Project Information
Well, it's finally finished…
It took me almost a month working a few nights a week and all day on one day each weekend but it's done and it worked great.
For those who didn't follow the blog entries I did about this project, the basic overview is that I wanted to make a toy box for my nephew for his first birthday but wanted it to be something that would hopefully be kept around a long time and that would be even more special as he got older.
So, I came up with the idea to build a secret compartment into the toybox because, quite frankly, when I was a kid I would have loved it if someone had made me something with a secret compartment in it!!
I also added some intarsia (my first attempt) from a plan I got from a scrollsaw magazine (that was my first try at intarsia and I really liked it. I am thinking about doing some more from this book soon as I get a chance) and the secret compartment was designed to be a drawer that would look like it was part of the bottom trim of the box.
I used dowel to make a locking pin system which from the outside looks like just one of the other decorative knobs around the base. The pins are held in place by magnets so that they don't just come loose or open and the pins are not removable so they can not be lost.
All in all, I was very happy with how it turned out and the finishing was a great experience too since it worked out better than any of my other projects. I used two coats of MinWax floor polyurethane and then wet sanded the last coat with 600 grade sandpaper.
So, the box with the secret compartment is also now acting as a time capsule. I will tell him about it in 9 years (when he's 10) and it has some magazines from this year, a letter with pictures of the construction of the box as well as another secret little gift for him.
Thanks for reading!!
It took me almost a month working a few nights a week and all day on one day each weekend but it's done and it worked great.
For those who didn't follow the blog entries I did about this project, the basic overview is that I wanted to make a toy box for my nephew for his first birthday but wanted it to be something that would hopefully be kept around a long time and that would be even more special as he got older.
So, I came up with the idea to build a secret compartment into the toybox because, quite frankly, when I was a kid I would have loved it if someone had made me something with a secret compartment in it!!
I also added some intarsia (my first attempt) from a plan I got from a scrollsaw magazine (that was my first try at intarsia and I really liked it. I am thinking about doing some more from this book soon as I get a chance) and the secret compartment was designed to be a drawer that would look like it was part of the bottom trim of the box.
I used dowel to make a locking pin system which from the outside looks like just one of the other decorative knobs around the base. The pins are held in place by magnets so that they don't just come loose or open and the pins are not removable so they can not be lost.
All in all, I was very happy with how it turned out and the finishing was a great experience too since it worked out better than any of my other projects. I used two coats of MinWax floor polyurethane and then wet sanded the last coat with 600 grade sandpaper.
So, the box with the secret compartment is also now acting as a time capsule. I will tell him about it in 9 years (when he's 10) and it has some magazines from this year, a letter with pictures of the construction of the box as well as another secret little gift for him.
Thanks for reading!!