Continuing on with the school box build, its time to put the lower trim pieces on the box. This serves to hide the bottom and to protect the box from “dings and other tings that might happen. First off, I had to rip the pieces to 1-1/2” wide, then use a block plane to cut a 45-degree chamfer in the pieces.
After that, its on to my trusty miter saw (the old fashion version) to cut the pieces. First I cut one side of the front piece, measured and cut the 2nd side a little long, and then cut the two side pieces (which were a little longer than needed) with their 45-degree angle.
I then used my shooting board with a 45-degree angle attachment and my shooting board plane to “dial in” the front and two side pieces to the correct size.
Overall I am fairly happy with the fit.
I drilled pilot holes for the nails to help reduce splitting. I also put a dab of hide glue on the miters and let it sit for a couple of minutes, so that it would help fill the pores and reduce the “wicking” action of the end grain. From there I put glue on the bottom 1-3/8” of the box (so it wouldn’t spill over from underneath the trim) lined everything up, and then seated the nails.
Once that was done, I sawed off the side piece trim that was overhanging the back (the back does not get any trim) and used the suggestion of Denatured Alcohol again to help plane the ends of the side trim down flush.
Next step is to cut a dado and put the divider into place. More on that in the near future.
Kevin