# Secret Compartment Toy Box



## jmaitland (Aug 22, 2009)

*Secret Compartment Toy Box*

This project is definitely my most ambitious to date.

How complicated can it be right? I'm sure for some of you experts out there, the answer would be "not very". But for me, this project represents the largest scale project as well as the first that I have had to engineer important aspects entirely on my own.

Here's what I'm doing:

I have a nephew who is turning 1 and as a special gift I decided I wanted to make him a "toy" box. I use the "s because while yes, it's a toy box, I think that the real intention is for him to be able to keep the box for a long time and hopefully pass it on to his own son. If it lasts that long… ; )

The thing is, I wanted it to be more than a toy box… so I decided that I would build into this thing a secret compartment that I could make into not only a time capsule from this, his first year of life, but that it would be something that will be a secret that can be between him and I. Plus, when I was a kid if my uncle had built me a secret compartment box, I'd have thought that was pretty kick ass.

So the problem was that I did a lot of searches on the net to try and find outright plans for a box with a secret compartment and came up with none.

Well, I came up with my own and I think it's pretty neat… but more on what exactly I am doing in the next post.


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## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

jmaitland said:


> *Secret Compartment Toy Box*
> 
> This project is definitely my most ambitious to date.
> 
> ...


I'm intrigued. It sounds like you already have a plan, but what about a shallow false bottom that can only be accessed from underneath? Rare earth magnets holding it in place in the corners, and a stronger magnet in the middle on the inside would require a "key" to open. If fitted properly, it would be invisible. Who would hold a piece of metal to the bottom of a toy box? Honestly…

I suggest this because one of the funniest things I've ever seen is someone who put a 50# magnet under the lid of a dock box and asked passersby on the dock to hand them the wrench on top. The sailor's equivalent of liquid nailing a quarter to the sidewalk and watching people try to pick it up.


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

jmaitland said:


> *Secret Compartment Toy Box*
> 
> This project is definitely my most ambitious to date.
> 
> ...


John, this sounds interesting. A "hidden" storage area is concept that I think most of us embrace at some point in our lives. At 1 I am sure it will be a novelty for him. I just wonder what he will be "hiding" in it when he is a teenager.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

jmaitland said:


> *Secret Compartment Toy Box*
> 
> This project is definitely my most ambitious to date.
> 
> ...


Sounds great. All kids like to have a secret place, where they can hide their most favorite treasures, and even their playboys from Mom.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

jmaitland said:


> *Secret Compartment Toy Box*
> 
> This project is definitely my most ambitious to date.
> 
> ...


Unique idea


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

jmaitland said:


> *Secret Compartment Toy Box*
> 
> This project is definitely my most ambitious to date.
> 
> ...


this is wonderful…. and you can leave something special inside it for the first time he opens the secret compartment….


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## jmaitland (Aug 22, 2009)

*Secret Compartment Toy Box Continued...*

First, thanks for all the great comments so far! I've only been here for a few hours and I already feel like I found the best place to explore woodworking. : )

So in my planning I figured that I would build a toy box and hide the secret compartment into the frame/trim area in the bottom. I would attach a drawer to one of the sides of the trim which would act as the drawer front.

The biggest issue I had with my planning was how to lock the thing. I thought of a few different designs but ended up settling on two locking pins that would look like decorative knobs (two of which would be pins and the other six around the box actually being decorative). To make sure that they would be able to move freely but not get dislodged when the box is moved around, I am using magnets to keep the pins in place when they are locked into the drawer and to make sure that the pins themselves can not be removed and therefore lost, I am making the pins out of three different sizes of dowel.










To start, the entire project is being made with pine. This was a cost factor more than anything. If I had my choice, I probably would have gone with maple…

I started out making the basics for the frame for the bottom of the box and the secret compartment itself.










Then I cut the supports that would also act as the pin guides for the end that would have the locking pins.
I cut the parts for the drawer and started to mock up the drawer as well as cut the guides and holes for the pin locking system.









The pin goes through the outer part of the frame and into the side of the drawer to lock it. When pulled back, the larger part of the pin hides in the support / guide and allows the drawer to move freely.










I used the router with an ogee bit to put a nice edge on the top of the boards for the frame before I stained them. I used a dark walnut coloured stain that will match the other accents and the other little added touch I'm putting on the box (more on that later).










Then glued up the frame / compartment (of course, leaving one side not glued since it will act as the front to the secret drawer! ; )










I glued up the drawer as well and now that the frame and compartment area was assembled, I started working on the true measurements and construction for the actual box that would be in the frame.

I cut the pieces for the box itself and then using a cutting board I had in the house that had a perfect sized handle, used the router with a flushcutting bearing bit (sorry if I called it something wrong) I duplicated this handle into the sides of the box and then used a 1/4" roundover bit to relieve the edges of the handles.

I went with these handles since for toy boxes they generally recommend that there be some airflow in the event a child gets stuck in the box. These handles cut through the sides will provide adequate airflow in such an event. (I had originally picked out some really nice hardware for the handles… but safety first!)

Then I glued up the box started drilling countersunk holes (three per side) to add screws. Will be finishing them off with plugs stained to match the accent stain.










I then did a dry fit test to make sure that box actually fit inside the frame and that the secret drawer would still slide with the box in the frame (so that I'd left enough room from the supports)... Fit perfectly!










Now, at this point you might be seeing the problem that I figured out I now have.
I wanted to be able to either nail or screw from the side of the frame into the actual box but because of the ogee edge that I put on the frame and the depth that the box sits inside I can't really do that very easily. I know there are some ways I could, but I've decided that I don't want to risk it.

SO… I decided that the supports that I have (there are more than just the four corners that you've seen so far) that will be attached securely to the frame and that gluing those supports to the box should be enough. First, the box won't be carried very often and when it is, the bulk of the weight will be in the box itself and not the frame. Second, I did some test glueups with scrap pieces of the same wood and applied a LOT of pull pressure to the pieces. The wood broke before the glue joint did. Then I glued where it broke and same thing happened. With the amount of surface gluing area I will have and the strength of the glue through my tests it should be fine.

Well, this has been quite a post and I actually have to finish this project still… so I'll have to post more on this project in my next posting!

Thanks for reading!
John


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

jmaitland said:


> *Secret Compartment Toy Box Continued...*
> 
> First, thanks for all the great comments so far! I've only been here for a few hours and I already feel like I found the best place to explore woodworking. : )
> 
> ...


Pretty tricky nice progress. thanks for sharing


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## jmaitland (Aug 22, 2009)

*More Progress*

Time to make the lid.

Easy enough, I made it overlap about a half inch on each side (mostly dictated based on the size of the project panels that I used) and 1.5" on the front for the lifting of the lid.

I should comment here on the project panels issue. I bought the standard project pine panels for this project at Home Depot and I felt a bit guilty about it. I told my fiancee when I bought them that I felt like I was "cheating" and that buying the pre assembled panels like that made me feel like I couldn't really say I built the whole thing. She convinced me that I was being a bit ridiculous (even though I explained that it was another chance for me to use my biscuit joiner) and that given the time frame that I had to make this project that I shouldn't be such a stickler.

So that's why I used them…










So after I cut the supports for the top I decided to taper them on the end so I taped them together with some painters tape and put them through the table saw at a 45degree so that they would both be exactly the same.










I used the same router bit that I'd used on the trim (luckily the table was still setup exactly the same so I knew it would match) to put a finished edge on the lid.

Now it was time to move on to the real pain in the butt… the locking pins. The idea was that I would use three different size of dowel so that the fact it was a hidden pin would be concealed on the outside and also so that the pin could not be removed so that it could not be lost.










So that is what I ended up with. It was difficult to line them up and thankfully the drill press made it a bit easier. I didn't want to rely solely on glue for these pins so I made sure that I put a #6 screw through the center.










The screw went in from the large or "inside the box" side and the countersink was the perfect size for the rare earth magnet that I installed inside using the attraction to the screw as well as some gorilla CA glue. The idea is that the magnet would attract itself to the metal plates inside of the drawer so that the pins would stay nice and tight when locked.


















So that is how the locking portion of the drawer looked with the hole that will allow the locking pin to lock it in place with the magnet attracting to the metal plate on the inside of the drawer.


















So here is the overview of how it all fits together. If you look close you can see the dowel locking the drawer when the pin is in place.

Now, enough of the technical stuff. I decided that as a decoaration for the box that I would try my hand for the first time at intarsia. I had picked up a great pattern from Scrollsaw Magazine by Paul Meisel for an eagle intarsia that was supposed to be for a keepsake box but I figured I could use for the front of my toy box. To see the plan you can view it here.










Here's what it looked like after I stained and assembled the pieces that I'd shaped and sanded after I cut them out with my dremel scrollsaw. I burned the eye in (after practicing on another scrap of wood of course!) and it was ready for gluing on to the box.

So, I stained the lid and the plugs for the screws and with that I was just about ready for my finaly assembly.

put the drawer into position with the pins locked and then lined up the piece of trim that formed the front of the drawer. I then drilled the holes that would be used to attach the other pieces of dowel that would be the "decorative" knobs around the trim / base (otherwise, why are those knobs there for the pins right?) and once that was attached, I was ready to assemble the box to the base.

So, I glued the box to the base and then I got it ready for finishing. 
Here's what it looked like when the box inspector (my doberman Max who wasn't happy about wearing his cone but he's been scratching too much and that's a completely different story!) came by to check things out.










The next entry will be the finished project (the 2nd coat of polyurethane is drying as I type this) and will have the eagle attached.

But here is how the drawer worked out after assembly


















Thanks for reading!

John


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

jmaitland said:


> *More Progress*
> 
> Time to make the lid.
> 
> ...


Super cool chest thanks for sharing


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## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

jmaitland said:


> *More Progress*
> 
> Time to make the lid.
> 
> ...


Looks like the Dobie got put into the "cone of silence" for spying on your secret compartment toy box…


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## Dr_Unix (Feb 12, 2007)

jmaitland said:


> *More Progress*
> 
> Time to make the lid.
> 
> ...


Very clever!

Though, it's not a secret any longer.


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## ChrisN (Jan 26, 2008)

jmaitland said:


> *More Progress*
> 
> Time to make the lid.
> 
> ...


Very Cool. Great box even without the secret!


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

jmaitland said:


> *More Progress*
> 
> Time to make the lid.
> 
> ...


the secret is still secret ,
i haven't told a soul , lll scouts honor .

he's going to love it ,

i wonder how many friends 
he wont show it to ?


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## Innovator (Jan 20, 2009)

jmaitland said:


> *More Progress*
> 
> Time to make the lid.
> 
> ...


Nice pictorial of your progress. Looks great.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

jmaitland said:


> *More Progress*
> 
> Time to make the lid.
> 
> ...


excellent
and I know what you mean about the cheating part-as soon as Rick helps me with something it is no longer an "I made it myself" project.

Secret drawer? What secret drawer?? I didn't see any secret drawer… Nope. Not me… uh uh.


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## jmaitland (Aug 22, 2009)

jmaitland said:


> *More Progress*
> 
> Time to make the lid.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the comments everyone. I know that whether it's woodworking or photography (my other expensive hobby) I always enjoy seeing the "behind the scenes" or "how I did it" pictures etc… since I find they really help not only to help me understand how it was done but often inspires my own ideas from what I read.

So I figured I'd best do the same thing!


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## JamesAZ (Jan 3, 2012)

jmaitland said:


> *More Progress*
> 
> Time to make the lid.
> 
> ...


I viewed this post over a year ago; I still don't get tired of going through it…
When I finish my Grandson's Toy Box I'll make sure I print a copy of this article for his secret compartment…
Not the same design but none the less, very exciting…
Thanks for inspiring so many… James
Maybe I'll take a few picture to post…


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