While waiting for stain on doors to set up so I can move the one I was working on out of the way and bring in another, I work on a steamer trunk.
I have already milled long strips of stock from which I will cut the banding pieces in the same way I did the banding for the lid, except that I don’t need to bevel the ends; this will be straight, flat panel work and nice square ends are preferred.
But I do need to make the lock shims. The pattern is made for use with both long and short shank trunk locks, I’ll be using the short lock here, so I line up the pattern with the short lock line on the edge of my stock and trace around the pattern with a fine tip felt pen. I applied masking tape around where the pattern will lie so the lines I make will be easier to see than they would on the dark colored walnut and so that when the shaping is done I can just peel away the tape and there will be no marks to deal with.
I cut out the shape on the band saw, leaving just a little wood outside of the line which allows me to sand the piece to precise shape, and remove the saw marks. This sanding is done with a stationary belt sander for the long, straight parts, a small sanding drum chucked into the drill press (shown here) and the fine detail work is done by hand with fine sandpaper glued to a tongue depressor to shape the small notches.
Installing the banding is done like before; laying out the locations carefully then insuring a good snug fit between banding and rails so we will get a good glue joint. There is nothing inside the trunk to nail into this time, so fitting is especially important.
When all the banding is installed I sand the exterior of the case with 100 grit paper to smooth it all out, then glue and clamp the tray supports in place inside the case.
But I do need to make the lock shims. The pattern is made for use with both long and short shank trunk locks, I’ll be using the short lock here, so I line up the pattern with the short lock line on the edge of my stock and trace around the pattern with a fine tip felt pen. I applied masking tape around where the pattern will lie so the lines I make will be easier to see than they would on the dark colored walnut and so that when the shaping is done I can just peel away the tape and there will be no marks to deal with.
I cut out the shape on the band saw, leaving just a little wood outside of the line which allows me to sand the piece to precise shape, and remove the saw marks. This sanding is done with a stationary belt sander for the long, straight parts, a small sanding drum chucked into the drill press (shown here) and the fine detail work is done by hand with fine sandpaper glued to a tongue depressor to shape the small notches.
Installing the banding is done like before; laying out the locations carefully then insuring a good snug fit between banding and rails so we will get a good glue joint. There is nothing inside the trunk to nail into this time, so fitting is especially important.
When all the banding is installed I sand the exterior of the case with 100 grit paper to smooth it all out, then glue and clamp the tray supports in place inside the case.And that completes construction of the case of the trunk.
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