Originally a chest for holding flour, The legs hold the contents off the floor. Our groups carpender has made a couple. Your project looks really good and well proportioned. Where did you source the hinges from?
That is just plain daft but I know that they use standard size boxes. You have to admit that it is an unusual size to have to wrap. I won't use them personally
I'll probably get slated for this, but wouldn't a 'foaming' glue fill any gaps and 'firm up' a loose joint? I don't know from experience. I'm not that great at woodwork and usually use screws to join things together
Bit of topic I know, But a friend of mine is one of the curators of the reserve collection for Cosford/Duxford. The surplus instruments from all of the cockpits of WW2 are stored in a special lined room and he has to wear a badge that detects radiation if he has to go in there.