glw
36 Cal.
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2005
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This is a range box I built to hold my revolver as well as most of my other BP stuff.
image by gregwest98, on Flickr
I’ve shown the pistol case before; I sized this box to hold that box at the top with all my other stuff underneath.
It’s made from cheap pine from the home center (instead of calling it SPF ”“ for Spruce/Pine/Fir, I call it CAP ”“ for cheap-arsed pine). In spite of the price, this is some pretty decent stuff and I was able to avoid the knots. I decided at the last minute that the brass hardware would look better with a cherry-colored stain on it so I used some Gel-stain from General Finishes (which is advertised to avoid the blotchy look that you sometimes get with pine and cherry ”“ seems to work for me). Being relatively soft, it was easy to smooth with a hand plane.
image by gregwest98, on Flickr
I cut those dovetails by hand; they’re a little sloppy (if you look closely) but the great thing about dovetails is that the box is square and sturdy in spite of any local imprecision. The bottom is held in a groove that I cut by using a special hand plane ”“ called a “plow plane”. That’s how they used to cut grooves and it really does a nice job ”“ and it’s easy too. I may never use a router again for this sort of thing. Lots of hand tools take some skill to use well and they make you work up a sweat but not this tool.
This was a fun project. And useful ”“ I hope. I intend to attach some holders/racks on the inside to organize some of the most commonly used items (cappers, jag, etc), and perhaps make some smaller boxes to hold the balls. I know they already come in boxes but once you start down this road, you don’t want to stop. :wink:
image by gregwest98, on Flickr
image by gregwest98, on FlickrI’ve shown the pistol case before; I sized this box to hold that box at the top with all my other stuff underneath.
It’s made from cheap pine from the home center (instead of calling it SPF ”“ for Spruce/Pine/Fir, I call it CAP ”“ for cheap-arsed pine). In spite of the price, this is some pretty decent stuff and I was able to avoid the knots. I decided at the last minute that the brass hardware would look better with a cherry-colored stain on it so I used some Gel-stain from General Finishes (which is advertised to avoid the blotchy look that you sometimes get with pine and cherry ”“ seems to work for me). Being relatively soft, it was easy to smooth with a hand plane.
image by gregwest98, on FlickrI cut those dovetails by hand; they’re a little sloppy (if you look closely) but the great thing about dovetails is that the box is square and sturdy in spite of any local imprecision. The bottom is held in a groove that I cut by using a special hand plane ”“ called a “plow plane”. That’s how they used to cut grooves and it really does a nice job ”“ and it’s easy too. I may never use a router again for this sort of thing. Lots of hand tools take some skill to use well and they make you work up a sweat but not this tool.
This was a fun project. And useful ”“ I hope. I intend to attach some holders/racks on the inside to organize some of the most commonly used items (cappers, jag, etc), and perhaps make some smaller boxes to hold the balls. I know they already come in boxes but once you start down this road, you don’t want to stop. :wink:
image by gregwest98, on Flickr
