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

  

Lots of Things Drying

  At this moment in my shop there are things drying and small project stacked up. I am making some small projects for a coming event at our church and the impending Rockton World's Fair .  Our church is having a 'food fair' as a fund raising event in a couple of weeks and I am not going to contribute food, but kitchen accessories. I have made a serving board and three cheese boards.

   The cheese boards are ash wood rounds that I planed and finished with food grade oil. This set of rounds I flatten differently that previously.  The rounds are only about ten inches across and so I used my 12' Planer to flatten them.  I very slowly lowered the blades and took extra small bites as I planed the end grain of the ash.  The result is good but....I think I will have to replace the planer blades sooner than I'd planned.  

   Going to the food fair as well is a turned bowl I made a while ago from maple stair treads. Maple is hard but slightly boring looking wood. 

  I also made and wood burned a tea box.  I felt like working on a small hand tool project and after planing the wood down and edge gluing it I set about making a nice little box.  There is a special satisfaction in beginning a project with a piece of very average stud grade lumber and ending with a small finely fitted project.

  The little oak caddie for the three glass bottle with the turned wooden tops is also for the church. Projects like this are made in factories over seas by the ten thousand.  Mine however is one of a kind, with three up cycled bottles and their three different turned lids.  If some one realizes the unique nature of the tops they'll find a use for the bottles, it no one realizes that the three lids are different wood and hand turned, they don't really deserve them.

  It is nice to be at a point in my life where I no longer have to explain or promote.  I just make stuff I like and let it go at that.

  I have a piece of furniture to make and I have a door knob that I plan to turn in the next while.  My big projects right now are paintings for competition at the fair. Painting is nice, it is a quiet pass time, which serves as a relief from the noises in the shop.