Box number 1

[frugal]

This is my first woodworking project in about 5 years. My wife got me Andrew Crawfords book for christmas. I have finally managed to get the first box finished (only took three weeks).

The box is a simple 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" box made out of 6mm thick oak that was left over from a long dead project. The top is a couple of mm larger than the box and rebated so that it just sits on top of the body.

Here is the box before sanding and finishing the top. There is a mug in the background that was meant to be in shot to give some sort of scale.

And here it is with the top routed with a 3mm curve in the lid and oiled:

Things I learnt from this little project:

• Making things at a small scale is a lot harder than making them at a large scale. When the rebates at 3mm x 3mm you notice a 0.2mm discrepency. A bit different from the 8' high book cases that were the last thinkg I made
• I do not have a clue how to get a decent edge on the plane blade. I can get it sharp enough to plane with the grain, but trying to get my Stanley No 4 sharp enough to cut across the grain is beyond me at the moment.
• I need to get a couple of decent saws, the cheap ones from B&Q just do not cut it
• Getting small pieces of wood square is damn hard. I tried to make up a shooting board, but I am not sure that I got the idea down pat yet A couple of the joints show where I was out by a mm or so
• I made the hole in the router table too big, I was only using a 3/8" cutter, but the hole in the table was about 2" which made it more difficult to pass the wood along. Same with the fence, it was a lot easier when I used a solid piece of pine for the fence and just routed enough out of the fence so that the cutter had clearence.
• The top rocks slightly. When trying to sand the top of the body I ended up putting too much pressure on the front and back as I pushes it back and fore on the table, and it is about 0.5mm higher in the middle than the ends.
• I really enjoyed this and I can not wait to get back into the garage and start box number two

 

[Blister]

Nice try for a first in a few years

I just received 2 box books from Amazon , and am having a good read , so hopefully I to will be having a go

 

[Lark]

the oil defo makes a difference from the top picture

looks quite good.

 

[bobscarle]

Frugal

I like the box. Nice and simple but well done. Doesn't oak look good when oiled. I always think it is good when you finish a project to have learned something from it.

Whats the plan for number 2? More oak or something different?

Bob

 

[frugal]

I like the box. Nice and simple but well done. Doesn't oak look good when oiled. I always think it is good when you finish a project to have learned something from it.

Whats the plan for number 2? More oak or something different?

I think everything will be in oak for the time being as I have some from a previously deceased project (I got grand ideas about being able to make a tall boy as my first furniture project - after 5 years in a garage half finished it finally fell to pieces in the house move).

I want to experiment in spare wood for a while until I get the hang of some of the joints and just getting small bits of wood square before I try to experiment with wood. Plus I want to make sure that I am going to stick at this for a while before I go out and try and buy more wood (or tools). I am going to make the first three boxes from the book in oak, and then I am going to treat myself to some small pieces from Interesting Timber as they seem to be the only local timber merchant that will do small volumes.

... although I just remembered, the previous owner was a wood turner and he left some yew scraps in the firewood pile that are too small for most things, but now I see the size of these boxes I thing I will have a rummage through the firewood pile

 

[frugal]

Nice try for a first in a few years

I just received 2 box books from Amazon , and am having a good read , so hopefully I to will be having a go

Thanks, it turned out better than I was expecting, and I think I know what al my mistakes were

I currently have about half a dozen box and workbench books on my amazon wishlist (and loads of tools on a more general wishlist at wishlist.com)

 

[Escudo]

Hello there,

On the subject of box books don't overlook Peter Lloyds book..."Making Heirloom Boxes". Highly recommended.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Tony