Project Information
This is my entry for the single, multi-purposed 2×4 contest. This box is constructed from one construction grade 2×4x8' SPF (Southern Pine Fir) that was on sale for $1.97 at our local big box lumber yard. There were several funny things about the 2×4. First, it wasn't straight. It had about a 1" gradual bow over its entire length and had been passed up many times as others had picked through the lumber pile. Despite the bow it was nearly perfect. It only had one little knot, which was soild and tight, plus it was this creamy white color, not the typical yellow hue. I took it home and started on the plans. I had this concept in mind for a while, but for a much larger piece of furniture so I had to scale the idea way down. Once I had figured the overall shape/size, I then worked out a cutting diagram for the 2×4 to see if I could really get all the parts. It turned out short, so I had to scale my concept down even further. I ended up rescaling the whole idea once again when I found out my 2×4 which should have been 1-1/2" x 3-1/2" was really 1/8" less than that in each dimension. Once I knew I could make it work then I started cutting/resawing/planing/sanding to get the basic parts. The legs are a tapered bent lamination consisting of 4 layers that taper from just strong of 3/16 to 1/8" over thier length. I accomplished the taper by using my 16" disc sander and a fence I constructed. I made two bending/clamping forms from MDF and lined them with cork. I used plastic resin glue to adhere the lamination layers. The sides of the case are glued up panels that were resawn and bookmatched and are approx 3/8" thick. The back panel is bookmatched also, but is only approx 3/16" thick. The base and top are roughly 3/8" thick. and were glued up bookmatches as well. The door rails and stiles are 1" wide and just under 1/2" thick. The door panel is just strong of 1/8" thick and was bookmatched as well and is captured into the door rails/stiles by a 1/8" wide by 3/8" deep dado. The flairs on the top were shaped using a small panel raising bit in a router table. The flairs and the main part of the top were joined with a 1/8" spline, 1/4" wide cut from some thin strips left over during resawing. The sides of the flairs taper at 20+ degrees to continue the flow of the legs. The strecthers between the legs are 3/8" thick and roughly 1/2" wide. The legs and the door panel were colored using a combination of blonde shellac tinted with TransTint Bordeaux color. I wanted to mimic the deep red color of Bloodwood. The entire case was then sprayed with several coats of Watco gloss laquer. All that was left over from the 2×4 is a single little 1"x1" square about 1/16" thick along with a bunch of planer shavings and sawdust. I ended up working in millimeters most of the project due to the size and thickness of the joints. The overall size of the box is 17-3/4" tall by 15" wide x 8" deep. This was a fun project that really kept me on my toes since there was no room to make a mistake or make test pieces to cut.