Hello All,
I needed a bigger and better box for my Dowelmax after getting an additional bracket. I like to learn new tasks for my projects, and will probably be making a jewelry box or two in the future, so I took my time on this one. It’s constructed of hard maple with walnut accents. The box components are 1/2”, and the insert is made from 1/4” pieces. The finish is Minwax spray satin lacquer, which I have never used before. I really like this finish, and I can see why lacquer is so popular. I don’t have professional spray booth capabilities with ventilation, so the rattle cans sprayed outside work great for me.
The box is constructed with miter joints, and I added walnut splines for strength…plus I like the look. First time doing this, and the table saw jig is easy to build and use (lots of videos on YouTube). When I separated the top from the box on my table saw, I taped some of the leftover splines in each previous cut to act as shims since they are the exact width of the saw kerf, and this worked very well.
When building a box this way with a lid that is flush and not recessed in a dado, getting really tight joints on the lid seems to somewhat problematic (at least for me). There is a dance that happens during glue-up getting tight miters on the sides, tight miters on the top, and tight joints where the top piece meets the side pieces. From past experience I expected this, so after it dried I cut a rabbet around the top and glued in oversized walnut trim pieces which were later planed and sanded flush. These pieces allowed a tight fitting joint between the sides and top and provide a nice look.
For the miters I built a shooting board to use with my hand plane, which I’ve been meaning to do for a while. It’s a game changer. The ability to sneak up on a perfect fit allows for really tight joints. I also used it when fitting the lock dado joints for the insert. The insert is friction fit, so it can be removed if I decide to change the layout inside the box later.
Thanks for looking. Cheers,
Tim
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