How do you make little boxes like these?

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Hello new to the forum and looking for some advice - i'm thinking of trying my hand at some wood working, i have seen these little trinket boxes with a slide lid and though it might be something good to try as a first project (you can see picture below) is something like this easy to make for a new guy (with out the inlay on the lid)?
Tool wise i dont have much so far so - a router, hand held electric planer, saw & and some chisels, will i need more?

thanks.

 

[devonwoody]

Welcome to the forum, I cannot see your pictures but no doubt a moderator will be along and sort that out for you.

Making boxes is one of my pastimes and you either go the hand made route making corner joints or go the machinery route and spend lots of money

 

[PowerTool]

Hello new to the forum and looking for some advice - i'm thinking of trying my hand at some wood working, i have seen these little trinket boxes with a slide lid and though it might be something good to try as a first project (you can see picture below) is something like this easy to make for a new guy (with out the inlay on the lid)?
Tool wise i dont have much so far so - a router, hand held electric planer, saw & and some chisels, will i need more?

thanks.

Hello and welcome to the forum
Your link has been caught by the spam trap - it wears off after three posts.
As for making boxes,have you looked in the Projects/Workshop Tours forum? There's lots of information in there about them (particularly posts by DevonWoody :wink: )
As far as I can tell from the picture,that is a routed box - i.e. made from one solid piece of timber,and shaped/hollowed with various router bits.

Andrew

 

[Gill]

The veneers on the lid aren't fitted tightly. I should imagine they've been stack-cut on a fret saw, a method of mass production. It's a technique that can be used with a hand-held fret saw but takes skill because keeping the saw perfectly vertical whilst cutting is not easy. A machine would be much more accurate and faster; a band saw fitted with a fine blade could make most of the cuts but you would need a scroll saw (and a very fine drill bit) to cut the circle.

Gill

 

[bugbear]

The veneers on the lid aren't fitted tightly. I should imagine they've been stack-cut on a fret saw, a method of mass production.

One might consider deliberately making a wide kerf, and filling the gaps (on assembly) with a contrasting substance (e.g. epoxy), and make a feature from a problem.

Similar to the contrast fill I've seen used on wide-pored Ash. (slightly gaudy for my taste).

BugBear

 

[Gill]

One might consider deliberately making a wide kerf, and filling the gaps (on assembly) with a contrasting substance (e.g. epoxy), and make a feature from a problem.

If you deliberately cut a wide kerf, wouldn't you have to find something to use as a spacer when laying the veneers? If you didn't, I would have thought the veneers would move when they were lain and pressure applied. Since the veneers have been cut into curves, the spacers would also have to be circular to ensure equidistant spacing. It sounds a bit complicated to me!

For myself, I'd rather have seen the veneers properly inlaid so as to ensure a tight fit. I reckon this is actually the easier option because it's basic marquetry if you cut with a knife. Of course, you can get the same effect using a fret saw/scroll saw but it's not the easiest technique to master.

Looking at the photograph, I'm convinced the veneers were sawn, not knife-cut, because the fit is so loose. I'm also dubious about the woodworkers proficiency with a fret saw - some of those curves look rather bumpy to me. I'm also surprised there are no veneers on the underside of the lid. You need something glued in position there to counter the glue on the top of the lid; without it there's a considerable risk of cupping/warping.

Gill

 

[maltrout512]

I make cigar boxes normally out of oak, which are about 190mm tall * 55mm * 35mm. They are made in two parts, route out middle leaving one end as a base, then glue the two parts together. When dry the opening is then dovetailed along the 55mm sides, the a contrasting end grain lid (yew) about 6mm thick, is dovetailed to slide into end. The thickness of sides is about 5mm. They take two 50 ring cigars. (1 ring is 1/64 of an inch). All the work is carried out on a woodrat, but with a bit of lateral thinking I'm sure there are other ways.

 

[Tusses]

is it just me - or could the pattern on the lid be 'coloured in' ! ?

 

[DaveL]

is it just me - or could the pattern on the lid be 'coloured in' ! ?

Well you prompted me to go and look again at the box, on zooming into the picture, I agree.
I don't think there are any veneers on that lid, I think I can see the grain of the lid running all the way along it. The decoration is a stain applied to the lid.

 

[Gill]

If it's coloured I'd love to know how the burr effect was created! Mind, the dark veneer at the top and the white one do look a bit suspicious when you zoom in close.

Now I'm wondering why someone would go to that sort of trouble when it would be so simple to use a marquetry design which would give a better finish.

Gill