Neander Tackle Box Build

[Mike Allen1010]

Our 25-year-old son just got engaged to his longtime girlfriend and we are very excited for the happy couple! He is an avid fly fisherman and has a birthday coming up in July. His fiancée mentioned to me she was planning on getting him fly tying supplies and asked if I could build a tackle box/fly tying station keep everything in.

https://i.postimg.cc/BbVz2KR8/1-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

I wanted to keep the box fairly lightweight so that he could carry it into fishing sites without too much trouble -that ended up driving a lot of the design/joinery. Rough dimensions are 18“ long x 11“ wide x 11“ tall. To maximize storage space for small items I settle on a fold-down front panel with a bank of three drawers in the middle flanked by two pullout frames to hang frequently used items. Top will also be hinged with additional storage underneath.


Carcass is ½’ thick Walnut frame and veneered 1/8” plywood panels glued in place to add some rigidity/strength. Given the thinness of the stock I went with simple half lap joints to maximize glue surface area for the frames.

https://i.postimg.cc/J4Sgnjbv/1.jpg (https://postimages.org/)



Because frames are so thin I use electric router to create 3/16 inch deep rabbit after assembly, which minimize the chance of any disastrous splitting.

https://i.postimg.cc/KjRqcY4m/2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/sGC9wspL)


Carcass sides, back and bottom are joined via a simple rabbit joints glued and screwed where feasible.

https://i.postimg.cc/xd24GYpP/3.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/CLRXScfb/4.jpg (https://postimg.cc/VdcDFBgN)

Couldn’t really figure out a good joinery solution for the 2 inch wide fixed front panel. If I'd been thinking would have changed orientation of rails/stiles on carcass sides so would have had some end grain available for DT's - uuugh! Went with through dowels. Not very strong by itself. I’m hoping internal dividers and overlapping top will add some strength.

https://i.postimg.cc/zBD2M7rb/5.jpg (https://postimages.org/)


Stop rabbits dadoes plowed four vertical internal dividers. Sliding measuring stick super helpful to get this dimension exactly right.

https://i.postimg.cc/CKs6mtWp/6.jpg (https://postimg.cc/HJj2LSY6)


¼” thick vertical dividers glued in place. Because are so thin I added ¼” square drawer guides and kickers which also create a “housing” to glue horizontal drawer dividers.

https://i.postimg.cc/L8fWZhDX/7.jpg (https://postimages.org/)


Three graduated height drawers fronts are flush, internal fit. I always enjoy planing drawer fronts to get a nice fit in their pocket. Not sure how you do this without hand tools?

https://i.postimg.cc/Px6VkDX6/8.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/CMQrPb65/10-5.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Mike Allen1010]

Fun planing the “Whitewood” drawer sides and backs.

https://i.postimg.cc/QxK4RVRb/10.jpg (https://postimages.org/)



To maximize usable depth in already shallow drawer’s plywood bottoms were rabbit it to sides and front.
https://i.postimg.cc/kgr19qCd/11.jpg (https://postimages.org/)




For internal dividers inside the drawers, cut shallow dadoes for one side of each divider prior to assembly. Somehow when I cut both sides of the divider prior to assembly the divider never ends up looking quite square in the drawer so I layout and cut the corresponding second dado for the dividers after assembly with chisel and knife.

https://i.postimg.cc/wB20hNm6/12-3.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/DznxJ6mj/12-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/cLQDL21t/12-1.jpg (https://postimages.org/)




Cutting the ¼”thick Whitewood dividers to length – love using Japanese saws for sawing thin stock like this.

https://i.postimg.cc/63QzzQrC/12-4.jpg (https://postimages.org/)


Finished drawer with dividers for holding components of fly tying vice.
https://i.postimg.cc/j5kc1rcm/12-5.jpg (https://postimages.org/)


For the square frames that will fit into pockets on either side of the bank drawers, I went with narrow DT’s. I’m a tails first guy so the critical operation is sawing the pins right on the marking knife line. Because this is relatively softwood, I was going for a tight fit. For me it helps to tilt the dovetail saw a little off vertical to start the edge of the saw teeth splitting the layout line.
https://i.postimg.cc/FzMZ9g2x/13.jpg (https://postimg.cc/FkxcpcFf)

https://i.postimg.cc/T1L0MHHw/12.jpg (https://postimages.org/)


Fortunately I was able to layout the fly tying supplies to get an idea of how to best fit the frames with shelves/faces to keep small components like the thread and tying tools in place.
https://i.postimg.cc/668xpWk7/14.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/fW1nt4s8/15.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/NfThRNfB/16.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Cleaning up dovetails on assembled frames. For me it’s worth the time to clamp a backer block in place to avoid spelching the end grain and allow planing and one direction.
https://i.postimg.cc/3w8P5Yjx/17.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Frame backs
https://i.postimg.cc/FHg2B7L6/18.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Josh Robinson]

Awesome story and the start of a beautiful piece!

[Mike Allen1010]

Here’s the completed carcass, drawers and sliding frames.
https://i.postimg.cc/wBwn9ZFc/19.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/ydWtxjbq/20.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/hjwwdmkX/21.jpg (https://postimg.cc/dk24MhtF)


Carcass front will be hinged to hopefully and internal flush fit. Should I try and add some kind of “retaining pin” to the backs of the sliding frames so that they can’t be completely pulled out of the carcass? Might be a little neater, but I’m not exactly sure how I would do it – drill/slide a dowel from the inside?

Next will be hinged carcass breadboard front, what I think is a cool design for the top stolen from Chris Swarz’s anarchist tool chest, and what looks like lots of hardware.

Thanks for looking! All the best, Mike

[Phil Mueller]

Great job Mike, he’s going to love it. I think my vote would be to not pin the sliding frames so that they can come completely out. He may want to have them out making the items more easily accessible (?). Same with the drawers. Look forward to the finished piece.

[ken hatch]

Mike,

As always well thought out beautiful work but more important you are a good Dad. Great looking couple you'll should be proud.

ken

[Mel Fulks]

Sometimes we see elegant boxes that have just a little too much wood in them. You are making something that has to
have strength. And it will have the grace of a child's Disney castle ! The drawers look like they could be water tight if they
had knobs instead of holes. Great stuff ! Good looking couple there and I'm pretty sure the photographer did not have to
ask for the smile. All the best to them!

[Jim Matthews]

Small things are much more challenging - there's so little margin for error.

Handsome piece!
Kudos

[Curt Putnam]

Been a long time since I considered fly fishing. I suppose it is a tackle box since it contains some but is more a very elegant, portable workstation for the flyfisher. Very impressive and well done sir/

[David Eisenhauer]

Great work again Mike. Outstanding design on separating all those moving parts and keeping the weight down. Working with thin stuff has it's own problems but not for you apparently. And I saw those woodies working that whitewood over! Good application on the sliding bar measurement. I have something similar for checking diagonal measurements on drawers and carcases, but had not thought about using a shorter version for length measurements. Thanks for sharing.

[Clifford McGuire]

I'm new here, but just wanted to say that these types of posts are educational and inspirational. Thanks to all of you that take the time to do them.

Congrats on the new addition to the family Mike.

Fly fishing, hmmm. I've been thinking I might want to take that up in retirement. What's one more hobby to drain $$$ from the account!?!

[Jim Koepke]

Interesting project your son will enjoy for years.

Many years ago one of my coworkers told me of fly fishing. He and others would take their kits along and then use a small net to see what kind of larva were in the water to see what the fish were likely feeding on. Then they could whip up a new fly and start fishing.

jtk

[Christopher Charles]

Congrats to all on the engagement! And the box looks way better than the tupperware tub i've used for decades. I'm sure he'll treasure it.

And tell your son to be careful with the flyfishing habit...mine led to grad school in aquatic entomology and a career with fish...but i hardly ever fish now!

Looks great and will look forward to seeing more progress.

[Mike Allen1010]

it. I think my vote would be to not pin the sliding frames so that they can come completely out. He may want to have them out making the items more easily accessible (?). Same with the drawers. Look forward to the finished piece.

Thanks Phil for the suggestion – that's what I decided on. The grand scheme of things everything is pretty small and being able to completely remove the frames should be helpful.

Cheers, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

Mike,

As always well thought out beautiful work but more important you are a good Dad. Great looking couple you'll should be proud.

ken

Thanks Ken, I sincerely appreciate the sentiment coming from you. To tell the truth, our youngest has dated some real doosies; I'm talking like restraining order crazy. This one however is a real keeper. Now I just hope he doesn't screw it up.

Cheers, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

Sometimes we see elegant boxes that have just a little too much wood in them. You are making something that has to
have strength. And it will have the grace of a child's Disney castle ! The drawers look like they could be water tight if they
had knobs instead of holes. Great stuff ! Good looking couple there and I'm pretty sure the photographer did not have to
ask for the smile. All the best to them!

Thanks Mel for your good wishes and kind feedback! I really appreciate your comments regarding scale/strength. I first got interested in hand tool woodworking reading James Krenov's books in the late 70s. I was really struck by what I saw as the "lightness" and frankly delicacy of some of his pieces, compared to blocky commercial furniture of the age. Consequently I've always had a bias towards "lighter" construction, which has definitely bitten me in the butt more than a few times when projects turned into firewood! I hope this one holds up a little better than saw my previous efforts:)

Best, Mike

[Harold Patterson]

As someone who has fly fished for over thirty years and taught Beginning fly tying for at least twenty five, I can safely say that most people start fly tying with the idea that you will save money on flies. It definitely does not work out that way, however he is going to have a lot of fun tying his own flies and ‘more so catching fish on them. Great job on the box. It looks like the right size to take on trips. I agree with Phil to have the drawers and side pieces loose. His is going to want to put a drawer with tools or materials on the table so that he is not always going back to the box while he is tying. Thank you for sharing.

[Mike Allen1010]

Small things are much more challenging - there's so little margin for error.

Handsome piece!
Kudos

Jim, your comment could be no more spot on with regard to this build; rabbits joining sides/back/bottom of the carcass were a skinny 1/4" wide x 1/2" deep. Fortunately I was able to reinforce most joints with screws from the bottom which aren't visible. I really hope those #4, 3/4" wood screws hang in there – I'm really counting on them and Titebond to hold things together!

The 2nd//part of the build (that hopefully I'll get around to posting soon) involved super fussy fitting of hardware to secure chest front and top with appropriate reveal and fit. Suffice to say, 30 minutes before birthday party where our Son's fiancé was counting on presenting her gift, I was sweating through my fourth failed attempt at a workable hardware solution to make everything work. There was definitely cussing, tool throwing, and after the fact, more than a few cocktails required to relieve my frustrations.

With this project finished, I'm ready for something much larger and more robust - maybe involving 2/" x 4", nails, and measurements via tape measure. A family friend is doing some significant remodeling and I think I may have been drafted into framing/raising a few walls. For a hand tool woodworker like me who generally works in smaller/furniture size scale, house sized dimensions are terrifying!

Cheers, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

Been a long time since I considered fly fishing. I suppose it is a tackle box since it contains some but is more a very elegant, portable workstation for the flyfisher. Very impressive and well done sir/

Curt your exactly right. When my Son saw the finished project he quickly corrected me it's a fly tying station, not a tackle box. He further reinforced the correct description with a review of multiple issues of something like "fly tying magazine". My only request was that he take me along on a fishing trip, not complain when I was totally inept and provide a collection of flies I could frame and mounted on the wall so I can pretend I know what I'm talking about.

Cheers, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

I saw those woodies working that whitewood over! Good application on the sliding bar measurement. I have something similar for checking diagonal measurements on drawers and carcases, but had not thought about using a shorter version for length measurements. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks David. Over the years I've increasingly begun to enjoy using shop made wooden planes. The fact is every plane is fun to use when planing "Whitewood" – even the ones I built myself seemed to work okay! The older I get, the less able I am to see the fine gradations on measuring tools. Consequently "story sticks" and other layout tools that only require me to cut pieces the same dimensions as layout tool, the better off I am.

Cheers, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

Interesting project your son will enjoy for years.

Many years ago one of my coworkers told me of fly fishing. He and others would take their kits along and then use a small net to see what kind of larva were in the water to see what the fish were likely feeding on. Then they could whip up a new fly and start fishing.

jtk

Thanks JTK, I have to confess we were both a little weepy when he said this was something he looked forward to passing down to his own kids. The stuff I make is unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but somehow that comment struck a nerve with me. What more could any woodworker hope for. I guess sometimes a project just works out – who knew!

Yes you're right. Based on Reece's reaction it seems fly fisherman are super into making the flies specific to the appetite of the fish in their locale. I don't know, seems like a lot of work to me for fish they just end up releasing back into the water! I'm more of a "catch and eat" guy myself.

Cheers, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

[QUOTE=Christopher Charles;3036387] tell your son to be careful with the flyfishing habit...mine led to grad school in aquatic entomology and a career with fish...but i hardly ever fish now!

Christopher, you clearly have some impressive expert knowledge and expertise regarding the science of fly fishing and from what I understand, Idaho is legendarily ideal fly fishing territory:eek:!. As the father of two avid fly fisherman, I feel somehow obligated to explore a mutually beneficial arrangement; how about you share some of your knowledge with our Boys, and I .... ugggh … don't actually have anything of comparable value to offer – maybe some saws?:)

Cheers, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

As someone who has fly fished for over thirty years and taught Beginning fly tying for at least twenty five, I can safely say that most people start fly tying with the idea that you will save money on flies. It definitely does not work out that way, however he is going to have a lot of fun tying his own flies and ‘more so catching fish on them. Great job on the box. It looks like the right size to take on trips. I agree with Phil to have the drawers and side pieces loose. His is going to want to put a drawer with tools or materials on the table so that he is not always going back to the box while he is tying. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks Harold your informed suggestions. As a father with zero knowledge of fishing, I confess I'm jealous of your knowledge and expertise in a activity my boys are so passionate about. I welcome any of your suggestions about how I might be able to add some value to their experience, while in same time avoiding embarrassing miscues that are typically my forte.

Cheers, Mike

[Jim Matthews]

Something where you think like an Egyptian Architect?

[Harold Patterson]

Mike

Always willing to help. I relocated from Northern California in the fall of 2018. Your area is very nice with great weather as well.

Harold