Shotgun Box WIP

[kinsella]

Colleagues
I decided to build a wooden box for my Beretta over and under. The box will be posher than the shotgun. Can't seem to find any WIP's for a shotgun box so thought i'd share. i had some old antique oak. The oak had original animal glue joints, so i cut these out and re-glued the boards back together. I had intended to use 18mm oak but when i put them together they weighed a bit so i planed down to 12mm and this was more manageable.

The joints are finger joints using my box cutting jig. See link here for how it was built.
box-joint-jig-sketchup-plans-free-of-charge-t87240-60.html

Image of box

Old Oak

Looks good cleaned up

Using box making jig to cut the fingers

Fingers cut

Glued top to sides

Glues bottom to sides

Starting to work on corner protectors. Making them from scratch and will silver solder all the bits back together.

The ironmongery hinges will be Brusso hinges.

Can anyone recommend catches for the front?? The stuff on Ebay seems to be either pressed metal or gold plated stuff. I want solid brass. i was looking at the attached from "Jewellery Box Hardware" http://www.jewelleryboxhardware.com/Sli ... ***-Finish. But not sure if these are sufficient for a heavy type box. Any better ideas?

I intend to build the handle, corner protectors etc from scratch and will post WIP pictures as i go.

 

[kinsella]

Brass corners to be silver soldered together.

 

[Water-Mark]

Looks like a nice storage box and a good use of quality old timber.

I've been tempted to make a similar box for my archery gear, though i don't have any wood as posh as that.

Is there a reason for making the brass corners?

 

[kinsella]

Looks like a nice storage box and a good use of quality old timber.

I've been tempted to make a similar box for my archery gear, though i don't have any wood as posh as that.

Is there a reason for making the brass corners?

The corners I've found are so flipping expensive for what they actually are and to be honest I've wanted to experiment with silver solder for a while. I'll give it a go, if it turns out crap, i'll buy them. But I love doing stuff i haven't done before.

The plan is to cut the brass edges on the table saw at 45deg, similarly the front face of the protectors, then mate them and silver solder. Then i have a polishing kit to remove any excess solder and bring to gloss finish. Then dip in lacquer.

 

[t8hants]

I like that, I have a Parker Hale P1853 3 band Enfield rifled musket that I shoot, and I am thinking of making a full box for it, and all its tools and gubbins, in the classic style.

 

[Bm101]

Looking forward to updates!

 

[sunnybob]

I keep planning similar for my shotgun, but the plastic boxes are so light to carry the gun around in and very forgiving if you "toss" the gun into the back of the car. A wooden box would be nice if you could leave it on display though.

 

[graduate_owner]

Very nice work. My only comment is check whether it would be approved storage with your local police. Ours require a steel cabinet, 2 locks which must not be 'get at-able' ( there's a word for this, can't think of it now) from the outside, and it must be bolted to a solid wall. You could perhaps line this with steel if necessary.

K

 

[sunnybob]

the definition on the locks is that they cant be opened with tools of opportunity.
so leaving a disc cutter next to the safe is a BIG no no.
But even the police accept that if a criminal wants the gun badly enough they will come equipped.

The wooden box will not satisfy any police force in the UK for long term storage alone. It would have to be inside a locked room or steel cabinet.

 

[adidat]

I'm pretty sure this will just be for transporting purposes!

 

[Biliphuster]

If you are looking for Locks, I can recommend these

https://www.nichelocks.com/Traditional- ... c3753f8542

(no relationship, just happy customer etc etc). Absolutely lovely quality and made in England, Several notches above most cheap box locks.

As for brass corners, I finished a campaign style box recently and tried out a few different suppliers. The Armac Martin ones were thin and soldered together, felt a bit cheap if I'm being honest. The much cheaper "Prima" or Primalite ones were cast and very nice quality, they even came with the correct solid brass slotted screws. The ones from ebay are also acceptable and extremely economical. Having said that, the ones you are making look very nice themselves.

 

[kinsella]

Very nice work. My only comment is check whether it would be approved storage with your local police. Ours require a steel cabinet, 2 locks which must not be 'get at-able' ( there's a word for this, can't think of it now) from the outside, and it must be bolted to a solid wall. You could perhaps line this with steel if necessary.

K

The case is only for transport into and out of hotels so it doesn't look like a gun box. My plastic box is great, but it has Beretta written all over it.

 

[kinsella]

the definition on the locks is that they cant be opened with tools of opportunity.
so leaving a disc cutter next to the safe is a BIG no no.
But even the police accept that if a criminal wants the gun badly enough they will come equipped.

The wooden box will not satisfy any police force in the UK for long term storage alone. It would have to be inside a locked room or steel cabinet.

Chaps, any licenced gun owner will have a steel approved gun box. So this is only for transport. It can go in a fabric or leather slip when being transported. So this is purely decorative for transport.

 

[kinsella]

If you are looking for Locks, I can recommend these

https://www.nichelocks.com/Traditional- ... c3753f8542

(no relationship, just happy customer etc etc). Absolutely lovely quality and made in England, Several notches above most cheap box locks.

As for brass corners, I finished a campaign style box recently and tried out a few different suppliers. The Armac Martin ones were thin and soldered together, felt a bit cheap if I'm being honest. The much cheaper "Prima" or Primalite ones were cast and very nice quality, they even came with the correct solid brass slotted screws. The ones from ebay are also acceptable and extremely economical. Having said that, the ones you are making look very nice themselves.

4" long might be too big but it does look sturdy. Will give it more thought. I must admit the one thing i didn't do yet, is check the drawer full of locks that i have. I might get lucky. Will keep you posted.

Edit: On reflection, some of the other locks available look perfect.

 

[kinsella]

Update:
Box now out of the clamps. i meant to take a picture before i put the bottom on, as one problem i find when cutting tops off boxes with a table saw is when you do the last side, i always seem to get a slight bit of extra cut which is visible when the two half's are put back together. So this time I hot glued in supports on all sides so that when i cut the two apart, they will still be stuck by the supports inside. I will then hand cut these apart and then knock them out. Will post a photo to explain, especially if it works.

I then put the angle part into my milling machine and cut a perfectly perpendicular 2mm slot. This is to make the bend perfectly 90deg.

I then made a jig out of scrap and ran it through the table saw at 45deg, to form the bevel for when i mate the top and sides together. Forgot to take a photo of this operation, but you can see from the photo if the angle section was flat what the idea was.

Because of the milling operation, i hand bent these and they are perfectly 90deg. You can see how well they turned out sitting on the cast iron saw top. No gaps.

NEXT STEP: Cutting a mating bevel on the half round corner protector top so that i have two chamfers meeting to solder to.

 

[adidat]

I like the idea for gluing blocks inside to stop it falling apart!

Adidat

 

[kinsella]

Update:

i adapted the jig to cut bevels on the corners.

Once cut, i can add flux for soldering

Then solder

A little sanding prior to polishing

This is what they look like on the box

The box with a sanding sealer added. Still not cut it apart yet.

 

[karlpolly10]

Lovely job, makes me wish I was shooting again, from what I remember you will need good locks and a rest ain't in the vehicle which it will be transported in. Again lovely work hope to see the finished article.

 

[kinsella]

Lovely job, makes me wish I was shooting again, from what I remember you will need good locks and a rest ain't in the vehicle which it will be transported in. Again lovely work hope to see the finished article.

To be fair the lock is irrelevant. If they are daft enough to nick it out of a car or a hotel, then a lock isn't going to help much. So i'm toying will allowing for a stainless steel wire to go through the box and into the trigger, then that way i can lock it to the car, radiator or some other fixture when i'm out with it. That way the whole this is knackered if its stolen as they would have to rip it from the fixture as well.

Next step is to cut the top off. Maybe tomorrow. I'm on hols, and having a staycation. Bliss woodworking during the day and Olympics during the afternoon and evening. SWMBO hates it, but i'm smiling within!!!!!!!

 

[Water-Mark]

Those brass corners came out really nice.
I can see why you opted to make them.

Table saw cut them ok?