Again I Need Your Help

[Bruce Cohen]

The following illustration is going to be the front of my next jewelry box.
What I'm trying to do is to inset a circle (which I'll cut out on the band saw) and inset it partially, into both the front and lid of the box. The question is what's the easiest way to cut out the area where the circle gets inset. The top of the circle will be sculptured so it becomes the handle for opening the box. I guess I'll do everything and then cut the top off and then hinge it to the body.
The only way I can imagine cutting out this area is to use a circle cutter on the drill pres and only make the depth shallow and then chisel out the waste inside the circular cut. Being I only going to get one chance to get this right, Not enough of the stock I'm using for the box (Beli with a leopard like figure to the grain), It's got to be as idiot proof as possible.
Hopefully one of you have a better (foolproof) way to accomplish this.
I'm attaching a drawing of the front for clarity. Oh, the circle is 4.25" diameter, so a forstner bit won't work, I don't believe they come that big and if so, it would be way too expensive for a one-time use.



Thanks, I know you'll come up with something easier.

[cwsmith]

Bruce,

I probably should give it some more thought, but my first inclination would be to make a pattern that can be clamped in place and then use a trim router. I'd certainly make a couple of practice runs on scrap stock, just to make sure though.

I hope this helps, and someone with more experience will tell us this is either a good avenue to take or not.

Good luck,

CWS

[mpc]

Ditto what CWS said - a router following inside a pattern. Add a shop-made sub-base to the router that completely spans the opening so there is absolutely no chance of the router tipping. A "bowl" bit will leave a roundover along the bottom-to-side junction of the cutout if you don't want a sharp corner like a normal pattern bit would leave.

Only other idea I can come up with is to make the panel out of two thinner panels: one is flat, one has the complete circle cut through it. Glue them together to make the final thickness you need/want, assuming the edge joint won't be visible or objectionable.

mpc

[JR]

You have great design concept there, Bruce. You also have a fairly significant technical challenge (but you knew that!).

When working on the box shown below I noodled through some ideas on making a circle rather than the parallelogram I ended up with. The suggestions already offered for using a router to make the inset are correct. I'm in the market for a small router to use for just this purpose. Mark a circle (an exacto mounted in a compass?) and then use the router freehand. You have to be brave and just take your time, making darn sure you dont go beyond the marked line. Clean up with Chisels, scrapers, carving tools, etc.

One thing I discovered is that you probably won't be able to get the inlay shape to match the hole sufficiently to make you happy. I found a tip on finewoodworking.com that suggested making a fine groove at the joint between the inlay and the field and filling it with a little strip of material from the same wood as used on the field (the main part of the box). I ended up using the corner of a scraper sharpened to meet the need. I was happy with the result, but it's a tricky operation. You'll find that it doesn't take much of a tool to make the groove, so use let your imagination go a little wild.

Which brings me to why I didn't end up making a cirlce. One of the reasons was that I couldn't figure out a way to make the groove so it was right at the edge of the inlay and didn't leave a mark in the center (you could plan to fill the center with a little piece of abalone or some other contrasting element). If you have access to FWW I'll look up the link for you.

Guud luck,
JR

[Bruce Cohen]

J.R., MPC and CW,
Thanks for the info on my "question. I'm attaching two picts to hopefully clarify just what it is that I want to try to do. Once again, cutting the circle is an no brainer, just the use of a circle cutting jig and the band saw should make easy work of that part.


I've used this The circle cutter before and it works just like any tool from Lee Valley, perfect.
What I'll do is not go thru the entire front which will be .5" thick, probably just cut to .25" deep. This will also keep the centering drill bit from exiting the opposite side (although that's not really important, as it more than likely end up getting covered by the inside trays or partitions. And then chisel out the waste to depth, and hopefully get it somewhat smooth and level.
The circle .5" thick will get buried by ,25" into the box front, so it sits proud, eliminating a possible problem with alignment. (The circle and other detail parts will be Purpleheart.)
Again, here's another illustration of what the front elevation of the circle will end up looking like.



I guess these two visuals will make it easier for you guys to be able to tell it WON'T work. I just love how confident I am about my abilities.
Anyway, again thanks for all your help. I'm never sure if I'm going in the right direction.

Bruce

[sweensdv]

If I'm undersanding what you're trying to do a hole saw might work for you. The kerf made by the hole saw will be smaller than the one made by the circle cutter but if you can live with that a hole saw should work for this.

[cabinetman]

I'll tell ya how I do these types of inlays. I make my circle for the inlay first. You can do that on the BS. Get the edge as perfect as you can, although it's not that important...I'll tell you in a bit.

Lay the pattern on the front and secure with hot glue. Use an X-acto knife with a #11 blade and keeping the knife perpendicular, make light passes around the circle until the score is fairly deep. This keeps you from drifting out away from the pattern.

Mark the edge of the front and the pattern to know exactly where it fits. Using the knife, if the pattern is slightly off, it will follow and the fit will be right on. Remove the pattern and chisel to the line with a chisel bevel up. Better yet if you have a crank neck paring chisel, they work very well, as they provide a better paring angle.

Make the bottom flat. The pattern should fit. I usually make patterns out of Plexiglas, as it's easier to form, and easier to cut around. Use the pattern and a flush bit to make the wood inlay. In this thread, I did 80 inlays with this method.

.

[Bruce Cohen]

Yo Cab,
Why is it that everytime I see something you make, I feel like a rank amateur. That is uneffingbeautiful.
I always know you'll and the others will come up with something good. I did think that cutting the circle on the BS first made the most sense, and that's the way I'll start.

And yes, I do have some cranked necked chisels and that's just what i intended to use. It would probably faster/easier to use a router, but that way opens the door to a mess I'd rather not envision.

There's a jig I saw (DIY) to use a 10" disk sander to clean up the circle's edges, so I'll make that first. Always looking to save money (yeah right), Carter makes a really cool circle cutting jig for the bandsaw which I'll buy, (no lunch for 2 weeks), as it is probably more accurate than something made out of ply or MDF.

Other than that, everyone's given me enough info and intestinal fortitude to green light the project.

Now all I have to do is wait to get this miserable cast removed from my ankle, so I can work, or something to that nature.
Again,
Many thanks everyone,

Bruce