I recently bought Doug Stowe's excellent book on boxmaking. I've read
through it quickly and now I'll start over, but there was one
recommendation that I didn't really understand. When making the gallery
for a lift-off lid (for a box made in one piece and later cut into lid and
bottom) Stowe recommends cutting a dado on the interior (before assembly)
and making the cutoff cut midway through this dado, so that both lid
and bottom have a rabbet. He then recommends that the boxmaker cut, miter,
and glue thin stock into the lower rabbet, to stick up past the cut and
key the lid. I hope I'm stating this clearly; Stowe did a much better job
of explaining. Anyway, he recommends this over cutting the gallery
directly into the box top and bottom. I've been dadoing the inside, and
then cutting the box apart on the router table, with the bit set further
down the outside but overlapping the interior dado slightly. This forms
the gallery at the same time the box is cut open. If you're careful with
the bit height, the fit is perfect, with no sanding. I temporarily
hotglue scrap pieces into the interior during assembly to keep the box
from falling apart prematurely and messing up the router cut.
Could some knowledgeable person explain why Stowe recommends the technique
he does? Thanks much.
Ray