Tea Box- Mitre Glueing

  I was puttering around in my shop the other day.  The weather has been unpredictable and there isn't really a big project on the horizon, until March or April.  So what did I do?  I did what I have done thousands of times before.  I made a box. Making boxes is a foundational skill in wood working, and that skill does not develop without practise. 

 I didn't have a  specific need in mind but there is always a use for a  tea box. It could also store coffee, cookies, or candy.

   I have collected bits of skid wood over the last couple of years and  I selected a non-descript board for this project.  Since the box was to have mitred corners I trimmed both edges of the board on the table saw with the blade tilted to 45 degrees.  My table saw is a contractor's saw, it has served me well for over 20 years and with care it will still cut accurate angles. 

  

  Once I had all the wood prepped for the sides, I used the tape and glue method for putting the box together.  I cut a bottom piece and glued it in to close the one end, then tried to figure out a lid. This works but doesn't look good, it is  top heavy and awkward.  I have since had another idea  and I will try it one of these days.

  

  For the time being I just trimmed the lid and rounded its corners.  The interesting bit of the project is the finishing.  I traced the letters onto the wood after sanding it very smooth.  When wood burning, the wood needs to be very, very smooth. 400 grit or better.  After burning the letters in I lightly tinted them with red dye. 

  After the dye was totally dry, I lightly stained the box and gave it two coats of spray varnish to protect it from finger marks.

  It is nice to have a shop in which to putter.

cheers ianw

  

Three Board Book Shelf

I found this idea on the Net late one night and sadly can't remember to whom I owe credit for this tidy little plan.  It is not my design but I think I am going to play with it, look for sliding dovetails in the near future.

The layout is very basic, but clean and pleasing to my eye.

You start with about 22 inches of 5 1/2 inch pine, planned to 3/4 inch thick.  The base is about 12 inches, the long side 7 inches and the foot 1 inch.

I cut the long piece off the board and put two 3/8inch dadoes square across the board using the mitre fence on my JessEm router table.  When I marked out the board I was careful to shade in the places where the wood was going to be cut away, that way I didn't end up with the dadoes on the same side.

 I set my JessEm Tool Setting Gauge to set the router bit at exactly 3/8 inch deep for the dadoes.  The gauge locks into the depth settings with a solid brass lock nut and sits on a large enough base to free up both of your hands for adjusting/setting the machine.

Next I used the same 3/8 inch setting to cut rabbets on the end of the shorter of the two boards.  HINT:  cut both rabbets and then cut the 1 inch off the end.  It is much easier and safer to work with a board 8 inches long rather than one 1 inch long.

The final step was to stain the book stand with dark walnut aniline dye in water and put a coat of spray on varnish and wax over top.

The end result is a good little shelf for music books on top of our daughter-in-law's piano.

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish....yellow fish

Sometimes you just want to have fun. 

   This is a scroll saw project from a pattern I found in a magazine that has been around for a couple of years.  In our basement are tonnes of magazines relating to woodworking, you know the routine, you see a cool pattern or idea and buy the magazine with the intention of trying the project sometime.  

   

   Well, this time the project actually got done. It is cheap softwood lumber and aniline powder dyes.  

  It reminds me "there is always a bigger fish".

ps. Santa you can bring me one of these....http://www.thetoolstore.ca/view.asp?Excalibur-EX-16-16&-39;&-39;-Tilting-Scroll-Saw_10780

I like to build to a purpose.

     Some people like to hang out in the workshop and make stuff, just for the fun of it.  Mostly then those projects sit around on a shelf and ultimately get given away to someone that shows even the slightest interest in the thing.

   But for me the greatest satisfaction comes from making something that is sure to be used.   Making a flower box that fits exactly on the window sill, makes me feel good, even though it is easier than a fancy box with interesting finish to make.  Case in point, the Red Elm box I made a couple weeks ago is sitting on a shelf with no one to love it and no one to use it.  I expect it will live out its days in my shop filled with stray nails and screws.

   My wife has been redecorating our Powder Room and decided that we needed a small shelf unit to fit a very particular space.  Even Ikea in all its might did not have what was needed. So, I got to build to her design.

  Initially it looked like this, made mostly from poplar and left over sheet stock.


sitting on the bench in my shop



I confess it looked pretty funny to me.

Next stage was finishing, everything looks better with some effort on the finish.  It is now dark, aniline dyes to the rescue

Once the shelf got into the space for which it was designed it looks pretty good.  The larger panel on the left hides the plumbing from view and the open space below the shelves will shortly be filled with a purpose built step stool for little people.

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