Properly lining boxes or drawers, ideally with suede but many fabrics are also suitable, totally transforms the item, adding a great deal of value and hugely lifting the perception of quality. Furthermore, for many applications, such as jewellery, musical instruments, valuable writing instruments, coins, etc, it's pretty much mandatory to provide the client with a neatly lined compartment.
However, even though I see lots of boxes on this forum it's rare that I'll see a properly lined box. The irony is that it's all quite straightforward and it doesn't require much in the way of specialist tools or techniques. Don't get me wrong, if you're slapdash or rush the job it'll look rubbish, but if you're patient and methodical (and if you're not then the hard truth is that you're never going to make much progress with woodworking) then you can genuinely expect to produce fully professional results.
So if you'd like to learn how to go from this,
to this,
or to this,
then read on and I'll show you how I go about the task. You'll probably be surprised at how simple it is.
First let's look at the tools and materials that you'll need.
Personally I prefer to use good quality pig suede. It's widely available from any leather merchant, although if you want to buy on line you can easily find it on Ebay,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PIG-SKIN-SUED ... rkt%3D1%26
You should look for suede that's about 0.5mm thick. Much thicker and the folds won't be clean, much thinner and it'll stretch and crease or wear through too quickly. I'd advise you to get an entire skin which usually comes in at about 8-10 sq foot. This will give you plenty for three or four boxes complete with a lift out tray, so in terms of material costs it'll cost you about £7-£10 to line a box with suede. You will find stuff cheaper than this, especially if you buy part skins, but I'd strongly advise you to give it a miss. If you run out of materials part way through then you really are stuffed, you're unlikely to get an accurate colour match from one piece to another and the skin and dye quality on the cheaper scraps can be very poor. This advice also holds true for materials like felt, stay well away from the really cheap stuff, it's just a frustrating false economy.
You'll also need some decent quality card that is about 175-200 gsm, look for something smooth and white. The ideal card will come in at about 0.3mm thick. Anything thicker is unnecessary as it will be fully supported by being glued to the substrate of the box, and if it's much thicker then it'll add to the problems of accurate cutting. You'll get smaller boxes out of A4 card stock, but for larger boxes you'll need A3.
The final materials you'll need are double sided tape (ideally in both 50mm or 75mm width and also in 12mm or 15mm width) and some Copydex adhesive. Don't try using PVA, the moisture content will cause too much wrinkling and ruin your work. I'd also recommend that if your Copydex is more than a year old then replace with fresh, old Copydex goes stringy and is a pain to use.
In terms of tools you really don't need much, you can see pretty much everything you'll need in this photo,
An A3 self healing cutting mat is really useful, not just because it protects your bench and is kind on your tools, but also because of the accurate grid pattern printed on the surface which will really help you cut square and avoid gaps. You'll need a decent straight edge (Axminster do a good value one), personally I use both a thick heavy 600mm cutting straight edge and also a heavy 300mm ruler. I find it really useful to use double stick tape to attach some 240 grit abrasive paper to the backs of your cutting straight edges, that helps hold them stable on suede, fabrics, and card, which can otherwise slip and ruin your work as well as endangering your fingers! The final thing you'll need is a scalpel together with plenty of replacement blades. I normally go through at least four or five blades when lining a box. As soon as the blade stops cutting really cleanly then change it immediately. if you don't you'll regret it, as it will drag and ruck up the suede causing ragged cuts. You can re-hone scalpel blades, but given how cheap they are if you buy in bulk I don't see the point. The only critical thing is never use a blunt blade. You may want to wear safety goggles when using or changing blades, remember they can and do break or spring off. They're your eyes so it's your choice.
Next post I'll go through the actual lining process.
