Some Small Boxes - Done

glenn bradley

Member
Messages
11,515
Location
SoCal
I took a day off to prepare for the Fourth. I'm an early riser so I grabbed some scraps out of the bin and test drove my recently built "box sled".

Bevy of Boxes (1).jpg

With it setup for mitered corners I made some quick work of the scraps. I found walnut, B.E. maple and pecan pieces that were large enough to make parts from. In one case I was not able to wrap the figure around the sides but, we are talking scraps here after all ;).

Bevy of Boxes (2).jpg

One of the down sides to working with scrap can be that you may or may not have material of identical thickness or size. This just means a little more fussing around when fitting things but, it does lower the level in the scrap bin. Here's the first one I did to decide on how to proceed.

Bevy of Boxes (3).jpg

Here's a batch that are just dry-fit together. I need to do some things to get ready for tomorrow so I will probably not get to finishing the insides (I do this prior to assembly) or adding any details till tomorrow some time. That being said, it was a nice way to spend the early hours . . . unfortunately you can't see a dent in the scrap bin yet but, Christmas is only 174 days, 11 hours and 52 minutes away.

Bevy of Boxes (4).jpg
 
Last edited:
Nice boxes Glenn good use of scraps, guess you getting things done before the temps get to high.

Interested though in that mod you have made to your mitre gauge.
 
Interested though in that mod you have made to your mitre gauge.

No voo-doo there. Once upon a time, Incra didn't have the wide variety of goodies they now sell. I had picked up a V-27 gauge back when I lived and worked in Silly-cone Valley. I wanted a good fence and so called Incra direct and they cobbled together the extrusions for a very reasonable price. They still sell these same parts.

I used press-on "L" knobs that slip right over the heads of the stock Incra cap screws for tool-less adjustments. I also replaced their fence mounting t-nuts and screws with t-bolts and knobs for the same reason. I had stops that were consistent across my router fence and drill press fence and so added the wooden runner and universal t-track to the miter gauge fence parts and now all kinds of things get used between these tools.

V-27 Mods (1).jpgV-27 Mods (2).jpgV-27 Mods (3).jpgV-27 Mods (4).jpgV-27 Mods (5).jpg

The "flag" extension on the right is a sacrificial piece glued to a piece of rectangle stock that slips into the extrusion and can be swapped with one small screw. I just milled a long piece of it and cut off a new piece and glue on the "flag" (which is rabbeted to fit) when I need a different (or replacement) piece. You just have to be sure that everything is coplanar and perpendicular.
 
Wow, talk about shoptus interruptus. Life threw me a couple of curves so these guys have sat in the wings waiting. I got to give them some more attention last night. I finish the interiors prior to assembly:

Bevy of Boxes (5).jpg

Here's a couple that are glued up:

Bevy of Boxes (6).jpg

Here's the same two after separation. You'll notice they are about 1/4" shorter. One of the fun things about making boxes in this style is that without additional details, they almost look like they don't open:

Bevy of Boxes (7).jpg

But the tops do lift off. I will finish the outsides once I have the other three split. You can see where I carve away the waste on the inside of the top to make it lighter while still providing me enough thickness to use the edge profile I want.

Bevy of Boxes (8).jpg . Bevy of Boxes (9).jpg

I offer these sorts of boxes as nick-knacks; more to be handled and enjoyed than actually being very useful for holding stuff :rolleyes:. I'll post a finished pic once that's completed.
 
Last edited:
Super :thumb: I really like the look of that Padauk top :yes: but I'm dumbfounded{as usual} on the wood identity of the box itself. :dunno:

The padouk is actually mexican redheart [Chakte Kok] left over from a box swap back in 2011(is that possible !?!), the balance on that one is pecan. The other is a B.E. Maple top and the balance is black walnut. The others are cherry boxes and walnut tops. Now that I have the dimensions in my mind I'm going to see if I can't pre-sort cutoffs over time and just do batches of these now and again when things get crowded. As for identifying species from my bad photographs? I have trouble with good pictures of woods, let alone my shop-shots :D.
 
Last edited:
Thanks everybody. Here they are with some finish on them. I'm still playing with the idea of some sort of accessory like a false pull or side handles :dunno:.

Bevy of Boxes (10).jpg . Bevy of Boxes (11).jpg . Bevy of Boxes (12).jpg . Bevy of Boxes (13).jpg
Bevy of Boxes (14).jpg . Bevy of Boxes (15).jpg . Bevy of Boxes (16).jpg . Bevy of Boxes (17).jpg

The last pic is a good example of how cherry darkens. The bottom and the box parts are made from the same cherry board. The bottom was shellac'd about a week ago, the balance of the box just about an hour ago.
 
Last edited:
Top