Good day all,

I am getting ready to start a new project. It will be a shelf for
mounting the head of a Kenwood TM-D700A 2m/70cm radio in the car so that
I do not have to drill any holes in my nice new car. I am considering
using either a box cut or dove tail joints as they are stronger then
butted joints. I will be staining the piece. Alas this will be my
first attempt. I have shopped around for some jigs but they very
greatly in price and would like to get some of your opinions. Please
note that this is strictly amateur hour but would like decent results as
it will be seen by passengers.

thanks for your inputs.

sincerely,
Glen D. Geen

Thats an easy one. Either are strong enough, and both look good.

You can make a box joint jig for free, and any fool can cut them perfectly.
Dovetail joints take an expensive jig (sure, you CAN substitute skill and
diligence and make them by hand...) that are fussy to set up and take a
while to learn.

If this is to be a one up; then a box joint wins easily.

"Mr. G. D. Geen" wrote:

Good day all,

I am getting ready to start a new project. It will be a shelf for
mounting the head of a Kenwood TM-D700A 2m/70cm radio in the car so that
I do not have to drill any holes in my nice new car. I am considering
using either a box cut or dove tail joints as they are stronger then
butted joints. I will be staining the piece. Alas this will be my
first attempt. I have shopped around for some jigs but they very
greatly in price and would like to get some of your opinions. Please
note that this is strictly amateur hour but would like decent results as
it will be seen by passengers.

thanks for your inputs.

sincerely,
Glen D. Geen

Go for the box joint. They can be made to look attractive and are very
strong. Cutting respectable dovetails requires a good-sized investment
of money or skills development, which would not be warranted for a
one-off project (unless during that project the woodworking bug bites
you!)
--
Alex -- Replace "nospam" with "mail" to reply by email. Checked infrequently.

This entirely depends on your equipment. If you have a tablesaw with dado
blade or a router table, box joint jigs are easily made to work on either.
If you only have a tablesaw, box joints are going to be the way to go but
you will need a dado blade. If you have non of the above equipment,
dovetails are going to be the fastest and easiest of the two. A router and
dovetail jig can be bought for less than $250.00. Medium quality dovetail
jigs are easy to set up and use.
"Mr. G. D. Geen" wrote in message
...
Good day all,

I am getting ready to start a new project. It will be a shelf for
mounting the head of a Kenwood TM-D700A 2m/70cm radio in the car so that
I do not have to drill any holes in my nice new car. I am considering
using either a box cut or dove tail joints as they are stronger then
butted joints. I will be staining the piece. Alas this will be my
first attempt. I have shopped around for some jigs but they very
greatly in price and would like to get some of your opinions. Please
note that this is strictly amateur hour but would like decent results as
it will be seen by passengers.

thanks for your inputs.

sincerely,
Glen D. Geen

toller wrote:
Thats an easy one. Either are strong enough, and both look good.
You can make a box joint jig for free, and any fool can cut them perfectly.
Dovetail joints take an expensive jig (sure, you CAN substitute skill and
diligence and make them by hand...) that are fussy to set up and take a
while to learn.
If this is to be a one up; then a box joint wins easily.

I don't know about that. It depends on how careful a worker you are and
how willing you are to be careful.

I had to build a 12" high "wall to go around the bottom of my daughter's
bed frame to keep her rabbit out of there as well as to keep her from
hiding stuff under there. My Dad was complaining about how hard he'd
heard DTs were to make so I used it as an opportunity to teach him to
make dovies. I picked up a bunch of 1X12 jummywood (practice on your
cheap wood) and had him help me make DTs for all 4 corners. I sketched
out the tails and had him cut them then traced the pins (yeah I know)
and had him cut those. Since he knows how to do it far better than I,
he wouldn't take much direction. That left some clean up to do, which
was a great opportunity to explain what I meant by "sharp". Sneaking up
on the fit didn't take much time and the joints fit nice and tight.

Now he "knows" that he can do it, hell he's done it once, I didn't do
any of the "real" work, just ask him. More to the point, he probably
CAN do it now, it'll just take longer than he thought. You can too.
Try it one time in pine, it's cheap and nasty. Once you can do it in
pine, hardwood will seem MUCH easier to work with and give you much
better results. Take your time and make every line and cut with
consideration, don't try to rush to the next step.

Dave in Fairfax
--
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
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http://www.capwoodturners.org/
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http://www.patinatools.org

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 14:21:05 -0500, "Mr. G. D. Geen"
wrote:

Good day all,

I am getting ready to start a new project. It will be a shelf for
mounting the head of a Kenwood TM-D700A 2m/70cm radio in the car so that
I do not have to drill any holes in my nice new car. I am considering
using either a box cut or dove tail joints as they are stronger then
butted joints. I will be staining the piece. Alas this will be my
first attempt. I have shopped around for some jigs but they very
greatly in price and would like to get some of your opinions. Please
note that this is strictly amateur hour but would like decent results as
it will be seen by passengers.

I'm confused, why do you need fancy joinery to make a shelf, and how
are you going to mount the shelf without putting any holes in the car?


-Leuf

Leuf wrote in
:

I'm confused, why do you need fancy joinery to make a shelf, and how
are you going to mount the shelf without putting any holes in the car?


Duct tape?

On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 00:33:45 -0500, the opaque Patriarch
spake:

Leuf wrote in
:

I'm confused, why do you need fancy joinery to make a shelf, and how
are you going to mount the shelf without putting any holes in the car?

Duct tape?

More precisely: hot-glue, pipe cleaners, and a suitable supply of 3M
duct tape.


---
Annoy a politician: Be trustworthy, faithful, and honest!
---
http://www.diversify.com Comprehensive Website Development

Dovetails are a bit more complicated than box joints. If you have a
router or table saw a box joint jig is quick and easy to make, and a
box joint is strong and decorative.

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 14:21:05 -0500, "Mr. G. D. Geen"
wrote:

Good day all,

I am getting ready to start a new project. It will be a shelf for
mounting the head of a Kenwood TM-D700A 2m/70cm radio in the car so that
I do not have to drill any holes in my nice new car. I am considering
using either a box cut or dove tail joints as they are stronger then
butted joints. I will be staining the piece. Alas this will be my
first attempt. I have shopped around for some jigs but they very
greatly in price and would like to get some of your opinions. Please
note that this is strictly amateur hour but would like decent results as
it will be seen by passengers.

thanks for your inputs.

sincerely,
Glen D. Geen

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 14:21:05 -0500, "Mr. G. D. Geen"
wrote:

Please
note that this is strictly amateur hour but would like decent results as
it will be seen by passengers.

thanks for your inputs.

Just a thought, but if this is going to be sitting on the dash, make
sure you select a wood that is going to improve with exposure to lots
of UV light. I know cherry and mahogany darken and look nicer, while
others will bleach out or change to a much less attractive color, like
purpleheart and some others (I don't have a comprehensive list, just
wanted to point it out for your consideration)

Mr. G. D. Geen wrote:
Good day all,

I am getting ready to start a new project. It will be a shelf for
mounting the head of a Kenwood TM-D700A 2m/70cm radio in the car so that
I do not have to drill any holes in my nice new car.

I used the double sided tape provided with the radio. If it's gone, get
some 3m double sided foam tape (the borg has it).


Box joints aren't too difficult. I use a jig along the lines of Norm's
from the jigs & fixtures episode of NYW.

-j
kg4wsv