Christmas present idea

[Derek Cohen]

Marc Spagnuolo (The Wood Whisperer) posted this idea in a recent video. I thought it great .... Japanese tool box as a wine box.

Here is one I built ...





Regards from Perth

Derek

[Edward Weber]

I really like the box Derek, nice work as always.
I have one question if you don't mind. How did you attach the bottom?

I've seen hundreds of Japanese toolbox styled pieces and they all have the same feature. They're usually built very heavily, with various types of joinery except the bottom is just glued in place. I just find this curious.

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks Edward.

The bottom of the box here is just glued on. I considered using nails as well, but glue is so strong. The cross-pieces on the lid are nailed as well (from the underside), but this was also done to prevent movement when glueing.

These boxes are quite easy to do. I built another one this afternoon - three hours from start to finish (including preparing the boards). The trick is to add the bottom last. This makes it easier to position and fit the lid.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Edward Weber]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

[Cameron Wood]

Nice. .....

[Jim Koepke]

Nice work Derek, I like the proud corner joints.

jtk

[Christopher Charles]

Great idea. The shavings and wedged lid are nice touches. And you do have some fabulous wines down there!

[Mark Gibney]

Derek, you say you glued the bottom on? - so at that width (about 4 1/2"?) wood movement isn't an issue?
Reason I ask is that I'll be making boxes with lift off lids about 5" width and I'd like to glue on small cross pieces underneath the lids to keep them flat.

[Edward Weber]

If I may, The bottom is probably only 1/4" thick or less. At this thickness, the glue we have these days will easily retain any movement the bottom piece could exert on the box carcass.

I'm just old fashioned or something. I prefer to see some type of mechanical connection on the piece that holds the entire contents of the box, in the unlikely event the glue should fail.
I usually use some type of wooden nail, personal preference

[Derek Cohen]

Edward, I agree with all you wrote. When I started out to make a few of these boxes, my initial thought was to dovetail the ends and capture the bottom in a groove, since I prefer a mechanical joint. Then I reminded myself that that would not be true to the traditional Japanese toolbox. Mark, if you watch videos of Japanese furniture makers building drawers, you will find the drawer bottoms are simply glued on.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Edward Weber]

Derek, I'm sure you've seen this one but for those who haven't. IMO a very nice interpretation with a mechanical joint holding the bottom on.

https://www.neverstopbuilding.com/japanese-toolbox

[Derek Cohen]

Edward, I had not seen that chest before. Very nice! It looks a fun and useful project ... nice to build and could be useful in the hone ir workshop.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Derek Cohen]

Here are a few more ...











The dark one (not sure what wood it is - pallet salvage) ...







Regards from Perth



Derek

[Edward Weber]

Edward, I had not seen that chest before. Very nice! It looks a fun and useful project ... nice to build and could be useful in the hone ir workshop.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I really like how he took a utilitarian piece and made it quite elegant. Not unlike what you did with the bottle boxes, which look really great BTW

Maybe next year for me, already too much to do this year