| Project by Don | posted 368 days ago | 1063 views | 3 times favorited | 33 comments | ![]() |
Last week my dear wife told me in no uncertain terms that since I love small wooden boxes so much, it only made sense to give a box as a wedding gift to friends who are getting married.
Well, I was in no mood to argue, but I really didn’t want to interrupt my creative justices on this box, and a couple of times I went into my shop with every intention to start a new box but ended up tinkering with the one that was already in process.
So yesterday, I finally got off my duff and started the wedding gift. I am using Australian Blackbutt as the primary wood. I’ve used it before and wrote about the wood here. This is wood left over from that project.
The design is quite simple. The box walls are 1/2” thick Blackbutt, and the top and bottom is 3/8” Huon Pine. The dimensions are 10.5” x 6.5” x 4.25”. The lid is hinges with wedged dowels, and the bottom of the box floats in a rebate held in place by bamboo strung from front to back on both ends of the box. This idea is a continuation of the wedges used in my Joinery Comp entry. This joinery method will allow the solid bottom piece to expand up to 1mm in both directions.

I used Dovetail joints for the box, but did not concern myself with the knots and pitch holes that interfered with the dovetails. I had to cut the top row of dovetails off as they crumbled when being cut through some wood that lacked integrity.
-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/
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33 comments so far
Rob
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88 posts in 372 days
posted 368 days ago
Don, that is a spectacular box and what I aspire to.
Blackbutt is such a beautiful timber, it reminds me of English Yew to an extent. (Should we tell these Jocks that we use it for flooring here?)
-- http://www.damnfinefurniture.com
Lee A. Jesberger
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2579 posts in 422 days
posted 368 days ago
Hey Don;
I like how you have the bottom! Great idea.
You can add to your quote:
“and large wooden toothpicks. LOL
Very nice work Don.
Lee
-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com
Don
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2586 posts in 619 days
posted 368 days ago
Close, Lee; they are meet skewers.
-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/
Robb
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309 posts in 377 days
posted 368 days ago
Beautiful box, Don! The knotty exterior might give the casual observer the idea that the box is simple, but it has your usual intricacy and thoughtfulness in the details. Great work!
-- Robb
TonyWard
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162 posts in 771 days
posted 368 days ago
Don I love small wooden boxes, I think you should get off your butt more often as that is a nice box, a gift that will be treasured ~ well done grandfather !!!
t.w.
-- Bandsaw Box Plans
MsDebbieP
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11555 posts in 603 days
posted 368 days ago
and the “lid opener” very unique. What a beautiful gift.
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
snowdog
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584 posts in 425 days
posted 368 days ago
Well done, it looks great. And your photography skill are not missed either.
Did you cut the dove tails by hand?
”..might give the casual observer the idea that the box is simple..” being new to the finer side of this wood cutting thing, I am finding that nothing is as simple as it looks.
-- "so much to learn and so little time"..
Thos. Angle
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3243 posts in 405 days
posted 368 days ago
Gosh, Don., I wish I was getting married again just so I could have one of your neat boxes. That is a dandy!
-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon
Buckskin
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487 posts in 430 days
posted 368 days ago
Very nice box.
TomFran
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2340 posts in 437 days
posted 368 days ago
Don,
Don’t ask me why, but I suspected that you might make a box to give as a wedding gift.
Beautiful work and wood!
-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28
Karson
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12617 posts in 843 days
posted 368 days ago
Great Box Don. You wrote about dovetails but these joints look like box joints.
Did you replace the one with the other?
Very unique bottom attachments
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
Obi
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2147 posts in 680 days
posted 368 days ago
I love looking at your boxes. Each one is so unique. And each one has little things in it that make me look at as much detail as I can get in the pictures you submit. The skewers, the knots, the handles… I’m sure glad I stumbled in here when i did, because, there is no way I could look at all of these pictures now that there are almost 2500 projects at an average of 3 pictures per entry, that’s 7500 pictures I’d have to look at and then there would be no time to play in the shop.
Thanks for the privelage.
-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/
VTWoody
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95 posts in 500 days
posted 368 days ago
I love the handle or knob or whatever it is that you would like to call it. Very inventive.
Gary
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301 posts in 767 days
posted 368 days ago
Don,
That’s a lovely box. The DTs look suspiciously like box joints though.
Really pretty work. I should make a few more boxes but the LOML gets on me more for boxes than pens.
;p
Gary
Branden
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315 posts in 578 days
posted 368 days ago
Love the handle! This is a true artistan’s box!
-- Branden - Sacramento, California - www.ShopDogUSA.com
jockmike2
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4011 posts in 689 days
posted 368 days ago
Hi Don, Did you use a natural knothole as a place to set your top handle in place. It just looked that way to me. I agree about the box joints, sorry. But who cares its a beautiful box and much better than anything I could make. Love ya guy, mike
-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com
Bob Babcock
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1811 posts in 529 days
posted 368 days ago
Great box Don…as usual. I feel Obi’s pain….having a real hard time keeping up with all the posts these days.
-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org
cajunpen
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5352 posts in 508 days
posted 368 days ago
Don your boxes serve as an inspiration to me (and I’m sure many others). When I start a project now, I tend to think about your work and it inspires me to put in a little extra thought and effort. I’ve always been one of those woodworkers that want to start a project and knock it out. As a result, most of my projects look like I just “knocked them out”. Since I found the LJs\forum I’ve learned to slow down, and take more pride in my projects, as a result my projects are beginning to look like someone put a little effort in them and I have more pride in displaying the project. For that Don, I thank you, and so many other Artisans on this forum
-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/
jembo
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104 posts in 456 days
posted 368 days ago
Beautiful work don, love the lever-handle, reminds me of some krenov pieces or pieces produced by students of Krenov or the college of the red woods.
I work as a chef and have used meat skewers to secure joints and to hide drill holes, my local DIY deos’nt have dowel rods that small..but my kitchens do.
-- James - Geneva, Switzerland
Max
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5428 posts in 716 days
posted 368 days ago
This is a very nice box. I really like the way you have done the lid. I have never seen anything quite like that. Really like the combination of wood also….
-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT
dennis mitchell
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2913 posts in 757 days
posted 368 days ago
Beautiful
-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com
DAN
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2845 posts in 425 days
posted 368 days ago
Great box. Beautiful work ! very creative handle design … the way it contects with the knot in the face board
think I’ll take a break from the living room and go-make-a-box !!
-- ..... art for lifes sake
Don
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2586 posts in 619 days
posted 368 days ago
Quote Dick: ”You wrote about dovetails but these joints look like box joints. Did you replace the one with the other?”
Dick, Mike & Gary, no, they are dovetail joints done on my Incra Jig.
Quote jockmike2: ”Did you use a natural knothole as a place to set your top handle in place?”
Well spotted, Mike. Yes, the knot was particularly loose, so I knew it would have to go. At first I was going to trim the whole box down, but I decided this was a better option.
**
Thanks for the very supportive and encouraging comments everyone. They are very humbling.
-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/
jockmike2
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4011 posts in 689 days
posted 368 days ago
Nice dovetails Don, mmmmmmmmmmmm this crow is good, what about the top, was I right about there being a knot there? mike
-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com
Don
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2586 posts in 619 days
posted 368 days ago
Hey, Mike, read immediately above your last post.
-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/
CharlieM1958
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3967 posts in 661 days
posted 367 days ago
You are the box-god, Don! Always beautiful and creative work. Thanks for inspiring me.
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
Danette Smith
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81 posts in 722 days
posted 363 days ago
Oh how I would have loved to burn something on the top of that box!! I love it! Dannie
-- Dangee's Pyrography by Artist Danette Smith
schroeder
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462 posts in 568 days
posted 361 days ago
I just found this box Don, I don’t know how I missed it! – You do such nice work Don! I hope the happy couple understands what it means to get a box from you!
-- The Gnarly Wood Shoppe
scottb
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2855 posts in 770 days
posted 361 days ago
another beauty Don…
Nice to see some more blackbutt from down under ;)
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh
RobS
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1073 posts in 749 days
posted 359 days ago
Careful there Scott, that sounds like something from one of your t-shirts….
-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX
mot
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4837 posts in 479 days
posted 359 days ago
Don, posting a small box? I can’t believe it! Great box!
-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)
YorkshireStewart
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624 posts in 344 days
posted 341 days ago
I’m only just beginning to work through these thousands of projects and am drawn to boxes. This is very much the style I often find myself aiming for all these miles away. Thoie dovetails look so tight and right despite the crumbly nature of the wood. Perfect!
-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business.
trifern
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3252 posts in 210 days
posted 75 days ago
I love your lid design.
-- Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit.