stack with the two outside cutters
and a shim installed.
I raise the blade height,
so it's just about 1/32 of an inch higher
than the thickness of my box material.
A test cut into my backer board
will allow me to determine the actual width.
With my calipers I'm getting about .255.
Now for some math.
We need to cut an index pin that fits into the notch
that we just cut
and it's important that the pin is slightly undersized
to allow our work piece to easily drop into place.
So we'll make it about 4/1000 narrower
or as close as we can get.
I cut a strip of material at the band saw
and then sneak up on the perfect size with a hand plane.
The strip isn't gonna be perfectly consistent,
so I'll just test a bunch of different areas
and find the one that hits the number I want,
which is .251.
That section should fit snug, but not too tight.
You'll also wanna ease the top edges,
so that the work piece doesn't get hung up
when we put it onto the pin.
Now the pin can be glued into the notch.
Just make sure the pin doesn't protrude out of the back
or the bottom.
It can actually be a little bit recessed
and still work perfectly.
With the backer installed on the miter sled
we can now determine the position of the pin
relative to the blade.
This distance will determine the thickness of our pins.
Yay, more math.
We want our pins to be about 6/1000 less than the openings.
Any tighter and they won't go together easily,
any looser and the fit will be sloppy.
To get close I use some of the leftover pin stock
to set the distance between the blade and the pin.
Remember, that pin is approximately 4/1000 less,
so this should get us close to six.
On a piece of scrap I do a test
to see what the actual pin size will be.
And it looks like we got luck and nailed it at .249.
If you don't nail it on the first shot
you can use feeler gauges and stop locks
to carefully adjust the fence left or right
to make the fingers smaller or larger as needed.
Now we'll use the test pieces that we cut
to make a test joint.
The first cut is made right against the pin.
From there the cuts are made
with the work piece straddling the index pin.
The adjoining piece is cut
using the first piece as a spacer.
And from there the cuts are made in the same fashion.
Because our pieces are two inches wide
and our box joints are pretty darn close to 1/4 inch
we'll get a nice, even distribution.
So now for the real deal.
Lay the box parts out in the desired orientation
and put a reference mark of some kind on the common edge.
The opposing sides will be cut the same way,
so I grab two and get ready to cut.
The rule of thumb is that we always put the reference mark
toward the pin.
Once one end is done flip the piece,
place the reference mark toward the pin, and cut.
This process gets repeated for the opposing box side.
For the remaining two pieces
the cut starts with one of the already cut pieces
being used as a spacer.
Even the spacer piece follows that rule
of putting the reference mark toward the pin.
The remaining cuts will utilize the index pin for spacing.
This process is repeated
for the other end of the side piece,
as well as both ends of the last side piece.
Let's do a quick dry assembly.
Looking toit.
Now we can cut the bottom panel groove.
One side get stopped grooves,
since we don't wanna see the hole on the outside of the box.
I'll place marks that let me know where to stop,
just a little bit over 1/4 inch from the shoulder.
The other two pieces receive through grooves,
because the groove falls in the gap between the fingers.
At the router table I'll use the marks that I made
and do a drop cut onto the bit.
It's always a good idea to use a stop
at the beginning of the cut for additional security.
The bit itself is actually
a slightly undersized plywood bit.
You could just lift the work piece off,
but I'm always more comfortable holding it in place
until the router spins down.
The through cuts are, of course, much easier.
I use some 1/4 inch ply for the box bottom.
Let's see how that bottom panel fits.
All right, that looks pretty good.
We're not ready to glue up just yet though.
Next we have to install the lock mechanism.
It's a simple half mortise lock
that we'll mortise in three parts.
First is the shallow mortise for the top flange.
With the lock upside down I can scribe around it
to get the exact shape.
I like to use a thin pencil to help darken the lines.
To prepare for routing
I make a scrap piece flush with the top of the front piece
and throw the assembly in the vice.
The scrap will add much needed support for the router.
The bit depth is set to the thickness of the flange,
which really isn't much at all.
The bulk of the material is routed away,
getting as close to the line as possible.
Using chisels we can clean up the mortise
going back to the cut lines.
The corners of the lock are rounded,
so I carefully remove the stock to try to match the shape.
The next part of the mortise is done
with the work piece flat.
I'll set a cutting gauge to the vertical dimension
of the lock and scribe the inside of the front.
I could then extend the side lines from the flange mortise
that we already cut down to the scribe line.
This mortise is, again, for the flange of the lock,
so it's really shallow.
The final part of the mortise is the deepest.
I mark it out and begin routing.
This one is pretty much just a clearance mortise,
so it doesn't need to be absolutely perfect.
To make room for the key
I use a drill bit to hog out that area.
This doesn't need to be pretty,
since it's gonna be covered up later.
Now I'll pop the key in just to make sure
that the mechanism is working correctly.
And now for the glue up.
Whenever possible it's a good idea to tape off your joints
to protect that area from glue.
Especially when we're talking about an inside corner.
The glue I'm using is Titebond's polyurethane glue.
Poly glue gets a bad rap amongst woodworkers,
because it's really stick
and it tends to foam up as it cures,
but I've been using it at times
when I might normally use epoxy,
such as when I need more working time
or in this case when a water-based glue
might swell the joints so much
that it's impossible to get them together.
This polyurethane glue
actually kind of acts like a lubricant,
making it easier to push the joints together.
The tape will protect the insides from squeeze out
and the outside still needs to be worked,
so that squeeze out doesn't really matter.
Now it's not gonna replace my trusty water-based glue
for most things,
but I do find myself reaching for the poly glue lately
instead of a two part epoxy.
It's a good idea to wipe away the excess glue.
If you really wanna clean it up well
you probably wanna use something like mineral spirits.
Once the glue is dry I peel off the tape
and clean up as needed.
After a little chisel and scraper action
the area is sanded lightly and the corner's ready to go.
Hairy hands.
To clean up the outside faces
I'll start with a block plane.
Remember how we set the dado blade
about 1/32 of an inch higher
than the thickness of our work pieces?
That's where this 1/32 shows itself.
It results in box joints that sit proud of one another.
This makes it easy to flush them up
without having to remove stock
from the entire side of the box.
Now I don't wanna gouge the surface at all,
so I eventually switch to a sanding block.
Only two adjacent sides need to be cleaned up,
because we can cut the other sides
when making the bevel cut at the table saw.
Each cut removes about 1/4 inch from the top of the box
with the blade at about seven degrees.
I'll tell you, few things make your butt pucker up
quite as much as running a nearly finished piece
through a table saw,
but that's life on the edge as a dust slinging badass.
Bubinga.
You can see now why we only needed two clean faces.
We make the first two cuts
with the clean faces against the fence.
For the last two cuts the newly beveled faces
can go against the fence.
Back at the workbench I'll clean up the beveled faces
with a card scraper and some sanding.
That's as far as we'll take the base for now.
Let's make the frame for the top.
The frame parts are made from a glue up of bubinga
with a 1/8 inch thick strip of Macassar ebony.
This is a piece of ebony that my buddy Vic
gifted to me when I was in Seattle last year
and it's the first time I've got the guts to cut into it.
Those strips are then glued to the bubinga pieces
and clamped in one big sandwich.
Once the glue dries the pieces are milled square on one edge
and then cut to final width at the table saw.
The top is a mitered frame,
so I'll make some quick 45 degree cuts
using a stop block for consistency.
With two passes at the table saw
we can make a double rabbet that captures the glass
and allows us to use some shop-made strips as retainers.
Now the frame can be glued together.
I get a lot of questions about this strap clamp,
it's called the Merril clamp and it's available from MLCS.
Because miter joints on their own aren't very strong
I'm adding a key to each corner.
The cut is made using a key cutting jib at the table saw.
If you have a square toothed blade
now is the time to use it.
By the way, did you know I have a book about joinery?
It's called "Essential Joinery"
and it covers all the basics,
including how to make keyed miters using this jig.
Check it out on Amazon or you can buy it directly from us
at essentialjoinery.com.
The keys themselves will be made
from small strips of bubinga.
You can use a hand plane, a sanding block,
or something like a drum sander
to size the strip to the slot.
Even with the drum sander
I'll take a few passes with the sanding block
to get the fit just perfect.
Back at the band saw
I'll cut the strip into small triangles.
Now we can glue the keys into the frame.
You could use any glue that you want for this,
but if the fit is right a water-based glue can swell the key
and make it really difficult to seat,
so I'll be using poly glue again.
To make sure there are no gaps at at the back of the keys
I'll use the same clamp to secure all four in place.
Now it's not always necessary,
but you might consider adding
some supplemental clamping pressure toward the corners
and that'll help sandwich the pieces together
and prevent any gaps.
Once the glue is dry
the excess can be trimmed at the band saw.
To flush everything up I'll use a sanding block.
To find out how much we'll need to cut off
I'll center the lid on the box
and mark the overhang at the ends.
At the table saw I'll tilt the blade,
so that it matches up with the line from our mark
going to the top outside corner,
which should be about 15 degrees.
I found the easiest way to make this cut
is to put pressure down near the blade
where the frame is more likely to chatter.
Then I use my right hand to hold the frame
against the fence and push forward.
Now we can finally add those hinges.
I'm using JB-102 stop hinges from Brusso.
The great thing about these is that they hold the lid open
at 95 degrees without using additional hardware.
Once I have the location set
I scribe one side of the hinge.
With the knife in the scribe line
I'll butt up the hinge itself to the knife
to locate it perfectly and then scribe the other side.
To help support my router
I'll attach a piece of 3/4 inch ply.
With the bit set to the hinge leaf thickness
I'll remove the bulk of the material.
And now I can use a chisel
right in my scribe line to finish up the mortise.
The thing to keep in mind here,
the hinge knuckle needs full clearance
in order for this to work properly.
This is because the knuckle on this model is square,
so if any part of that square is sitting on top of wood
it will not rotate.
But for now I'll use a piece of scrap as a stop
and drill the holes for the screws.
You'll see later that I need to make a slight adjustment
to allow for that rotation.
Now a good hardware company will not only send you
the brass screws for the hinge,
but they'll also send you at least one steel screw
of the exact same size.
This way we can cut the threads with steel
and prevent stripping our brass screws.
Once both mortises are done on the base
we can mortise the lid.
I'll clamp the lid in place
and using the marking knife
I'll transfer the location of the hinge directly to the lid.
From there I could use the little notches
to extend the lines on the lid itself.
Because the lid is wider than the base
we'll also need a line for the long edge
of the hinge leaf.
The lines are pretty tricky to see on this ebony,
so I'll use a white charcoal pencil to fill 'em in.
Once again, we'll route the excess.
Because the screws are a little long for this lid
I'll cut the threads, but I won't go to full depth.
The brass screws will be cut by about 1/8 of an inch.
To accommodate the rotation of the hinge
I'm gonna relieve a little bit of material
by making a small chamfer
and that should allow it to rotate fully.
Now that the hinges are installed
we can add that last bit of hardware, the catch piece.
It's the same length as the lock,
so I could just transfer those lines to the front of the box
and then transfer those to the lid.
From there it's a pretty simple mortising operation.
Though I do need to use a smaller bit to get this job done.
A little clean up and the catch drops right in.
Now we can drill for the screws that hold the lock in place.
I sometimes get questions about why I wear my respirator
when I'm not really making dust.
The answer's actually pretty simple.
I was likely making dust just before this scene
and it's still in the air,
so the mask stays on until the air is clear.
Next up, I'll cut some 1/8 inch strips for glass retainers.
The pieces should fit nicely on the top rabbet.
The retainers will essentially be a small mitered frame.
So we'll cut the 45s at the table saw.
And now for the glass.
I'll use a standard glass cutter to score right on the line
and then I can easily snap off the off-cut.
Now I can locate my retainer strips and drill for screws.
The holes in the strips are widened a bit,
so that the screw only bites into the frame.
We'll do the final installation after finishing.
The last bit of woodworking
is making the racks for the knives.
With a board cut to the right length
we'll rip it into seven strips.
Each strip gets a nice 40 degree bevel cut into one face.
I'll also cut some plywood into 1/2 inch strips
that we'll be able to use as spacers.
The strips are all sanded clean
and the edges are given
a slight roundover before installing.
Because this is gonna be awkward to clamp
and these racks really won't have to hold a lot of weight
I'm gonna use both regular wood glue
and CA glue at the same time.
The CA glue will immobilize the piece
after about a minute,
at which point the regular wood glue can begin to cure.
It's kind of the best of both worlds
in a situation where you don't wanna use clamps.
I originally planned to flock the interior the box,
so the grain direction
of the bottom panel really didn't matter.
Later I decided not to do the flocking
and unfortunately the bottom panel grain
doesn't sync up with the grain direction of the inserts.
Oh well, you can't win 'em all.
Now we can apply some finish.
I'm using Osmo Polyx-Oil.
I use a white Scotch-Brite pad
to apply it sparingly to the surface and buff it in
and a small acid brush helps to get it into the corners.
Once fully coated I'll buff the surface with a shop rag.
Once the finish dries
I can do the final installation of the hardware.
And don't forget to clock your screws.
The escutcheon has tiny nails
that are likely to break or bend
if I pound them into this bubinga,
so I'm using a pin vice to pre-drill a small hole
that should make the job a little bit easier.
(upbeat music)
Now we can finally load it up with the knives.
I'm wearing my DuluthFlex fire hose pants,
which are really helpful when I can't decide what knife
I wanna carry that day.
Oops, almost forgot one.
These pants are actually really durable
and incredibly comfortable.
And they don't restrict movement
when doing my morning pre-work stretches
or when I'm making my coworker uncomfortable
by resting my leg in an awkward position
while explaining something.
More importantly, they make my butt look good.
Eyes up here, boys.
I've been wearing Duluth for years now
and I can't say enough good things about their clothes.
They're durable, comfortable,
and the company has a great sense of humor.
Check them out at your local store
or use our special link to visit them online.
So there it is, an elegant way to store
your pocket knife collection or even watches.
If you watched this entire video
and wondered why someone would spend this much time
and effort on something like a knife case, shut up.
Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.