Storage Box for joinery

Well, this is my first attempt to build something without glue. To allay any
suspicion that any glue or mechanical fasteners were used in the construction I
have included a blow by blow of the construction process. 100% wood with NO GLUE used at all.
The other reason for showing the construction is to show some of the ideas I came up with.
One of the methods I came up with I have never seen used before.

All the methods presented here can be applied to larger projects. Just scale them up.

No special tools or fixtures were used in the construction.

Just a table saw, drill, and carving chisels for the top.

I think that the carved top gives it a distinctive look.

The wood used is pommele Sapele for the outsides of the box, and mahogany for the
inner panel for the lid, as well as the carved panel. The hinges are made from
swiss pear.

I have decided to add some contents for my box. This project is to display joinery
without glue. Therefore at the end of this listing I show some of my favorite samples.

To start with, the following picture shows everything fit together before any
pegs were used. The reason I show this is to display how tight everything
fits. The bottom panel is an exact fit to keep everything square. Same with the
two panels in the lid.

The next two pictures show the construction of the panels in the lid. The first
shows the panel that I will use to peg in place to hold everything together. The
second picture shows the panel which is rabbited around the perimeter to allow
it to be installed flush. This is actually my first attempt at carving a panel
like this. If I had screwed it up I would have put something else there :-)

Below are the pegs that I used to hold the hinges and the lid together. I used
the same method a couple of years ago to hold the head on a mallet I made. I
always call it a blind wedge tenon, but then I heard it called a foxed tenon on
this website. How it works is the wedge hits the bottom of the hole and as you
beat in the peg the wedge will expand the end of the peg wedging it into the hole.
It holds so well that the only way I have found to remove them is to drill them
out.

The following two pictures show the hinge blocks pinned in. The hinge blocks are
made from swiss pear and are mortised into the lid for strength.

The following picture shows the first three pegs installed.

The lid completed with all 12 pegs in place.

The completed lid.

The next two pictures show the hinge assembly. These pins will be cut flush and
captivated permanently once the sides are pinned in place.

This picture shows the rounded edges which allow the lid to pivot. Note that
hinge blocks are rounded also.

Now to the sides. This method of pinning I have never seen used before. (if
someone knows what it’s called please let me know). This method kills two birds
with one stone. First the pins are installed at an angle. This will prevent
either side from coming loose. They can’t be pulled apart without drilling (I
know because I forgot to put the hinge pins in before I put the sides together).
The second thing will keep the pins themselves in place. The holes intersect
each other about 1/64". This means that once the first pin is in place it
partially blocks the hole for the pin coming in the other direction. This puts
tension on both pins preventing them from coming out.

This shows the over lapping holes.

The completed box with no finish.

A couple more angles of the completed box

This ended up being a pretty quick project. A couple of days to think about it.
Two days for the carving. Two days to build it, and another two to finish it
with my favorite water based dye and oil based poly. This one definitely made me
think out of the "box".

If for some reason you can’t see the pictures properly that can see them here:
http://www.arealnice.com/box/

The following shows some of my favorite joints. They are made from mahogany, maple
and swiss pear for the ‘keys’. They were vary hard to make this small and are much easier
to make larger.

Here is the collection

The first is my all time favorite joint. I am showing many views of it because it is hard to grasp
from a single photo. This is basically a decorative joint for columns since it is not keyed.

These joints are for joining peices end to end and are very nice joints.
This one is like a standard saddle joint but with keys instead of glue to hold it together.
The advantage it that you can take it apart if needed.

This is a scarf joint with two keys. This joint must be slid together sideways to be assembled.

This is another scarf joint but has the advantage of being assembled any way. A single key holds
everything in place.

These are truly beautiful joints, and I hope that you enjoy them as much as I did making them.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX

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