truing the top and bottom of a four sided box - Woodworking Talk

jdtamyers · 07-20-2008, 12:25 AM

hi, my name is john and i am new at this so i was hoping someone has a simple solution for truing up the top or bottom of a box... i am making a wooden box to bury my wife's dying cat in ( 20X15X10 ) and though it is a perfect rectangle the bottom and top are not flat now that it is glued up, so the box rocks from canter corner to corner. i could use my sanding bar but that would only get it flat, it then might not be level to the top of the box???

i have most wood working tools, table saw, lift router etc and i would not mind buying some kind of jig or making one if need be.

anybody ?

Handyman · 07-20-2008, 01:24 AM

As bad I hate to say this, I would start over, and double check the cuts on the wood with a good sqare. That has happend to me before and I found my miter saw was off just a little bit.

jdtamyers · 07-20-2008, 02:10 AM

hmmm, i'm surprised there is nothing on the market, short of 15" jointer i could slide the box over, oh well, i guess it won't matter to the cat if it rocks a bit.

john

Chiefwoodworker · 07-20-2008, 10:32 AM

Starting over is probably good advice. But if you have a bench or block plane you could try using that. First, mark all the sides, along the top or bottom, with lines that are both square to the edges and are coplanar. Then use the plane to bring the sides to the marked lines. Make sure your plane is sharp and be careful to plane in the appropiate direction relative to grain. The do the second side. This may work, but no guarantees.

Terry Beeson · 07-20-2008, 12:48 PM

Well, I'm thinking for this project it would not make a difference since you are burying it anyway.

But for future projects, I'm wondering what happened. If you used a belt sander, you probably got a high/low spot (been there, done that... got the tee shirt...) I'm looking at building a thickness sander (drum sander) to take care of some of those issues. Short of that, I would try to determine the high spots and use a finishing sander with 80 grit paper to level it off. Just light pressure on the high spots and then use a block sander.

Joe Lyddon · 07-20-2008, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdtamyers

hmmm, i'm surprised there is nothing on the market, short of 15" jointer i could slide the box over, oh well, i guess it won't matter to the cat if it rocks a bit.

john

Very good John!

Is the hole you're going to dig going to be perfectly level and have square corners?

So, just dig the hole to keep the box oriented the way you want it to be!

BTW, Welcome Aboard!

Rob · 07-20-2008, 03:00 PM

You can temporarily glue some 60/80 grit sanding sheets down to a large piece of glass, or any flat surface and move the box in a circular motion on the sandpaper. Take some chalk and color in all around the top/bottom and this will show the high and low spots immediately upon sanding. Keep your sandpaper brushed clean and it will go faster.