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I've been a lurker on this site for years. I've been looking at the posts of lumberjocks almost daily for forever and figured it was my time to start posting my creations as well.

This is one of the first things I've ever made. It's a toybox I built for all of the toys that seem to accumulate all over the living room when you have little ones. I built it for my oldest son just before the arrival of my daughter. It's made entirely of red oak. At the time the only tools I really had were a table saw, router table, and a kreg jig. I used additional strips of red oak to help brace the joined boards and also hide the pocket screws. Rounded over all the edges and I used toybox hinges, with a piano hinge and also offset the top so that even when closed there is 1/4 inch of space. Saves pinched fingers and trapped little sisters. :)

As with all of my projects I didn't really use any plans. I like to take inspiration from a lot of different sources and create something of my own. To make it a little more personal I drew a picture of a bear on the front and then burned it into the wood before staining and finishing. The finish is just some minwax oil stain rubbed on and then a ton of coats of poly. After making it I realized that my little guy couldn't reach to the bottom without risking falling in so I added to layers of mattress topper foam, cut to fit, to raise the bottom and cushion and potential falls.

Thanks for checking it out.

Comments, critiques welcome. Glad to finally be a lumberjock!








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Welcome to our insanity!

Nice box.

The bear is a neat addition too. Plans are only a vague idea to start from anyway!
 

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Well made toy boxes live forever. My daughter still has hers over 40 years later.
 

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That is very nice…GREAT job! Welcome to Lumberjocks!
 

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Nice project-Love the foresight of a 1/4" gap to save little fingers. Heirloom quality box.
 

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Great job. A perfect first post. Welcome to LumberJocks.
 

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Great toy box, love the teddy bear and the hinges
 

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Your toy box looks great, very nice job. Your little boy's children will be putting their toys in it one day.
Regular hinges on a toy box can wear out quickly from use and the weight of the lid. This can make for a dangerous situation around little ones. Rockler makes a set of hinges they call "Lid-Stay Torsion Hinges", work kind of like the hinges on a lap-top. They used to advertise them just for toy boxes. Years ago I made a similar toy box for my granddaughter and used two sets. They still work great after all these years with no injuries to little hands and little heads, but their not cheap, however they are safer. You might want to check them out. Thanks for inspiring
 

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Your toy box looks great, very nice job. Your little boy s children will be putting their toys in it one day.
Regular hinges on a toy box can wear out quickly from use and the weight of the lid. This can make for a dangerous situation around little ones. Rockler makes a set of hinges they call "Lid-Stay Torsion Hinges", work kind of like the hinges on a lap-top. They used to advertise them just for toy boxes. Years ago I made a similar toy box for my granddaughter and used two sets. They still work great after all these years with no injuries to little hands and little heads, but their not cheap, however they are safer. You might want to check them out. Thanks for inspiring

- Joe
Thanks for checking out my post Joe. The hinges on this toybox are the same Rockler ones you're talking about. I guess I just didn't want to sound like I was advertising for Rockler when I wrote it. They are really great, and expensive to boot. Although I think it's probably cheaper than a trip to an E.R. :) Have a good one.
 

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That's great to hear. With little ones you aways want to be on the safe side, and your right about advertising. Thanks for being such a good dad.
 
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