So last week I got excited for some reason and built a finger joint jig for my tablesaw. It's the kind that has the wooden key to reference the slot cut by the blade (as opposed to the kind of jig that advances with a threaded rod). So now I have reasonably acceptable 1/4" finger joints.

So then I figured, well, might as well "knock out" a few simple boxes and give some to the kids and maybe as gifts. Well, these little buggers aren't so easy to just "knock out". For now, I'm just trying simple boxes about 4"x8" x ~2-3" deep with 1/4 - 3/8" thick sides.

So some questions:
1. Bottoms - can they be solid wood and just glued on? At what point do I have to worry about wood movement? Should I capture them in a groove instead?
2. Tops - these boxes don't have any hinges so I think I am just going to make some tops that sit on top of the box with a little handle. How does one make that little handle without cutting fingers off?
3. Thin stock - my approach so far has been to take a 3/4 length of something, joint it flat, then resaw off something a little thicker than I want. Then I run that through my drum sander until it is the thickness I am after. Can I run this thin stuff through my planer?
4. Finishing - should I prefinish the parts? Seems like I should at least get some BLO or poly on the inside before assembly.
5. Glue up - how do you spread glue on all these fingers and get it together and clamped? I did a small test box and I was right at 8 minutes which I guess is ok.

Thanks for any pointers on making these little gems.