Finished the Last 5 boxes

I was unable to make each box unique, due to time constraints. I did use brass hinges on the boxes as I didn't think I had the time to fuss with making wood hinges. I actually started to put wood hinges on one box but was unable to find a 3/32" drill bit that was 4" long to drill out the center pin of the hinge. So I cut off the tabs and routed slots for each of the hinges. It was faster, but not that simple. I set the router bit deep enough to let the upper hinge leaf stay just barely above the top of the box, so I wouldn't have too much gap between the box and the lid. I was able to use blocks to set the positions of the openings and repeat the cut on all of the boxes. One box is slightly larger than the rest so I had to adjust that one, but only the one.

Three of the lids came off a single piece of myrtle wood that I jointed, then split, jointed again, then thickness sanded down to the right size. That kept all three very similar. The other two lids came from a piece that had already been prepared.

I grabbed a scrap piece of Black walnut for the knobs. After I jointed and thickness sanded the piece, I used the router to create a 1/8" lip, so I could glue the knobs over the front edge of the box. Then I cut the routed portion and some of the main piece off using the bandsaw, then cut that to size and sanded them round. Anyway, you can see them mounted on the box lids.

One thing you don't see is that I put green felt in the bottom of each box. I cut a cereal box down to size so the cardstock would fit into the box without sticking. I cut the felt larger than the cardstock, by about 1/2" all the way around. I sprayed 3M glue on the felt, laid the cardstock on the felt and rubbed it down, cut the corners off the felt so I could fold the excess on each side over to the back. Stuck the felt in the box bottom and I'm done.

I got hugs from all the recipients. Here are the pictures I took.

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Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

Boxes 5 of 7

My kitchen is nearly done, so I'm back to making stuff. We have 5 more retirements at the end of the month, and here are the 5 boxes that I am working on. the outside dimension is about 5.5 x 8.5 inches, and 2 inches tall. The sides are Myrtle wood, the bottoms are ply inset into the sides by about 3/16 all of the way around. As you can see each corner is mitered. One shot shows a bag of the clamps that I used.

I cut key slots as shown in the picture for both looks and strength. The keys will be black walnut that I cut to fit the slots. I will cut the keys a tad oversize, glue them into the slots and cut them down flush prior to sanding the outsides.

Each lid will be a little different, and I contemplating building the hinges as part of the lid. More on that as I get one done.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.