#45 Combination Plane Storage Box

[Rob Young]

Well, eBay coughed up a very nice Wards Mastercraft 45. This is a Stanley #45 but sold through Monkey-Wards. This is a complete set, right down to the original box, instruction pamphlet and what I believe is the original purchase receipt fro $12.65. For me a bit more but still well under $200. And did a little checking against a friend's Stanley and the parts interchange no problem. This gives me the opportunity to try out some ideas I've picked up from other forum members (Jr. in particular).

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That's the good news. The bad news is the original box is cardboard as is the slip cover for the original blade box. That cardboard got damp at some point and has caused corrosion on the blades. The plane body is in good shape but I won't be storing it or the blades in the original box.

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I've made a new blade box and started the long process of rehabilitating the blades. I've got all the dado/straight blades done and started on the beading blades. Last to do will be the T&G and sash blades. The new blade box is poplar (1/8") that I used a box joint to fix the sides together. Then I decided to try veneering the box. I recently bought some hide glue and wanted to try hammer veneering. It worked but I don't recommend using white oak veneer for a first try! The grab-box of veneer I bought a while back to play with had mostly small pieces. Only the white oak was large enough that I wouldn't have to spend 20 hours piecing small bits together.

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After that I combed through my scrap pile of poplar and other stuff. I wanted a larger box to keep all the plane parts in. I found some poplar and resawed it down to around 1/2". And I had some other stuff, aspen or sycamore that I had bought to experiment with handcut dovetails. Not enough poplar to do the whole box so I'll just mix it up a bit.

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Obviously not the greatest grain match in the world, I think I may have three different woods in the sides! Next up a top. Running low on boards long enough I decided to stop at the local Home Depot on the way home from work one day. Lawrence, KS doesn't have a real lumber yard (yahd). So rooting around in the HD wood pile I found a funky spalted and quilted board. Just a little guy about 4 feet long, 5-1/2" wide and 1/2" thick. Perfect for a crazy looking raised panel for a seriously miss-matched wood box. :D

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And just about the last of my whack-tacular green poplar leftovers to make the frame for the frame and panel top. The sides are more of the aspen/sycamore mystery wood. The top is a piston fit to the base. A little planning goes a long way. :cool:

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So now my new #45 has a nice home. And I got to practice hand cutting through dovetails, milling small stock, more finish planing and a lot of scraper work for that quilted top.

The idea for a slip lid box came from looking at Jr.'s 1800's portable shop and how he has packed things away. Thanks Jr.! The blade box idea came from a friend at the Kansas City Woodworker's Guild, so thanks Mack!

[Jim Koepke]

Nice looking case for the 45. I like the way the end grain contrasts with the face grain at the dovetails. Those really pop.

I have a Wards 45. The only way to tell the difference is to know where to look.

Thanks for sharing and the great story.

jim

[harry strasil]

Nice work Rob, makes my attempts at box making look crude. LOL A much more spacious box than stanley original boxes.

[Rob Young]

Nice work Rob, makes my attempts at box making look crude. LOL A much more spacious box than stanley original boxes.
Ha! Thanks! :)

The box is a little over large but if I find more accessories for the #45 I'll have room to store them. :D

[James Taglienti]

Just put another 45 in there with it :)

[Jon Toebbe]

Just put another 45 in there with it :)
What are you trying to do, breed them? :p

Beautiful work on the storage box, Rob, and great work documenting the project! I picked up a Wards Master 45 this summer similarly complete and in the box. Of course, a 100-year-old (mas o menos) cardboard box isn't really ideal so I've been planning a storage box, too. At this rate, I might get around to it sometime this summer... :rolleyes: I'm definitely bookmarking this thread for ideas when the time finally comes.

[Rob Young]

What are you trying to do, breed them? :p

Beautiful work on the storage box, Rob, and great work documenting the project! I picked up a Wards Master 45 this summer similarly complete and in the box. Of course, a 100-year-old (mas o menos) cardboard box isn't really ideal so I've been planning a storage box, too. At this rate, I might get around to it sometime this summer... :rolleyes: I'm definitely bookmarking this thread for ideas when the time finally comes.

Not a bad idea to breed them...

I'm going to prowl around some of the local thrift stores (those we have in spades but not a decent lumberyard less than 1 hr drive away) for some classy looking luggage handles. Sure, I could use rope or make something from leather. But I bet I can find something suitable for less than $10 :)

[Rick Markham]

Rob, When I was growing up in Lawrence Kansas, we didn't even have a Home Depot! Small world, I miss Lawrence, except the winters. I really dig the patchwork box, and that quilted top looks amazing! :cool:

[Tony Shea]

It is sometimes surprising what you can find at the local HD or Lowes in their maple piles of lumber. It seems like recently that the entire loads of maple they have there have some sort of quilting. Unfortunatly it's Home Depot and you have to paw through it like crazy to find a relatively straight and non-twisted board. I also really am not a fan of supporting HD or Lowes, but for a small peice of curley or quilted maple they're sometimes the place to go. If only someone could tell these idiots how to store the lumber. All leaning against eachother that is supported about halfway down the boards face. Of course the boards are going to bow. Have you ever looked through they're pine? It's 99% un-usable because of the way it's stacked.

[Zach Dillinger]

Nice looking box for a very nice looking plane. Nicely done!

Zach

[Rob Young]

Next up a top. Running low on boards long enough I decided to stop at the local Home Depot on the way home from work one day. Lawrence, KS doesn't have a real lumber yard (yahd). So rooting around in the HD wood pile I found a funky spalted and quilted board.

After showing some of the left-over quilted wood to a couple of people who make their living buying and selling wood they all seem to agree that the quilted stuff is likely some silver or red leaf maple. A rogue tree that got into the mill, my board probably came out near the crown or possibly some crazy burly growth near the base of the tree. Just the way it goes some times. :)

Rob

[Steve Dallas]

Nice work. Really great box. Looks like you're going to have a tough go at a couple of those cutters - the cancer if pretty advanced and on the business end no less.

[Rob Young]

Nice work. Really great box. Looks like you're going to have a tough go at a couple of those cutters - the cancer if pretty advanced and on the business end no less.

True. But Jr has already coached me a little on how to harden stock after fabricating replacements. Seems pretty straight forward. And if that works then I can look into custom profiles! :)