Quick Turn Around Maple Box

[JohnnyEgo]

My son's last day of school was yesterday. On Sunday night, he tells me he wants me to make his teacher a box like the one I made him for his Pokemon cards. That gave me three evenings to get it done, which meant it wasn't going to be very complex, and I wouldn't have much time to redo anything I made a mistake on. So here is what we did:

Cut two thin strips of walnut and glued them to a maple board with some nice figure that I found in the cast-off bin at Home Depot of all places. Once the glue dried, I ran it through the planer until it was a half inch thick:


Then on to the router table. Two quarter inch dadoes a quarter inch from the top and bottom, followed by a quarter-inch round-over of the edges:



Inside face got two coats of shellac, because it dries quick and is easy to apply before everything gets cut in a million pieces:


For the top, I took the offcuts of the maple board and the walnut trim, as well as a scrap of padauk, glued them up and stuck them in my new vise, then planed them smooth:



The top is way oversized for the need, so I cut a couple of profiles in it to see what I might like. Simple wound up being best. Same 1/4" groove and 1/4" round-over as the box sides. I hit the exterior surfaces and the lid with a very light coat of Watco Danish Oil, just enough to pop the grain and provide a very mild tint.

[JohnnyEgo]

Most of the stuff being ready, my son joined me to cut the box sides and one of the bases on the tablesaw:


He has a discerning eye:


Then back to the tablesaw to have the miters cut:


Everything ready for assembly and gluing:


Dry-fit looked pretty tight, but I am embarrassed to say the miters came out looser than I would have hoped when everything was fitted together. But not enough time to mourn over things that couldn't be corrected, so into the spline jig it went:




At this point, it was Wednesday evening, and I still had a fair amount to go.

[JohnnyEgo]

One quick coat of shellac before I split it on the table saw:


I was working quick and didn't stop to take many pictures at this point. I sanded the box lid and joint flat by rubbing them against a piece of 60 grit taped to my tablesaw top. Then I realized I didn't have any hinges, and spent 20 minutes in a half panic contemplating whether I could find some at this time of night, or if I could dismantle something I'd already made. I finally found a pair of hinges in the back of the random parts bucket that would work, although they are probably longer than I would have otherwise chosen. I have always routed my hinge mortises, but this time I decided to use a chisel and my new router plane to mortise them in, and it worked about as well as any I have ever done before, in about the time it would have taken me to set up my router to do the same thing. So I learned something new, and will probably stick with this method in the future.


Hit it with some self-adhesive felt for the bottom:


And a final light coat of shellac before I went to bed at midnight.


Pretty happy with how it came out, particularly for the time invested. My only real dissatisfaction is that I still need a lot of improvement on my miter joints. But gives me a goal to work towards, I suppose:

[Bill Holt]

Nice looking box.  A box that three people (dad, son, & teacher) will remember for many years.

[JohnnyEgo]

Well thank you, very much. I doubt my son will ever be forgotten by any of his teachers, even after years of therapy. His teacher this year was an absolute saint, and my son and his best friend absolutely did everything in their power to test her limits. I wanted to buy her a flask to put in the box, but my wife said no and insisted on a gift-card instead.

According to my wife, it was very well received. My son's teacher started crying, and then took the box to show all of her peers.

[Woodworm!]

Well thank you, very much.  I doubt my son will ever be forgotten by any of his teachers, even after years of therapy.  His teacher this year was an absolute saint, and my son and his best friend absolutely did everything in their power to test her limits.  I wanted to buy her a flask to put in the box, but my wife said no and insisted on a gift-card instead.

According to my wife, it was very well received.  My son's teacher started crying, and then took the box to show all of her peers.

Boxes always make a great gift

[Gary G™]

Great work on the box.

Did your little guy try to hit on his teacher?

[JohnnyEgo]

Wasn't into this one in that way. Might have been because he was previously spurned in his love of his first grade teacher, or it might have been because his best friend was totally into this one. Or it might have been because this one made him work and follow the rules instead of letting him get away with murder. But he did grow to like her quite a bit by the end of the year, and both my wife and I thought she was really good for him.

[petertay15]

Nice project for a good purpose! Good job. Thanks for showing us.
Apparently your saw blade won’t tilt 45 degrees? Cutting perfect miters on the table saw works for us, but we do use an electronic angle reader to make sure of the 45 .

[R Clark]

Way cool.

Thanks for sharing.