Project Information
With the new "Little Ripper" in our shop, we wanted to give it a try on some firewood that we had.
History
Before we get into the project itself I would like to give a little history on the wood. Probably 20 years ago (when we were still heating our house with wood) we got this wood, Joe (my first husband) chopped it all up and we stored it in the basement.
Last spring, when we were planning on fixing up the basement and pouring a cement floor, we lugged all of the wood back out of the basement and stored it outside for future bonfires.
Yesterday, a piece of it made it back into the basement - and it won't be the last. No more bonfires for us! I have boxes to make.
The Box.
Since we had no clue what the Little Ripper would end up creating, as it was our first time trying it out, I had no idea what I was going to make with the pieces of wood other than it would, of couse, be a box.
It didn't take long for Rick to get the hang of the Ripper and before long I had half a dozen pieces of wood (approximately 3/8" thick; 14" long and 5" wide). I laid the beautiful pieces of wood out on my workbench and we just admired it. What to make? I don't know yet. It's still talking to me.
This morning I decided to grab a piece and just start cutting. I knew that "it" would come to me as I started working on it. Sure enough, the Wood Spirit came through loud and clear after I cut off 3 sides of a board. The last to be cut was the bark edge and the Wood Spirit said "no way". I knew then that the box would have the rough cut top edge and thus it would not have a lid.
As I looked at the beautiful lines and knots in the wood I knew where I couldn't cut it and the box took form - it was going to be about a foot long and that sounds like it would be the perfect size to hold ordinary sheets of paper.
I then sided the boards down, loving every moment of the process. It was then time to decide how I was going to put the edges together, and yes, it can't just be a plain joint.
I tried using my Dremel Router but it was going to just be too much work for it. I didn't want to burn it out, so I had Rick run his old router along two of the boards. (No Triton set up yet and no router table.) I really didn't want to mess this up, even though it was just scrap wood from the wood pile.
I then glued and clamped the edges and attached it to a base made from plywood. It is now officially our "Plans Box".
Wood: 20 year old Willow
Joints: Rabbit joints (is that what you call the "L" shaped joint??)
History
Before we get into the project itself I would like to give a little history on the wood. Probably 20 years ago (when we were still heating our house with wood) we got this wood, Joe (my first husband) chopped it all up and we stored it in the basement.
Last spring, when we were planning on fixing up the basement and pouring a cement floor, we lugged all of the wood back out of the basement and stored it outside for future bonfires.
Yesterday, a piece of it made it back into the basement - and it won't be the last. No more bonfires for us! I have boxes to make.
The Box.
Since we had no clue what the Little Ripper would end up creating, as it was our first time trying it out, I had no idea what I was going to make with the pieces of wood other than it would, of couse, be a box.
It didn't take long for Rick to get the hang of the Ripper and before long I had half a dozen pieces of wood (approximately 3/8" thick; 14" long and 5" wide). I laid the beautiful pieces of wood out on my workbench and we just admired it. What to make? I don't know yet. It's still talking to me.
This morning I decided to grab a piece and just start cutting. I knew that "it" would come to me as I started working on it. Sure enough, the Wood Spirit came through loud and clear after I cut off 3 sides of a board. The last to be cut was the bark edge and the Wood Spirit said "no way". I knew then that the box would have the rough cut top edge and thus it would not have a lid.
As I looked at the beautiful lines and knots in the wood I knew where I couldn't cut it and the box took form - it was going to be about a foot long and that sounds like it would be the perfect size to hold ordinary sheets of paper.
I then sided the boards down, loving every moment of the process. It was then time to decide how I was going to put the edges together, and yes, it can't just be a plain joint.
I tried using my Dremel Router but it was going to just be too much work for it. I didn't want to burn it out, so I had Rick run his old router along two of the boards. (No Triton set up yet and no router table.) I really didn't want to mess this up, even though it was just scrap wood from the wood pile.
I then glued and clamped the edges and attached it to a base made from plywood. It is now officially our "Plans Box".
Wood: 20 year old Willow
Joints: Rabbit joints (is that what you call the "L" shaped joint??)