Do you shoot a Rigby cartridge? Then your country needs YOU! - also, another woodworking blog

[PostmanPat]

BLUF: I am building a box for my son for Christmas, to house the Rigby knife I have also bought him for Christmas and I have an idea to set a the end of a fired Rigby cartridge into the inside of the box lid - the only snag - I don't such a rifle - if you are reading this and want to to display your fine Christmas spirit - I would be much obliged if you drop me a PM and post a single used bit of brass.

I am also going to blog a bit about the box build as I like to hear myself talk



Box arrived a couple of days ago and I sat down with a brandy and started planning. I am currently restraining myself from further oiling of a stock so need something to keep me busy



It is bloody pretty. I gave the edge a good hone and polish on a strop for satisfaction.

 

[PostmanPat]

Then I made up a new sled. I have always made boxes by hand in the past but I recently bought a book. 52 boxes in 52 weeks. Which is written by a yank, and they love doing everything on a table saw, so I thought I would make it as I plan to have a go at some of the weird and wonderful designs therein.



This ended up being an absolute nightmare. I have never used the table saw for anything as precise as a small box and ended up chasing around trying to find what wasn't square. I had to break off the sled fence and re-set it, re-set the fence on the table saw, re-cut the mitre slot in the sled and then.......something was still slightly off. Long story short it turned out the actual cast iron table was ever so slightly off square to the blade, and now all the other stuff I mentioned needs doing yet again, and the sled needs re-making. But I had thrown my toys out the pram by that point and went out stalking.

I haven't re-done the sled as I am still mad at it. So I ended up finishing the lumber dimensioning off by hand with shooting boards etc. Squaring it up by hand ended up removing more wood than I wanted and so my original plan of having a tray inside that the knife sits in, and a hidden compartment below for the leather sheath, is a bit at risk now as it is edging on too shallow, but I am going to persevere and try to make a delicate inside tray to fit later .



I then used a rabate plane to create....a rabate in the top and bottom that the lid and base will sit in. I have actually never built a box this way before, in the past I have always used a plough plane and inset them, but I want this box to look a bit grand.

 

[PostmanPat]

Then it was on to cutting to size, cutting the mitres - tidying them up and dry fit. The sides are oak and the top and bottom are sapele. I had another bit of an epic when planning the faces, getting tear out - re-sharpening all my planes, still getting tear out - pouring some brandy etc

 

[PostmanPat]

I planed the edges of the lid to create a shallow raised top, then planed it down a little and decided to create a nice texture to the top with a carving chisel. The bottom I just planed a shallow line so it is fairly thick, almost looks like the box sits on a plinth. Then it was time for the glue up

 

[User00056]

Beautiful bit of work. What an amazing gift!

 

[Klenchblaize]

Fingers crossed that someone is able to supply you with either a Rigby 275 or 416 cartridge.

K

 

[PostmanPat]

Fingers crossed that someone is able to supply you with either a Rigby 275 or 416 cartridge.

K

It would be much appreciated. I think it would really bring it together

 

[webley701]

It would be much appreciated. I think it would really bring it together

If you send me your details on a PM I’m sure I can sort out a .275 Rigby case.

I’ve heard that some people may shoot other cartridges but I prefer to believe that no one could be so tasteless

 

[Heym SR20]

Pm me your address and can let you have some Hornady brass headstamped 275 Rigby

 

[PostmanPat]

Legends both of you, thanks

 

[webley701]

The case will be from this box (1937-38 issue).

 

[PostmanPat]

Tape is off and the mitres are not my best, however, rolling them over with the burnsiher hides many sins

 

[PostmanPat]

I then cut into the box so I can create mitre splines, which, when done well, look nice. They also improve the strength of the mitre joints, which are fairly weak for a box — and this one will obviously have a fairly heavy knife in it.


Whenever people in YouTube videos cut a thin strip for the splines, they always seem to measure it once and get it perfect. In my experience, you have to cut about a thousand that are all either ever so slightly too thin or too thick. You try to plane one down, snap it, start swearing, and then resort to sanding one until it’s right. It really does need to be as close to a perfect friction fit as possible — one you just tap in with a hammer — and even then there will be some small gaps to sort out once I cut them flush.


The moment I finished the glue-up, I realised I’d made the same mistake I made the last time I built a box with splines. I measured the top; I even remembered to adjust the saw fence slightly, as the base is thicker than the top (which isn’t something I’ve done before). I then measured for the central point and cut. The mistake is that, when I cut the lid off, I’ll lose about 2.5 mm to kerf loss with the saw — or a little less if I do it by hand (and don’t mess it up) with a Japanese pull saw. That means the splines won’t end up equidistant, and I know that’s going to drive me nuts every time I look at it.

 

[PostmanPat]

Cut the excess flush and gave it an initial sanding. I can only actually see one tiny gap which is grand. I need to rub in a little glue and saw dust but ran out of steam for this evening

 

[PostmanPat]

Just got in the workshop for 45 mins. Sanded the side again no they have a little dry filler on and the mitre splines look decent. Cut the box open, inside of mitres aren't perfect but they will have to do. Tidied up the edge with a block plane, then I usually try and get them both as close to perfectly flat with a large panel of MDF I have with sandpaper glued to it, but this box is larger than others I have made so I had to make up a bigger one, which is currently drying, so that is it for today.

 

[harrygrey382]

This is fantastic Pat, what a beautiful gift for your son. I love the pattern you’ve carved into the lid. And the mitres look pretty bloody good! Did you consider a surge liningG

The case will be from this box (1937-38 issue).

I was lead to believe the original 275 Rigby cartridges were in fact headstamped 7mm Mauser - is this not the case?

 

[webley701]

This is fantastic Pat, what a beautiful gift for your son. I love the pattern you’ve carved into the lid. And the mitres look pretty bloody good! Did you consider a surge liningG



I was lead to believe the original 275 Rigby cartridges were in fact headstamped 7mm Mauser - is this not the case?

It is.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

BLUF: I am building a box for my son for Christmas, to house the Rigby knife I have also bought him for Christmas and I have an idea to set a the end of a fired Rigby cartridge into the inside of the box lid - the only snag - I don't such a rifle - if you are reading this and want to to display your fine Christmas spirit - I would be much obliged if you drop me a PM and post a single used bit of brass.

I am also going to blog a bit about the box build as I like to hear myself talk

View attachment 444629

Box arrived a couple of days ago and I sat down with a brandy and started planning. I am currently restraining myself from further oiling of a stock so need something to keep me busy

View attachment 444627View attachment 444628

It is bloody pretty. I gave the edge a good hone and polish on a strop for satisfaction.

Wow! Lucky boy and lovely looking box

 

[Sika98k]

I have some brass marked 7mm Kynoch.

 

[PostmanPat]

This is fantastic Pat, what a beautiful gift for your son. I love the pattern you’ve carved into the lid. And the mitres look pretty bloody good! Did you consider a surge liningG



I was lead to believe the original 275 Rigby cartridges were in fact headstamped 7mm Mauser - is this not the case?

Thanks all for the kind words. I don't know what a surge lining is and Google seems unable to educate me, always happy to hear ideas.

I was planning in flocking the tray the knife will sit in and leaving the hidden lower compartment wood (with the brass inlaid so you see it when you lift out the tray). I was thinking of trying to find some local wood shop that has a CNC machine so I could get an piece of wood for the inside of the tray CNC'd with a perfect cut out of the knife - plus a few mm, for it to sit in, may still explore that idea.