A little decorative box....

[Michael Stafford]

Here are some pictures of a decorative box I made. No special purpose just something to look pretty....

Made from walnut with a lot of grain and figure trimmed and handled with some birdseye maple the box is roughly 5" wide, 8" long and about 4 1/2" to the top of the handle.

I lined this one in some rich chocolate brown velour, very plush.

Thanks for looking.

[Roy Wall]

Another jewel Mike!!


How do you make those legs...and attach......??

[Don Baer]

Very nice work. I'm gonna have to add one of those to my todo list.





Another jewel Mike!!


How do you make those legs....and attach......??

He's got the new kregg model jr.0002

;)

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Mike, that looks great. I would also be interested in how you make and attach those legs.

[John Hart]

Man!!! you do nice work. Very pretty Mike. You gots talent!;)

[Corey Hallagan]

Mike, another beauty, we wouldn't expect anything less. I like how the box lid fits on the box. Mike can I ask a couple questions of you? Do you buy finished lumber or do you go thru the process with rough lumber to finish lumber? What do you use to achieve your beautiful miters which seem to be key to get a good looking and fitting box that is full of 45* cuts. Lastly how or whatdo you use to clamp up your parts? Sorry if these have been asked before. Keep them coming, I love seeing your work!
Thanks,
Corey

[Dan Forman]

This box does an excellent job of fulfilling it's stated purpose (i.e. "to look pretty").

Dan

[Vaughn McMillan]

Nice job Mike. The box has pretty simple lines, which helps to show off the beautiful wood. Like several others here, I'm curious how you attached the legs.

- Vaughn

[Michael Stafford]

Thank you all for the nice comments. I really appreciate them. :o

To answer Jeff, Vaughn and Roy the legs start out as a piece of 3/4" thick stock wider than I need for safety and stability, usually something like 3" wide. With my table saw I cut a rabbet approximately 9/16" deep and wide in one edge of the blank. Then I switch to the table mounted router and complete the finish cuts with a dado planer bit. This allows me to get a smoother cut than I get with the saw. I usually make the finished rabbet about 5/8 X 5/8 which leaves an 1/8" thickness on the "L" portion of the rabbet. Then it is just a matter of carefully ripping the piece off so that it is 1/8" strong on the side so that it can be planed to a final thickness that matches the other leg. I plane this with my handplane so this is not rocket science.

Once satisfied with the thickness and finish of the L parts of the leg blanks I set up a stop on the saw sled and cut them to length. I shape them on the bandsaw and carefully round over the edges and sand them smooth.

Now for the tricky part. Gluing them on. You have a perfect right angle on the inside of the L and a perfect right angle on the corner of the box. Put these two together and there is no room for the glue. So I remove some of the wood with a utility knife on the corner of the box so there is room for the glue without squeeze out. I use the SWAG method to determine how much wood to remove. Then it is just a matter of gluing them on and clamping them in place with big ole red rubber bands that I buy at the office supply store.

Corey, to answer your questions. Yes I do start with rough lumber. Sometimes I will spend days planing down rough lumber and stacking it so I can see what I have. Then I set good pieces aside for projects. I miter the corners on a miter sled for my table saw that I took care to make to ensure it is near perfect as possible. Before I commit to my good stock I make many test cuts until I get the miter perfect. I also use a very fine tooth blade (80 tpi crosscut) and cut slowly to avoid chip out. Lastly I use rubber bands and band clamps for small boxes and I carefully measure the diagonals with a centimeter ruler and adjust the corners until the measurements are perfect. It helps to be a little anal when you are a box maker as people have a tendency to look at them up close and personal.

And lastly where can I get me one of them Kreg model juniors 0002? ;) :D

[Von Bickley]

Michael,
Great looking box. I'm sure that will become an heirloom for someone. :)

[Corey Hallagan]

Excellent and thanks for the info Mike!

Corey

[Keith Burns]

Can't add much to what others have said except to say EXCELLENT !!

[Kurt Aebi]

Mike,

Ya done it again! Most Excellent - simple and excellent!

The Box-Master Strikes again!

[Garry Smith]

Real nice box Mike.
Garry

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Mike, thanks for the info! I am hoping that I will have more of "my" time back in the shop this winter. Boxes is one of the things that I would like to try! :)

[Bill Ledoux]

Mike, Great job! That is an example of what I aspire to. Question....what product did you use for the velour interior and how/where can I order it? Thanks...Bill

[Michael Stafford]

Bill, I find all my lining materials at fabric stores. I am able to find a wide variety of velvets. crushed and non-crushed velours, ultra suedes and other nice fabrics in the stores frequented by dress makers and the like. Some fabrics are seasonal and others you may have to go to multiple stores to find. Don't be shocked at how much per yard of some of these materials can cost :eek: :)

[Dick Parr]

Great Job Mike ;) Add another beautiful box to the collection.

[Richard Wolf]

Nice work Mike, I always admire box making because it takes an imagination to keep come up with different boxes.

Richard

[Vaughn McMillan]

...Now for the tricky part. Gluing them on. You have a perfect right angle on the inside of the L and a perfect right angle on the corner of the box.

Slight Correction: You have perfect right angles on the inside of the L and the corner of the box. Apparently you haven't seen my right angles. :D Few things in my shop can be called "right", including the angles.

Actually, thanks for the additional info. I would not have thought to remove a bit of wood to create space for the glue. Chalk up another learning experience to SMC!

- Vaughn