Sliding Trays – Part 1
2011.12.05
There will be three sliding trays in the upper part of the tool chest. I decided to make them out of some cherry I’ve had for a while. The boards are 4/4 or more, and I wanted the sides of the trays to be about 1/2″, so I knew I’d have to resaw.
I had never done resawing by hand before, and my first attempt was a failure. While I tracked the line on top, down below the saw had veered way off-course, nearly breaking through one of the wide faces.
So I practiced. A lot. First I worked in pine, a few pieces of oak, and then in cherry. At one point early on, I tried using a jigsaw instead… and the same thing happened. So I went back to the handsaw. Finally, everything started to click in place. The two main things I had to learn were 1) be patient and not “force” the saw, which invariably causes it to wander from the line, and 2) frequently flip the workpiece over to saw from the opposite edge. I also found that oiling or waxing the sawplate and placing wedges in the kerf above the saw helped reduce friction.
After I was confident enough, today I tackled the first piece, which will become the sides of the upper tray. I started at each corner with a rip-tooth backsaw with 11 teeth per inch (tpi). The smaller teeth are easier to start. Then I switched to a Disston #7 panel saw filed rip with 7 tpi. I have a 6 tpi saw, but it has a thinner sawplate, and in my practice rounds I found that it really wanted to buckle as I started each stroke.
It took me about fifteen minutes. Of course, this board is not very tall, approaching the fuzzy distinction between “ripping” and “resawing”.
The resawn faces are rough, but not too bad. I cleaned them up with my jointer plane.
2011.12.06
The next board would be the sides of the middle tray.
This one took about half an hour.
2011.12.08
Today I resawed the board for the sides of the lower tray. I think most people saw about halfway from one end, then work back from the other end, but I did most of it in one direction, using a wedge to keep the saw from binding. It looks kinda silly, but it works.
It took about 45 minutes to resaw.
Saw Till