Need Some Gift Boxes - To the Scrap Bin!

[glenn bradley]

In self defense I normally make a batch of small items and stash them in the closet for just such emergencies. Due to various reasons I got caught flat-footed this holiday season when I was asked for a "quick" gift for someone who "suddenly" came up. I am going to kill off some scrap and shorts and build up a supply for all those surprises that will come up this year ;-)

I grab some interesting looking scrap. I also have some thin stock leftover from resawing drawer fronts and the like. I use the thin stock as veneer on 1/4" ply for the bottoms.

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I resaw and mill the stock. I rip to width and then cut the carcass parts. I rabbet them top and bottom and pre-shellac the insides.

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I drill a hole centered in the top for finger clearance and use the router table and some stop blocks to mill a couple of mortise-like notches to receive the pulls. I square up the mortises with a chisel.

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The pull is cut with angled ends and shave to a slight taper. This makes the pull fit like a cork for a gap free fit.

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cont'd

[glenn bradley]

Its kind of like a little factory around here.

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Ready for finish.

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This should give me a little breathing room ;-)

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Walnut, sappy walnut, cherry, goncalo alves, and tiger maple. Some birdseye maple on some pulls.

[Phil Mueller]

Very nice, Glenn. You have some beautiful “scrap” there. What are those clamps you are using? Looks like they do a great job.

[Mike Null]

Glenn

Very nice work.

Boxes are my favorite project. The difference between you and me is that you do it and I seem to just talk about it.

[John K Jordan]

Very nice, Glenn. You have some beautiful “scrap” there.

That's what I was thinking - that's not scrap, that's stock!

Very nice work and I like the design. (Uh, my birthday is coming up soon... :))

JKJ

[glenn bradley]

Very nice, Glenn. You have some beautiful “scrap” there. What are those clamps you are using? Looks like they do a great job.

The bottom set is offered by Lee Valley and are quite nice. The upper ones are a Woodcraft, Peachtree or other knock off. I have also seen folks make them with wood blocks, t-nuts and threaded rod. The corner pieces and the speed nuts are the meat of this clamp. A little extra 1/4" threaded rod cut to various lengths and you can do all sorts of things with them. I store all the parts in a re-used plastic tube that a lathe tool came in.


Glenn

Very nice work.

Boxes are my favorite project. The difference between you and me is that you do it and I seem to just talk about it.

Thanks Mike. My advice is very Nike; Just Do It! Boxes are fun, use little material and so cause no real pain if one goes south. They use a lot of the skills you use on larger pieces and so make good skill building projects, are handy for sudden gift requests and they eat up scrap :D


That's what I was thinking - that's not scrap, that's stock!

Very nice work and I like the design. (Uh, my birthday is coming up soon... :))

JKJ

In my defense, cool scrap comes from . . . well, . . . the scrap of larger work. I have at least one slot in the shorts bin and three plastic shoe boxes stuffed with scrap that is just too interesting to burn. I try to force myself to this maximum so that the shop doesn't get taken over ;). If I kept every scrap I thought was "cool" I would never make anything; no room :D. Larger pieces become box lids or small drawer fronts. Still smaller pieces become detail work or pulls.

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[Jim Becker]

This is exactly why I'm such a pack-rat with material scraps...it can be a goldmine!

Beautiful work!!!!

[Rich Greinert]

Very nice!

Thanks for taking the time to explain your process and document with photos. Very helpful!

[Carl Beckett]

I love boxes, and they make great gifts.

Those corners look mitered? Did you spline or reinforce them in any way?

[David Utterback]

Excellent boxes. One's "scrap" is another's treasure. I also hoard small pieces for this purpose. Thanks for sharing.