Question about odd box construction

[ear3]

So as a result of the film set/art installation I recently finished up, I've started getting commissions from various people who saw the show.  Happy to oblige, of course, since the money is good, though I am going to have to figure out some better work-life-craft balance, as I've been spending waaaaay toooooo much time in the shop....

Anyway, first up is this table modeled after the plywood constructions of the artist Donald Judd, the dimensions of which will be 36"x72"x36":

[attachimg=1]

Fidelity to the original actually works in my favor, as it calls for standard plywood with exposed edges.  I'm going to domino and glue the carcasse so that I can at least add a bare minimum of craftsmanship by not having screw holes in the frame, but I'm wondering what people think about that diagonal, which functions as the support (there's no back/side to the table, and thus no option to, say, pocket screw the panel in place without those holes being seen).  For this I think I might actually want to use some screws to secure it from the bottom, which will not be visible -- but then on top  maybe a few 16ga. nails that I can fill in with putty?  My concern is what happens in the middle of the diagonal, and whether any convex bowing on the top board will leave a small gap on the underside with the edge of the diagonal.  Worst case I suppose is to add one or two pocket holes along the top of the diagonal that can be filled in with the color appropriate plug.

Also, what, if anything should be done where the mitered edges of the diagonal board meets the sides?  I'll be doing everything on-site with track saw, MFT and/or parallel guides, so I will be able to control dimensions to the thousandths of an inch, and am not worried about non-square cuts.  But do you think it might be worth adding some 4mm dominos into the beveled edge for purposes of alignment and some gluing surface, or is that unnecessary/overkill?

Thanks for any advice. 

 

[teocaf]

why not have dado grooves in top and bottom to accommodate the center support piece and glue it in?  you can make them with your track saw.  probably, given the dimensions, you won't need grooves in the sides, but you can do a nice flush bevel cut there.  that is, if you can modify the sides to go all the way up and down to hide the groove ends.  or, keeping with the original design, use a router to make the groove and finish off with a bit of chisel work.

 

[tjbnwi]

Let the panel into a 1/4" deep groove.

Tom

 

[ear3]

Hadn't thought of that, thanks [member=2205]teocaf[/member] and [member=4105]tjbnwi[/member]

I'll use a router so I can control the cut and stop short of the ends, finishing off with the chisel so I don't rout the bottom and top boards on the edge where the butt joint will be with the sides.

why not have dado grooves in top and bottom to accommodate the center support piece and glue it in?  you can make them with your track saw.  probably, given the dimensions, you won't need grooves in the sides, but you can do a nice flush bevel cut there.  that is, if you can modify the sides to go all the way up and down to hide the groove ends.  or, keeping with the original design, use a router to make the groove and finish off with a bit of chisel work.

 

[teocaf]

this is where the MFS Multi Routing Template comes in handy.  It's expensive to get into and you can certainly make your own, but after i got my 700, I found that I was pulling it out for lots of solutions to projects.

If you use a small enough diameter router bit, you may be able to overcut the groove without breaking out and not have to do any chisel work at all.  It would be very quick and easy to sketch out in full scale the geometry of just that little section.

 

[tiralie]

I like the design.
Tim

 

[tiralie]

So as a result of the film set/art installation I recently finished up, I've started getting commissions from various people who saw the show.

Congratulations! Nice that folks like your work.

Happy to oblige, of course, since the money is good, though I am going to have to figure out some better work-life-craft balance, as I've been spending waaaaay toooooo much time in the shop....

I think work/life balance is total BS. Seems to me to be a concept dreamed up by HR and corporate counsel to mitigate risk. I doubt the Wright brothers thought about work life balance...
Tim

 

[ear3]

Yeah, it's on the list.... [big grin]

this is where the MFS Multi Routing Template comes in handy.  It's expensive to get into and you can certainly make your own, but after i got my 700, I found that I was pulling it out for lots of solutions to projects.

If you use a small enough diameter router bit, you may be able to overcut the groove without breaking out and not have to do any chisel work at all.  It would be very quick and easy to sketch out in full scale the geometry of just that little section.

 

[rvieceli]

Router using the guide rail would probably work as well or better for routing the dado. Just remember to clamp it down.

 

[tiralie]

Router using the guide rail would probably work as well or better for routing the dado. Just remember to clamp it down.

Agreed. There is no real advantage to using a MFS routing template in this application.
The setup for 4 dadoes required here would take much longer than simply laying your guide rail down and measuring the offset.
In a production environment or for routing pattern multiples >4, the MFS is indispensable.
Tim