Project #1 - Cutting Grooves

Ok, so I'm way behind on my posts and on finishing my first project.  For awhile, I was waiting on a new chisel to come in the mail, which I needed cut the grooves in the sides of the box.  Well, it finally came and I got the grooves cut, but then Janel and I decided to start a bathroom remodeling project.  I've spent just about every night for the past three weeks working on the bathroom, so I haven't had time (or energy) to post or finish the box.
I got my new 1/4" chisel in about four weeks ago.  It is from Lie-Nielsen Toolworks and it came well sharpened and ready to go.  I wanted a quality chisel for the groove cutting, because I knew it would be hard work.  The maple I'm using for the box is pretty hard stuff and using anything but an extremely sharp chisel would have just about killed me.


To cut the grooves, I took a marking gauge and made a mark 1/4" above the bottom edge of all four side boards.  I then took the chisel with the bevel side up and cut a thin shaving along the edge of my mark (upper left picture).  I then went back over it repeatedly until the groove began to form.  At that point the chisel was pretty well guided by the groove and I could put more pressure on the cut to speed things up (upper right picture).


Once the grooves were 1/4" deep I came back and squared up the ends (lower left picture).  I ended the grooves 5/16" from the end of the boards so they wouldn't be visible once assembled.


I have also begun to cut the dovetail joints and will hopefully be able to post on that soon.