Stock Selection
I decided to use all maple woods for my band saw box. The main reason is that I think maple matches the most to my room and my furniture. Also, I believe using one kind of wood would have a more consistent color and a cleaner appearance.
Planing
I used the powered thickness planer to plane several large maple boards. The grain directions are a little inconsistent so it doesn’t matter which side should enter the machine.
Following the instructions, I planed one side of the board first, fliped the board, advanced the wheel a quarter of a turn, and planed the other side. I then repeated the process until both sides are smooth. Planing with this machine is relatively easy, but cleaning up the wood dusk is quite tiring. The tube is a little too short to reach the bottom of the bin, so wood dusk was flying everywhere in the room. After that, I used a table saw to cut the maple boards into four pieces of the same size.
Glue-Up (Lamination)
I applied a considerable amount of glue in parallel lines on one side of the wood just like squeezing mustard on a hot dog. Then I used a brush and a spatula to spread the glue evenly on the surface. I repeated the process to form a thick block. I used three parallel clamps to secure them, two at the bottom and one at the top. No sacrificial wood is needed for parallel clamps.
Design Inspiration
Pinterest Inspiration Board: https://pin.it/3RrUyhJ
Design
The design is inspired by the practice of stone stacking/balancing. For all of my woodworking projects, I want the design to reflect a certain aspect of nature. I am also interested in the contrast of shape and texture instead of the contrast in color and material. This is why the drawers and the box itself has different shape and texture, one being rugged and raw like natural sediments, and the other being smooth and polished like pebbles in the lake.
For my original design, the outer shape of the box was rounded and the drawers were angled. However, I learned from Andy that it is extremely hard to cut out the inner shape in one-go with the band saw, so I had to reverse them.
Cutting
Although it is hard to maneuver when cutting a woodblock this thick, cutting the outer shape is relatively easy. However, it took me quite a while to cut out the waterdrop on the left and the zigzagged lines.
The next step is to cut out the back face of the box. I learned that it is better to cut a straight line freehand without any support on a band saw because the blade we have is too thin and flexible. It would be hard to restore the straight cut when there’s an obstacle blocking your piece.
Then comes the hardest part of all, cutting out the drawers at one go. Fortunately, all my drawers are connected, so there would only be one slot at the right bottom of my box. The shapes I got aren’t ideal but I won’t complain bout it since they would be sanded at last.
After that, I cut the front and the back of each drawer using the same technique before. The last thing to cut using the band saw is the inner groove of the drawers. I remember that the blade got stuck in a wood at a point and I had to insert a small piece of wood in the slot to get it out.
Lamination and Assembly
I roughly sanded the inner groove of the drawers before lamination, because it would be hard to sand them after everything is glued up. I used easy clamps for the three drawers and parallel clamps for the box. I used a larger rectangular sacrificial wood for laminating the box to its back because I think it would give them a more even force.
Sanding and Shape Adjustments
I sanded each side of the box, removing any uneven surfaces and the overflowing glue. I ma
After
Detailed Texturing
