Cleaning Up The Faces — How To Make A Dovetail Box

Once dry, you must plane the outsides of the box. First, use the corner of a sharp chisel to pare cut any protruding nubs, if there are any. This will save wear on your plane iron by reducing the amount it needs to take off. Take care to keep your fingers behind the cutting edge at all times, and press down on the chisel blade to keep it registered flat against the box.

Next, clamp your box in the vise oriented with one of the long sides protruding above the surface. Place a scrap of wood underneath the box side before tightening the vise, as this will add support and stop it from bending in its length when planing.

For the short sides, clamp across the vise jaws and add a sacrificial piece of wood on the face furthest from you. This will allow you to take through strokes with the plane without any splitting on the outcut, so long as the sacrificial wood is making good contact with the face of the box.

If needed, use 240 grit sandpaper to smoothen the surface a little. This is all you should need it for.

Use a slicing motion to pare the nubs with the corner of a sharp chisel

Use a scrap of wood to stop the plane sides from bending as you plane

Work from both sides and lift the heel of the plane at the end of the cut

Clamp a sacrificial piece between the box and the bench end of the vise

Take through shavings evenly across the whole surface