A box joint mystery

[toller]

I have a shop-made box joint router jig. I have used it about 10 times and it gives perfect joints.

Today I made two identical boxes at the same time; one out of quilted maple and one of bubinga.

The bubinga is fine, just like the others. The maple is too tight. I ran it again, but it is still too tight. I ran them the same time on the same jig and same router bit. All four bubinga are fine; all four maple are too tight.

I can't make any sense out of this, except that there is something weird about quilted maple, but I can't imagine what that could even be. The maple is air-dried, but it was dry when I bought it, and has been in my shop for about 4 months.

Anyone make sense out of this?

[Leon]

This is not unusual. Even Leigh suggests that dove tails and box joints made on their jigs will fit differently depending on the type wood that you are using. Typically the harder woods will fit a bit tighter as they will not compress as much as the softer woods.

[Tom Watson]

Quilted Maple is by nature a wood of uneven tension throughout its width and thickness. It is also quite hard and not as forgiving as a softer wood in applications such as yours.

This combination is difficult to deal with when doing a box joint.

I would suspect that the first ten times you used the jig was with mild mannered woods that were softer than the maple.

BTW - have you tried the Italian version of Bubinga - Badabinga?

(watson - badaboom...cymbal crash...)

Tom Watson - WoodDorker tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (email)

(website)

[George]

Apparently you're pushing back more than pulling out with the maple.

If you had a straddle jig, it would be time for a tap with the hammer to close the fence to bit distance an RCH.

[Vic Baron]

Wotsamatta you? I gotta call my cousin Guido to fixa you up.

V

[Tom Watson]

You reminded me of this song that I heard some years back.

I'm going to quote this from memory, which means that it will be all screwed up:

Whats'a matta you Why you look so sad Whadda you think you do Why you feel so bad

Its'a nice'a day Its'a nice'a place

Ah, Shaddup'a you face

( I heard that the guy who did it was a Brit! I was sorta hoping that he was from South Philly, sose he'd be a Homeboy.)

Tom Watson - WoodDorker tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (email)

(website)