Second project - trinket box

[simdel1]

This is my first post in here, so please be gentle with me

Over the last couple of months i've gradually been building up a selection of hand tools and power tools in preparation for eventually doing some furniture making.

As an entre project, I built a basic squirrel feeder for my girlfriend. I learned a lot obout the limitations of some of my tools, so i'm now moving onto another little project...

My intention is to build a box very much like my sketch below. The only difference is that in real life it will have 3 compartments instead of the 2 shown.

So far, i have created a mitre jig and cut the two 'short' sides to length.

My mitre jig has been set up so that I can use my circular saw to create an accurate mitre on 2 pieces at the same time. It's pretty basic, but it seems to have done the job!

I'll keep you all up to speed with progress. I'm going to have lots of questions as this progresses!

 

[simdel1]

Erm, have i done something wrong with the images?

 

[gc]

Spam catcher does this, i think after 3 posts it will let you post pictures.

 

[Chems]

Edited, Original Images showing now.

 

[simdel1]

thanks chems!

 

[Chems]

np, what you trying to do in that second picture, is that a router table?

 

[xy mosian]

.....I built a basic squirrel feeder for my girlfriend....

Hello there, looks as if you have started well, keep it up.
In the meantime, Your girlfriend eats from a squirrel feeder? is there something we should know? :lol:

xy

 

[simdel1]

np, what you trying to do in that second picture, is that a router table?

Unfortunately not (what I wouldn't give for one of them!). That is my hastilly made mitre jig clamped into my over priced B&D workmate.

I put the cut sections back onto the jig with the saw...hopefully this shows how it works a little better.

 

[simdel1]

.....I built a basic squirrel feeder for my girlfriend....

Hello there, looks as if you have started well, keep it up.
In the meantime, Your girlfriend eats from a squirrel feeder? is there something we should know? :lol:

xy

oops! It didn't sound like that in my head!

 

[xy mosian]

Don't worry there are days when everything sounds like that in my head
xy

 

[simdel1]

All 4 sides cut and trial fitted to check for squareness:

I'm reasonably happy with the results so far. The joints seem pretty tight, so it should look good once it's glued up. The only problem is that I didn't realise just how much variation there was between my stock. There's about 4mm difference between the height of some of the pieces! I'll plane those down by hand before assembly.

The knot will be at the back of the box, so it wont be very visible in use.

 

[devonwoody]

I think your mitre joints look very good, I always used a 60T blade when working that way, but your blade might have many less teeth?

 

[simdel1]

Thanks!

The blade I'm using is a 24 tooth (i think). To avoid splintering I set the depth of cut to the absolute minimum i can get away with and push it through very, very slowly.

 

[Chems]

Ah I see you cut those with a hand held CS, you got really good results! Mitres are the devils work.

 

[simdel1]

Finally got round to making some progress on this.

I've cut the rebate into the bottom of each of the side pieces. This rebate is for the plywood base. The rebate has been cut so that the distance from the top of the walls to the top of the rebate is the same for each of the pieces. This means that I will need to plane off the bottoms to make sure they are all the same height, but this will be hidden at the bottom anyway.

Box assembled 'upside-down' to show the rebate

It took me a while to figure out how I was going to do this. I toyed with the idea of creating a jig like my mitre jig, but in the end I just clamped my router in my B&D workmate and used a couple of pieces of wood as a fence to guide the pieces through the router bit. I was VERY careful not to put my fingers anywhere silly!

Next I'll have to work out the best way to glue these pieces together and make sure that it's square and true. :?

 

[OPJ]

Ratchet straps work well for pulling up the mitres on boxes like this. You can add a short length of angle iron on each corner to prevent damage (line the inside faces with thick paper or card). Don't bother with the cheap ratchet clamps, though - they're dung and usually break as they tighten up!

 

[simdel1]

Thanks, Olly. That's a lot simpler than any of the ideas I had!

I've had rumage through my garage looking for a piece of ally angle that I'm sure I've got...but I cant find it.

However, I do have quite a bit of Meccano and I've been able to find 4 90° pieces that look like they'll do the job. Hopefully, by the end of the weekend, I'll have the main body of the box assembled.

 

[simdel1]

Got it clamped up after work today. Fingers crossed!

 

[simdel1]

Sorry about the slow updates. I've had a lot on the last few weeks. I have been able to make some very good progress though.

A couple of weeks ago I trimmed and fitted the base, and then sanded the base of the box until the base was flat and level.


Over the weekend I decided to try and fit the hinges. I originally planned to simply screw the hinges onto the back of the box, but I decided that I should have ago at doing it properly so I could learn what to do.

So this is how i ended up doing it...

First i marked the location of the hinges on the box.

Then, using a sharp knife, I cut round the outline of the hinge and removed the bulk of the material material.

After shaving the hinge area smooth (still using the knife!) I drilled some pilot holes and fitted the hinges to the main body of the box.

I did the same for the lid. Starting to get the hang of it now!

The screws were a bit too long for the lid, so I shortened them using this basic "jig". Not long after this shot was taken, I switched over to my large hacksaw.

The lid fitted:

It needs a bit of tweeking to get it to sit correctly, but I'm quite pleased with the results. Theres a few mistakes however, which have made me very glad that I didn't try and do this out of a nice hardwood!

After I've sorted the lid, it'll be time to colour the wood

 

[AndyT]

It's always nice to see someone finding ingenious solutions to problems when working with a few basic tools. Well done!