Blanket Box construction Notes

Camphor Laurel Blanket Box

Construction Notes

Background:
The background of how this box came about is in two parts
Part 1 I made a box to store timber off cuts in originally back in January 2012 .
Part 2 It lived in my shop for about 9 months until my wife spotted it and decided it would be of better use as a blanket box, it was then in September 2012 I made the lid for it.

Preamble: I milled the timber from a friends place in Kyogle NSW Grant Mercer.
After seasoning I began dressing the timber and as a result made the lower section as a storage box.

The Lid:
I made the lid from three pieces of timber purchased from Lazy Larrys Workkshop in Aug 2012 when the request to was made to use the box in another role.

Materials:
The Lid:
For the lid I used 3×1200mm x 250mm x 35mm rough sawn timber.

The Box and Base:
For the box I used the camphor I milled which was now dressed to 140mm x 19mm.and in various lengths

For the base I used 2 x sections of 12mm ply.
It is in two sections simply because of the boxes primary intended role was just to store timber in.

Hinges:
I was originally going to use the Brass butlers tray hinges but opted for some concealed flap hinges due to my inability to perfect a method to mount the Butler hinges sucessfully.

Kreg Screws and Titebond III glue: The main construction is all Kreg screws however I used titebond III as well to attach the lid.

Off Cuts: As I cut the 4×1200mm lengths for the front and back The off cuts were then used on the stiles.

Dimensions:

The Lid: The Lid is 1290mm x 450mm x 28mm overall
The fixed section where the hinges are located is 95mm.
There is a 25mm overlap at the sides front and back. The front has a finger recess milled in which I used a cove bit to do.

The Box
Side panels: The side panels are 400mm wide and 500mm high.
The two rails are 400mm x 140 mm
The two stiles are 220mm x 140mm
Kreg screwed together

Front and rear Panels are both 1200×500mm
The two rails are 1200 mm x 140mm.
The three stiles are: two at 220mm x 140mm and one at 220mm x 110 mm for the center.
Again all Kreg screwed together

Panel Inserts.
The panel inserts are Aust hardwood originally rough sawn so I just thicknessed them and cut to suit the rebated sections. They were a press fit simply glued in position around the edges of the frame.

Pattern jigs
I made two jigs to do the patterns on the rails and stiles then used a router and cove bit to produce the result. I cannot tell you the dimensions of the jig as I threw it away thinking I would never need it again,
(this proved to be silly move as when I was making the lid nine months later I was going to replicate the pattern on the top as well)

Bottom plywood: 1 x overall dimensions of 1230mm x 380mm rebated into the bottom of the box.

Assembly:
The Box
You may notice the sides are attached to the edge of the fronts and backs. This is usually not done in this way. I cannot remember why I did it, however the internals were designed to hold plastic milk crates which it did.

Attaching the Lid

As the lid was fitted retrospectively I just clamped the insert from the kreg tool on the Rear side of the box walls and drilled it upside down.

Specific Tools:
1×10” table saw
1 x ½ Inch router
1 x Jointer
1 x Thicknesser
1 x Incra miter saw slide V120
1×25mm core box router bit for the finger grip in the lid.
1×8mm core box router bit for the patterns.
1 x rebate bit for the panel inserts
1 x Kreg tool
1 x box of 1 ¼ Kreg screws
1 x Titebond III glue
1 x clamping frame
A couple of kreg clamps