SPECIAL EDITION

We have a special edition today:
included is an article written by our fellow woodworker,
Kiefer. (See below)

Remember our Woodworking Monthly magazine? I know, I know .. it sort of disappeared. My apologies to everyone, especially those who had submitted articles and interviews that never got published. The following is one that was prepared for us and I want to share it here. Thanks to Klaus for putting together and being patient with the posting.

I think I can safely say that our WoodworkingWeb.com member, "Kiefer", is known for his boxes. In this article, he shares some of his tips and strategies for adding the artistic and beautiful splines to a box. 

Klaus Matthies, known to us as Kiefer, has been a member of WoodworkingWeb.com since April, 2014 and has inspired us with over 100 beautiful creations. 

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 The Art of Splines

This is not a tutorial but a pictetorial for entertainment purposes only .

Always read, understand and follow manufacturers instructions when operating power or hand tools and wear protective safety gear. 

I have removed guards in some pictures and you take responsibility for your own actions and safety and will not be held responsible.

~ Kiefer

I made this box  that I designed to incorporate  spline applications.

It is not a difficult box to make it just requires a planned process and order when making the components.

I start with selecting the material and rough dimension for it and also add an extra piece, just in case Murphy decides to lend a hand. All the pieces get marked with top, bottom, face, and back, as this is important to eliminate errors during the cutting process. 

Next I set the tilt on the table saw to seven degree and cut both top and bottom edges  of all pieces that  will make the front, back  and sides and the spare piece. 

I do not change the tilt setting and install a flat top blade and set the height of the blade and cut the grooves for the bottom of the box on the back side of all the pieces paying attention to which edge goes against the fence (see picture).

Now the pieces are flipped over and I cut the face side and the grooves. I position the first groove near the bottom so as not to overlap with the box bottom groove and then set up a magnetic base as a stop.

 A wooden spacer which is sized to double the width of the groove is used along with the magnetic base as a simple indexing devise and works as follows. After cutting the first groove and the fence, still in the locked position, set the magnetic base tight against the backside of the fence and activate the magnetic function of the base. Then unlock the fence and slide it away from the magnetic base and insert the wooded spacer and slide the fence back against the spacer and lock the fence in position. 

Make the second cut and repeat the procedure until all the groves are cut. The spacer ensures that the space between the grooves is uniform. Last, I cut the groove for the tray ledger which is located back to back with one of the grooves on the face; this looks like a weak spot but it will have a spline glued in for a tray ledger later, to restore the strength.

I use a push block to feed the pieces through the blade, which keeps my hand safe and applies downward pressure to the work piece, ensuring a uniform depth of the groove and gives me good control of the work piece.

The next step is to cut the mitres, which in this case I set up my mitre saw with a fence that has a tilted fence set at a seven degree slope (see picture) and also a replaceable fence face which I can set tight against the blade and keep chip-out to a minimum on the backside of the cut.

The mitre saw is set to 45 degree (left and right with the piece bottom edge down) and the pieces are clamped to the fence, the cut is made, and the saw blade is held in the down position until the blade stops so that the off-cut piece does not get caught in the blade which could be dangerous.

The cut pieces are double checked for length by comparing them to each other and the pieces are taped together at the corners which looks a little odd but when folded into the box shape it looks as it should.

A quick check of the mitre fit and using a good square to confirm that I have four square corners, I unfold the box and measure for the size of the bottom panel and cut it to size. 

I use the marks I marked in the groove that the panel fits in, which are about 1/16" short of the end of the groove, and also install the two ledgers for the tray support; one more dry fit with the bottom panel in place to ensure there are no problems during glue up.

Next the glue is applied to both surfaces of all the mitre faces and one of the long grooves for the bottom panel and, with a bit more masking tape, the corners are held together and everything worked out nice and square and the mitres look good.

In case you are wondering why I did not use clamps, the corner splines will add the strength.

After letting the box sit over night to let the glue dry, I started to prepare a strip of walnut to fit the grooves and cut the splines using a little jig and a Japanese pull saw using the (picture) jig which simply holds the spline in place by tightening the knob centred between the two marks that are visible near the outside top edge. 

To size the splines, I mark the box corners with a reference line at the desired distance from the corner and measure along the inside of the groove which gives me the inside length of the spline and the point where the spline has to be cut at 90 degree return angle. This shape is marked out on the jig and cut on the band saw and smoothed out with a file to a 90 degree angle.

The spines are sanded smooth on the faces and fitted slightly loose into the groove to allow for a good glue bond and aligned with the marks (see picture). 

After the glue has set, I use the band saw with the saw table tilted to cut away the excess of the splines and sand the back to the box surface with a sander.

This is how the completed spline looks:

 

This is how the inside length is measured: 

Then, the splines installed with glue and aligned with the line not perfect but some careful paring with a chisel will do the trick.

I cut off the excess on the band saw table tilted and sand the splines flush with a random orbit sander.

Next are the feet and a slight step back at the top edge of the box.

The tray is a simple item made from four pieces that are grooved a bottom panel and a couple walnut trips glued into the ends after bending to shape and a top handle glued on.

The triangular corner splines are glued into the cut recesses and let to dry and then trimmed with a small pull saw. 

Using a sliding square and single bevel knife the corners are marked. The knife mark makes it easy to start the saw when the saw is held at an angle and the teeth are engaged in the knife kerf;  a small pull will establish the saw cut and is then finished with the saw in the upright position.

 

The lid is two pieces glued up with an accent strip in between and then has some stringing (not to be called splines) added which are simply glued into the cut grooves or dado. 

The grooves are cut along the grain and filled with strips and glue first;  when the glue has set, the strips are sanded flush with the lid and then the grooves are cut across the grain and filled, which makes it easy to get away from cutting small pieces and a tight joint at all the intersections. 

Now onto the corners, which are cut on a 45 degree angle, and a triangular spline is inserted with glue and here it is important to make the cut at the right depth so it will intersect with the innermost string inlay at the edge of the lid (see lid picture ); then the lid edge is sanded slightly so as not to shorten the spline as it would change the length.

A slight rebate is cut along the bottom of the lid to let it sit slightly into the box to keep the lid in place and alternately hinges could be installed. 

That is about the completed build process and I hope I made it understandable.

~ Klaus (Kiefer)