# Toybox WIP - Now completed!



## Fecn (24 Jul 2007)

Since I finished the gate off, it's now a joy to work down by the shed/garage, and as a result, I've been cracking on with the toybox I promised to make for the nipper. 

The toybox is made from some spare bits of wood in the garage.. most of which are left over from rebuilding the workshop last year. 

As something of a break from the norm, I started out by designing most of this on sketchup and then making a cutting list from there. Since my workshop is so tiny, I have to unfold the table saw each time I want to use it, so having a cutting list was a real time saver. 

The base is mitred together from 20mm T&G... there's a rebate on the top into which drops the 19mm hardwood ply bottom for the box. The sides are 6mm hardwood ply, and they again slot-into the base. The vertical pillars slot through the plywood bottom to re-inforce the mitres. The top decorative rail is made using sliding dovetails, and slots into stopped grooves in the structural rail underneath. Everything locks together nicely so the glue shouldn't have too much work to do.. and the sides and bottom have a bit of room for expansion/contraction. 

On Saturday, I finished getting things to the right lengths, widths and shapes.. so everything fits together... 






And here's the seat/lid ... which will sit flush with the top of the box when it's closed. 





So.. all I've got left to do now is... rounding over.. chamfering... sanding.. sticking... dowels.. hinge.. lid... and some kind of finish.


----------



## PowerTool (24 Jul 2007)

Looks good - and a useful size! Made one for my grand-daughter last year - 4' x 2' x 2' - and it's permanently full,with stuff piled on top as well :shock: Like the top rail detail.

No celebrity helpers yet ? :wink: 

Andrew


----------



## Fecn (19 Aug 2007)

I spent most of the day in the shed today working on the toybox. My day started very badly - as I was carrying the toybox from the garage to the shed, the straps around it slipped, and everything fell to pieces over the wet, mucky concrete driveway. The back of the dovetails on the decorative rail broke out as the box collapsed, so I've had to remake them from scratch - A very annoying waste of my morning. 

Whilst I had the bandsaw out re-making the decorative rail, I remembered to do the cutouts on the bottom rail. I added a chamfer to the outside edges on my router table and glued it together, leaving it to dry whilst I carried on working on the rail.





After the bottom raild had had a few hours to dry. I glued in the vertical supports into place... I slid the side panels into place to keep things square whilst the glue had a chance to get going and weighted things down with anything heavy I could find.





Once that set of glue got a chance to set, I slid out the side panels and base again, and added three screws in each corner to keep things together - Then I chamfered the inside edge on the router table. 





Finally, I dropped the base back into place, and slid the side panels back into their slots, and gave today's glue joints a sanding. Somewhere along the way, I sorted out the top rail with a rounding-over bit. I stuck all the bits on top just to see how things are looking...





So far.. so good.. . ish... I'm a bit annoyed that I ran the chamfers too far up the vertical pillars, so there's a gap where the top rail meets the post... Haven't decided if/how I will deal with that yet.


----------



## ByronBlack (20 Aug 2007)

Nice little project there - good work. However your workshop looks obscenely clean and organised - so i'm assuming you keep your celebrity helpers locked in there doing the cleaning and tidying for you!


----------



## Fecn (20 Aug 2007)

ByronBlack":1c5sd12r said:


> Nice little project there - good work. However your workshop looks obscenely clean and organised - so i'm assuming you keep your celebrity helpers locked in there doing the cleaning and tidying for you!



In my fantasy world.... No room for celebrities in my shed - the four ladies from the 2003 'Sloggi - It's Spring Time' advertising campaign stay in the shed when they're not out in my garden watering the flowers - I won't post the relevant pic since it's full of bums and may be considered offensive but if you want to see the girls, then do a google image search for 'sloggi springtime'

In reality... my shed is so small, that I have to put each machine away after I use it or there's not room on the bench for the Toybox... You might notice that every photo is of the same bit of workbench with different stuff on it - It's the only bit of bench that's not covered in junk.

Sigh... reality has a lot of catching up to do.


----------



## Fecn (27 Aug 2007)

Incredibly slow progress I know, but I glued the top rail together today. I hear a rumour that you can never have enough clamps, and my 10 didn't provide me with a good way to hold things in place. I found a few heavy objects to hold the top rail down instead.


----------



## Fecn (31 Aug 2007)

I've got a friend visiting at the moment and he's spurred me into action. We've been down in the shed the past two days. - Yesterday, we finished off the chamfering and rounding over on the top frame and the lid, and then fitted the piano-hinge to the back. We made a couple of support blocks which reinforce the mitres at the corner and give the seat/lid something to rest on when it's closed. 

Today we've been working on the lengthening the top back decorative rail, and the lid opening mechanism... Here's the inside bit..





And here's how things are looking from the outside now - The top rail isn't yet glued on.. The opener is gluing up now... 





Time for the pub !!!


----------



## Pete W (31 Aug 2007)

Fecn":2v75q4sv said:


> I found a few heavy objects to hold the top rail down instead.



Creative clamping... somebody should do a book :lol: I keep large bag of sand in my shop for that very purpose.

The opener looks like a clever idea - I'll look forward to seeing the finishing stages.

Pete


----------



## Fecn (1 Sep 2007)

Not a celebrity helper, but my little helper - My efforts so far have received the seal of approval. The lid-opener was particularly popular


----------



## ByronBlack (1 Sep 2007)

Thats a very handy way of storing a child, i'll have to make a couple in case I get a visit from my niece and nephew.


----------



## NeilO (1 Sep 2007)

Fecn, you didnt say the toybox was battery operated too......... :lol: :lol:


----------



## Fecn (2 Sep 2007)

Sanded the top decorative rail a bit more yesterday, and glued it up... Another one for the 'creative clamping' book I feel 





Whilst the glue was drying on that, we cracked on making some symbols for the lid opener... 





When the arrow points to the lid-open symbol, the lid is open  




I've actually taken the pointer a little too far here to keep the lid held open.There will be some stops in the back so that the opener can't get into a position where the lid puts it's weight on it. The pointer will move back to closed instead.



NeilO":2nwiatwf said:


> Fecn, you didnt say the toybox was battery operated too......... :lol: :lol:



Not what you were referring to, but... Hmm.. LED Interior lights when the lid's open... Should be quick and easy for me to do.. Might just happen.


----------



## Pete W (2 Sep 2007)

Looking good, but the lid-opener is genius


----------



## Fecn (4 Sep 2007)

Thanks Pete 

I'm still not happy with the way the front is looking. The sides are going to get painted wooden letters which swmbo & I ordered a couple of days ago. I wanted something a bit more playful for the front.. and I wanted to use the same wood (Ipé) that I did for the lid-open pointer.

Yesterday morning, I had a meeting delayed by an hour, and in a fit of foolish spending, I went to the dreaded B&Q and bought a cheapie Macalaster scrollsaw and a few packs of blades. Last night, I found some free animal silhouette jpegs on the net, and today I got cutting.














I cut a cat too, but forgot to photo it. Nothing's glued in place yet, and I'm open to suggestions for what to put on the front, and how to arrange it so it doesn't get too fussy. I think I need somethign big to fill up the top two corners... Sun and Moon perhaps.


----------



## Pete W (4 Sep 2007)

Fecn":oadp5tt6 said:


> I think I need something big to fill up the top two corners... Sun and Moon perhaps.



You're going all-out on this one, aren't you  It's turning into the best toybox I've ever seen.

The sun and moon would work; or a sun and a big fluffy white cloud; or sun, moon and a couple of stars.

How do you rate the scrollsaw (it obviously works, at least adequately). I've occasionally pondered such a purchase, but I don't think I'd use one enough to justify a good one and have always been wary of low-cost models.

Pete


----------



## Fecn (5 Sep 2007)

Pete W":17focqdk said:


> How do you rate the scrollsaw (it obviously works, at least adequately). I've occasionally pondered such a purchase, but I don't think I'd use one enough to justify a good one and have always been wary of low-cost models.



How would I rate it... erm.. It works.. adequately. :lol: 

Firstly, it's shortcomings. The tool-less blade-changing is only tool-less for pinned blades. For flat ended blades, you need to use the adaptors which have two allen key bolts which hold the blade between them. The top arm can't be folded away so you have to bend the blade for any piercing work (not that I've tried any of that yet). The throat isnert it comes with has a ridicuously massive hole, and the two blades it came with are unsurprisingly, not very amazing.

The good points... On/Off buttons and speed controls are well located and easy to tweak. Long mains lead so no problems reacing a power point. Pretty quiet - no ear protection needed. Comes with a flexible shaft which screws onto the side the quiet motor makes this flexible shaft nicer to use then my dremmel, so I did my final sanding/shaping using that tongiht. The blade tension/lock system works adequately - having never used a scrollsaw before, I have no way of comparing it to anything. Comes with a straightline laser thingy that you might be able to sell on ebay for a fiver - I can't work out what purpose it's supposed to serve on the saw - It bolts onto the safety guard, which isn't in any fixed position..

Like youself, I hadn't really cosidered purchasing one until very recently since I've never had a desire to persue the more artstic/decorative woodworking techniques. Over the weekend, I read all the advice on the forum and looked long and hard at the Axminster AWFS18 on Sunday night... but then on Monday morning, I had an hour to kill and was next to B&Q, and it only cost me 70 quid instead of 225.

The first thing I cut was a zero-clearance throat insert using some 3mm clear acrylic I had kicking around. After that was done, I did the animal shapes which turned out to be a lot less tricky and more enjoyable than I was expecting it to be. The scrollsaw is quiet and non-scary - It reminds me of a sewing machine. Unlike most of my tools, this is something you could use whilst listening to the radio. Who knows, I may actually end up using this machine again after the toybox is done... 

I figure I made about £15 worth of wooden animal shapes today.. so it's paid for 20% of itself already.


----------



## Pete W (5 Sep 2007)

Fecn":2hjv5d7z said:


> Who knows, I may actually end up using this machine again after the toybox is done... it's paid for 20% of itself already.



Thanks for the info - doesn't sound too bad . I was in my local B&Q today - thankfully they didn't have one or I might have succumbed. :roll: There's things I need more urgently than a scrollsaw!

Pete


----------



## Fecn (7 Sep 2007)

I worked out the positioning for the piston lid-stay yesterday using trial and error and a bit of scrap wood.. Because the sides are only 6mm ply and floating to allow for expansion, so I needed to put an extra support in place. - Popped out for 90 mins just now and ripped, mitred, thicknessed, chamfered, drilled, glued and screwed this into place... Fun fun fun.. 





The painted wooden letters arrived in the post this morning, so I don't think I've got any excuses left for not finishing it this weekend... unless swmbo has other ideas about what I do this weekend...

Lastly, here's a cock-ups shot... The decorative rails on the top of the box are glued there now so I don't think I can screw those up anymore, but here's a shot of the are the ones which went wrong before I glued things up.






The two on the left, I cut the dovetails on the wrong side so needed to cut some new ones.

The one in the middle sustained damage somehow somewhere and for some reason I decided it wasn't good enough

The two on the right were perfect until I dropped the toybox carrying it from garage to shed and broke the backs off the dovetails... BB - It's not only you who suffers with mojo-loss.


----------



## Fecn (9 Sep 2007)

I removed all the screw-in bits for better access, and then gave everything a final hand sanding with a 220 grit pad. I gave it three coats of danish oil yesterday, and today a very light sanding to smooth the oil finish, and finally a coat of wax.

That's not a gap in the decorative rail - It's a piece of Ipe.. but it doesn't show too well on the pic.









The animals on the front...













And when you open up the lid, you find my personal favorite.





I think that's about it for this toybox project.


----------



## ByronBlack (9 Sep 2007)

Very well done!! I'm sure your toddler is going to enjoy that for years. I really like the effort and attention to detail you have put in to this project.


----------



## DomValente (9 Sep 2007)

Very nice Fecn, some lovely touches.

Dom


----------



## Gill (9 Sep 2007)

I'm sure Emily's delight with all the animals on her new toybox will more than justify the expense of a new scroll saw  . If I'd known you were looking for animal patterns I'm sure I could have helped you out; another time, perhaps, when Emily decides she needs to add a Noah's Ark to her toys. Daddy's good at making things like that. After all, if he can make a lovely toybox...  .

Gill


----------



## Paul Chapman (9 Sep 2007)

That's very nice - and I love the two cats inside the lid  

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


----------



## Fecn (10 Sep 2007)

Thanks Byron, Dom, Gill & Paul 



Gill":iqseefya said:


> I'm sure Emily's delight with all the animals on her new toybox will more than justify the expense of a new scroll saw  . If I'd known you were looking for animal patterns I'm sure I could have helped you out; another time, perhaps, when Emily decides she needs to add a Noah's Ark to her toys. Daddy's good at making things like that. After all, if he can make a lovely toybox...  .
> Gill



Emily has been playing with her toybox for the past hour and she's clearly delighted with it - She too loves the cats on the inside of the lid... and from her efforts to get the animals off the front, I'm guessing she'd like me to make her some wooden animals to play with - I should have thought to ask you about patterns since I enjoy seeing your work, but I went down my usual route of google-images + 2 mins photoshop work to get the outlines for the animals on the box - What animal patterns do you have? I fancy making some wooden animals this week.


----------



## Gill (10 Sep 2007)

Fecn":pjd6jj5z said:


> What animal patterns do you have? I fancy making some wooden animals this week.



It's probably best if we discuss this privately. I'll write to you.

Gill


----------

