A box joint mystery
 

I have a shop-made box joint router jig. I have used it about 10 times and
it gives perfect joints.

Today I made two identical boxes at the same time; one out of quilted maple
and one of bubinga.

The bubinga is fine, just like the others. The maple is too tight. I ran
it again, but it is still too tight.
I ran them the same time on the same jig and same router bit. All four
bubinga are fine; all four maple are too tight.

I can't make any sense out of this, except that there is something weird
about quilted maple, but I can't imagine what that could even be. The maple
is air-dried, but it was dry when I bought it, and has been in my shop for
about 4 months.

Anyone make sense out of this?

"toller" wrote in message
...
I have a shop-made box joint router jig. I have used it about 10 times and
it gives perfect joints.

Today I made two identical boxes at the same time; one out of quilted
maple and one of bubinga.

The bubinga is fine, just like the others. The maple is too tight. I ran
it again, but it is still too tight.
I ran them the same time on the same jig and same router bit. All four
bubinga are fine; all four maple are too tight.

I can't make any sense out of this, except that there is something weird
about quilted maple, but I can't imagine what that could even be. The
maple is air-dried, but it was dry when I bought it, and has been in my
shop for about 4 months.

Anyone make sense out of this?

This is not unusual. Even Leigh suggests that dove tails and box joints
made on their jigs will fit differently depending on the type wood that you
are using. Typically the harder woods will fit a bit tighter as they will
not compress as much as the softer woods.

On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 22:26:59 GMT, "toller" wrote:

I have a shop-made box joint router jig. I have used it about 10 times and
it gives perfect joints.

Today I made two identical boxes at the same time; one out of quilted maple
and one of bubinga.

The bubinga is fine, just like the others. The maple is too tight. I ran
it again, but it is still too tight.
I ran them the same time on the same jig and same router bit. All four
bubinga are fine; all four maple are too tight.

I can't make any sense out of this, except that there is something weird
about quilted maple, but I can't imagine what that could even be. The maple
is air-dried, but it was dry when I bought it, and has been in my shop for
about 4 months.

Anyone make sense out of this?



Quilted Maple is by nature a wood of uneven tension throughout its
width and thickness. It is also quite hard and not as forgiving as a
softer wood in applications such as yours.

This combination is difficult to deal with when doing a box joint.

I would suspect that the first ten times you used the jig was with
mild mannered woods that were softer than the maple.



BTW - have you tried the Italian version of Bubinga - Badabinga?


(watson - badaboom...cymbal crash...)



Tom Watson - WoodDorker
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/ (website)

"toller" wrote in message
...
I have a shop-made box joint router jig. I have used it about 10 times
and
it gives perfect joints.

Today I made two identical boxes at the same time; one out of quilted
maple
and one of bubinga.

The bubinga is fine, just like the others. The maple is too tight. I ran
it again, but it is still too tight.
I ran them the same time on the same jig and same router bit. All four
bubinga are fine; all four maple are too tight.

I can't make any sense out of this, except that there is something weird
about quilted maple, but I can't imagine what that could even be. The
maple
is air-dried, but it was dry when I bought it, and has been in my shop for
about 4 months.

Anyone make sense out of this?


Apparently you're pushing back more than pulling out with the maple.

If you had a straddle jig, it would be time for a tap with the hammer to
close the fence to bit distance an RCH.

"Tom Watson" wrote in message
...
BTW - have you tried the Italian version of Bubinga - Badabinga?


(watson - badaboom...cymbal crash...)

Wotsamatta you? I gotta call my cousin Guido to fixa you up.

V

On Tue, 26 Apr 2005 20:16:43 GMT, "Vic Baron"
wrote:


"Tom Watson" wrote in message
.. .
BTW - have you tried the Italian version of Bubinga - Badabinga?


(watson - badaboom...cymbal crash...)

Wotsamatta you? I gotta call my cousin Guido to fixa you up.

V


You reminded me of this song that I heard some years back.

I'm going to quote this from memory, which means that it will be all
screwed up:


Whats'a matta you
Why you look so sad
Whadda you think you do
Why you feel so bad

Its'a nice'a day
Its'a nice'a place

Ah, Shaddup'a you face

( I heard that the guy who did it was a Brit! I was sorta hoping that
he was from South Philly, sose he'd be a Homeboy.)



Tom Watson - WoodDorker
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/ (website)