Baby Sorting Box

When I saw this winter’s contest rules I was excited, since I was already planning on making one of these for my niece. If you never had one of these when you were growing up, it is a sorting box for learning shapes and colors. Though most are made of cheap plastic, that I’m sure was made in china, and I am not having my niece chewing on that.

Now down to the actual project specs… The box is walnut and maple, and the blocks are maple as well. The original plan was to attempt to make something that had hand cut-half blind dovetails, since I had never tempted them before and figured that this was a great opportunity. A couple weeks ago I picked up a new dovetail saw at woodcraft and away I went. For my first time with dovetails, I feel that they went fairly well.

The inlay is a purple heart inlay spelling out her name. The bottom hinges on a set of dowels and is held shut by rare earth magnets.

It should be very kid safe- The blocks are 2 inches which is to large for me to swallow (yes, i tried). I sanded it down to 800 grit and used a child safe shellac.

-- -Joshuah