Minimum thickness for small mitered box walls?

[Will Mullendore]

I’m working through my stash of smaller cut-offs from bigger projects. I’ve got some 4/4 boards that I’d like to resaw to make grain matched boxes. I don’t have a bandsaw and have historically resawn with my table saw or Japanese pull saw if I had to.

I’m pretty confident I can get at least 1/4”-5/16” thickness after resawing and planing smooth. Is that enough to do mitered boxes?

[Lee Schierer]

You can certainly make boxes with 1/4" thick sides. It will depend on how the boxes are handled, what's put in them and how big they are as to how they hold up. I made some small trays and drawers for the inside of a jewelry box from 1/4" curly maple. I used a locking rabbit joint that you can see in the photo below. Those joints work well in thin material. I have never made a 1/4" wall box with miter joints.
Locking rabbit.jpg

[Doug Garson]

I've made small, about 4" x 4" x 2" boxes from 3/16" MDF core plywood for some of my games, once glued up they were pretty strong.

[Mike Henderson]

It's been a while so I don't remember exactly, but I think I just glued miter corners with thin stock. A friend has one of my small trays and next time I go there I'll check out how I made it.

Mike

[Rick Potter]

Perhaps decorative dovetail spines could add strength. The sideways horizontal type. I have also seen some using a horizontal straight spline about 1/8" thick, that also serves to hold up an inside tray.

[Lee Schierer]

One other thought...If you want to strengthen a mitered corner can glue in a triangular gusset or square block inside the corner.

[Rob Luter]

I've been doing some experiments lately to see how thin I can go. Both of the examples below are 1/4" sides. The upper photo is a hinged version of mahogany with a walnut top and cedar bottom (both 1/4" as well). The lower box is pine with 1/8" pine for a sliding top and fixed bottom. I splined the corners on that one. It's light as a feather but still plenty strong

[Derek Cohen]

These ring boxes are 2” long by 1” across. The walls are only about 2mm thick …





More typically, I build drawer sides from 6mm thick boards, and am happy to make boxes 6-8mm thick.





Regards from Perth

Derek

[Bert McMahan]

I made a small box to hold teabags from, IIRC, 3/16" or so pieces. They're mitered together and it's held up fine. The base is much thicker (it's wider and has a decorative edge). Would I give it to my toddler? No, but does it hold teabags on my wife's desk? Sure does!

[Jim Becker]

Since a lot of the strength of a construction like that comes from how the material intersects with each other and how adjacent components help support each other via the joinery, it's not surprising that relatively thin material can result in a strong "thing".

Those are beautiful boxes, Derek.

[Rob Luter]

These ring boxes are 2” long by 1” across. The walls are only about 2mm thick …





More typically, I build drawer sides from 6mm thick boards, and am happy to make boxes 6-8mm thick.





Regards from Perth

Derek

You guys in Oz get all the cool looking wood

[Jim Becker]

You guys in Oz get all the cool looking wood

Yea, but they have to fight giant spiders and snakes to get it.

[Rick Potter]

Rob,

Great looking boxes. Is the lid on the slider solid or plywood? Any trouble with it trying to potato chip?


Derek,

That box with the barrel top.....does it also have an upper drawer, or is it a hinged lid?

[Rob Luter]

Rob,

Great looking boxes. Is the lid on the slider solid or plywood? Any trouble with it trying to potato chip?

It's a solid piece. It's some material I've had in the basement for about 15 years and is pretty stable. It was originally used in bent laminated jamb extenders on round top windows. I normally use it for splines and such but this seemed like a low risk proposition. When I applied Danish Oil to the exterior it soaked right through the whole thickness. After I wiped off the excess I slid it closed to cure and this may have served to "sticker" it while it hardened up. In any case it remained substantially flat. There's a little friction but just enough to keep the lid closed. No magnets required for this one.