With the chest that is.
I ripped and crosscut all the panels (3/4" oak ply) to size this morning (actually early afternoon, and using my new tables, which are working out very well by the way).
Remind me never to try and do precision joinery on large panels ever again, with anything less than a cabinet saw. Trying to get square and trim down to 1/16" over a 5 foot length of two foot wide panel on a saw that barely weighs more than the panel....
Let's just say Ripping these panels to width was not the most pleasant experience, and its one I'd prefer to not repeat.
Then I put a 3/8" rabbet all the way around each panel, so I can inset the floor, and stairstep lap all the corners; both for strength, and for waterproofing.
Once I was done, I started gluing up; using gorilla glue, because it's expanding, gap filling, and water proof. I wet the rabbet, ran the glue bead, spread it, and corner clamped the sides together; then brad nailed the sides together in position (thank god for air nailers) , and move to the next corner.
This is where I made my error.
As I was doing the third corner, after the glue on the other two had already set, I noticed that I screwed up. Because I wasn't paying careful attention (I was chatting with Mel at the same time as I was working) I had screwed up the lap on one of my sides.
I had intended to inset both sides behind the face of the front and back, just like the floor; but instead I had done one inside lap, and one outside lap.
...and they were already well set with a waterproof expanding glue, and cross nailed in place....
Oh joy...
So I knocked the third corner apart (I was halfway done building it) and changed it's lap orientation to keep the box square, so now I've got two inset laps, and two outside laps.
That's OK from a joinery perspective, it's still strong and water proof etc... but it leaves me with a problem...
Remember, I'd already cut and rabbeted the top and bottom to the original dimensions. Well now, with the changed joints, the box is 3/8" narrower, and 3/8" longer.
So now I have to re-rip, re-crosscut, and re-rabbet the top and bottom; oh and of course the top and bottom are now too short; so I have to glue and brad two filler strips, and then cover them up with the face frame.
One the face frame is in place, you won't be able to tell a thing went wrong, but I'll know, and it will irritate me.
All that is about an extra two hours work, because I had already broken down the saw setup. So I had to reset everything for the rip and crosscut. Then re-set again for the Rabbet.
It was a PITA, and I'm irritated because if it weren't for all the extra work, I'd be done tonight; except for finishing.
Oh and even better, the box has a length constraint and a width constraint. The width is going to be OK, because the box is 3/8" narrower... unfortunately, the LENGTH is a problem. The box is now 3/8" longer, and I've only got 1/4" of wiggle room on my original dimensions...
So I'mna have to plane down the 1" oak (which is actually 3/4") to 1/2" on the sides in order to clear the side walls of the cargo carrier (I have a planer thankfully; doing it by hand is a royal pain; and doing it on the tablesaw is nearly as bad).
Anyway, all I need to do now is the face frames (all four walls, the top, and the floor have an oak face frame; glued and screwed to the panels, and each other, both for looks and for strength), and final fitting on the top, and I'm done. In theory it should be about two hours of work, maybe three. Hopefully the chest will be done tomorrow.
