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My Mom asked if I would make her a box that would hold 4×6 index recipe cards to replace a painted one that was falling apart. Her request was for another one that she would paint. I politely declined and told her I would make her a replacement that would dress up her counter top instead of being an eyesore. The finished product is made with walnut sides with a hard maple top, bottom, and corner splines. I stalked Boxguy's boxmaking blog and it was a huge help. Cutting the top of the box off was the most stressful part but everything turned out great. The surface of the box feels smooth as silk after I applied the wax following Boxguy's finishing technique. Having a great resource like Lumberjocks to research my projects is a huge help!

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186 Posts
Very nice, love the grain pattern
 

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Moving items in shop constantly !! Always have something on bench
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5 Posts
Very very nice , like the separation and the splines. She will definatly keep it on the counter
 

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6,567 Posts
That is a very nice piece of Maple on top, I like. What does Mom think?

Thanks for posting.
 

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Bennesh1, what a beautiful project. Your mom should get years and years of use out of this recipe box. This is a beautiful combination of woods. It looks like you have mastered all the skills needed to build boxes in this style. I like the attached top and bottom style. It is seeing projects like yours that makes postings on this site fun to do. Keep boxing and keep posting.

Thanks for the shout out. I hope you won't mind if I post this topical guide to some blogs for others to use.

Tutorials: For methods used to make boxes like the one pictured above just click on the blue links below. They are arranged by topic.

Making a jig to cut spline slots:
Jig for 45ing corners:
Making splines with a simple jig:
Finishing tips:
$5 band clamps:
Combining Wood Colors:
Sizing Tea Boxes and Dividers From Venetian Blinds
Making Kleenex boxes:
Making music boxes
Routers and Rounding edges
Why round box corners?
Organizing a glue-up table:
Adding splines to a box:
Measuring for spline slot cuts:
Installing an attached top: like that pictured above.
Cutting off the box top and sizing piano hinges
Adding finger indents:
More about finger indents.
Mortising and installing hinges:
Tips on making sliding trays: for inside boxes:
Cutting cloth liners for trays and the bottom of boxes.
Swapping Wood By Mail:
Making a serving tray with angled sides.
Roy Underhill's tool tote.
Teaching Boxmaking
 

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Finish looks great. Your comments sent me over to Boxguy's LJ site. It's helpful to periodically review his finishing techniques. I love how the wood glistens while boasting its grain structure.
 
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