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by: Don Kondra
all photos: Roger Yip
all illustrations: Len Churchill |
GREAT GIFTS UNDER $20 - Cherry Covered Chocolate |
| Be
it jewels or jujubes, this elegant box is sure to please |
The design
for this box was inspired by Japanese food containers and those
old fashioned sliding-top pencil boxes. The resawn sides result
in continuous grain all the way around the box, so choose your
wood carefully with an eye for some interesting grain. Go ahead
and change the dimensions of the box if you want, just make
sure the blank is as long as the total length of one side and
one front.
 |
| Bookmatched
cherry and a dyed handle are striking details on
this classically simple box |
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Start
with a piece of 8/4 material (in my case cherry) and resaw it
into three equal thicknesses. Edge joint and surface plane.
Cut the blank for the box top now, before ripping the balance
of material to width. Mill the groove that holds the bottom
panel before cutting the sides to length.
Because the sides are small, I
cut them to length using a bandsaw and milled the mitres on
my disc sander. This method eliminates the danger of working
with small pieces on a tablesaw and results in less waste material—the
less material you remove the better the grain match will be.
 A
good trick for ensuring gap-free mitres is to make sure opposite
sides are exactly the same length. After cutting and sanding
the parts, stand them up on a flat surface with their outside
faces together. In this position it will be easy to see if they
are the same length and that the combined angle of the mitred
ends is a perfect 90º.
For the bottom panel, I veneered
curly cherry to 1/4" MDF but you could use store-bought
ply or even adhere some decorative rice paper in keeping with
the Asian-inspired design.
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| CLICK
ABOVE TO ENLARGE |
|
To
assemble the box, lay the sides in line on a flat surface, inside-down,
and apply three pieces of masking tape to the outside of each
joint. Carefully bring the sides together in a dry run to make
sure everything fits properly. Flip the taped-together assembly
so the interior is facing up and use a small brush to apply
glue to both sides of the joint. This is an unsupported joint
so make sure it is well glued but without messy squeeze-out.
The masking tape will stop the glue from squeezing onto the
outside of the joints; only apply glue to within an 1/8"
of the inside. Let the glue dry overnight before finish sanding
the outside.
Cut the top to size then mill
the rabbet with a tablesaw spinning a dado blade—the depth
of the cut is half the thickness of the top, which reduces the
visual mass of the top.
| You
Will Need |
| Part |
Size |
Qty |
| Top |
1/2"
x 3 1/4" x 10 1/4" |
1 |
| Long
sides |
1/2"
x 2" x 10 3/4" |
2 |
| Short
sides |
1/2"
x 2" x 3 3/4" |
2 |
| Bottom |
1/4"
x 3 1/4" x 10 1/4" |
1 |
| Handle |
1/4"
x 5/8" x 3" |
1 |
|
The
final piece of the box is the handle. Start by drilling a flat-bottomed
hole three-quarters of the way through the top with a 1 3/8"-dia.
Forstner bit. Then rout the groove for the handle centred on
the hole. Cut the handle now and notch each end to hide the
rounded groove. I dyed the handle black to simulate ebony using
aniline dye. As an alternative you could use alcohol-based non
grain raising (NGR) stain. Once the dyed handle is dry, fit
and hold it in place with a dab of glue. If you used cherry
for the body of the box, place it in the sunlight for a few
days. The exposure to sunlight will considerably speed up the
cherry’s natural tendency to darken. Finish the box with
three coats of tung oil.
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|
Napkin Holder |
| At
home inside or out, this Baltic birch beauty has perfect table
manners |
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| Use
up some shop scraps and build this sturdy napkin
holder |
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Set at the
table’s centre, this napkin holder houses enough paper
napkins to satisfy even the messiest holiday diner’s requirements.
An added feature of this project, and one that is not readily
apparent, is that it can be used as a serving dish or bread
basket: simply drape an unfolded napkin over the empty holder
and tuck it into the gaps at each corner. I used 1/2" Baltic
birch plywood for my project, which works well for a painted
finish, but the design lends itself to using any scraps or offcuts
you may have lying around the shop, even medium-density fiberboard
(MDF) works great as long as it’s painted.
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| CLICK
ABOVE TO ENLARGE |
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Begin
the construction of the napkin holder by cutting the four sides
to shape: make a template and trace the shape onto each side
and mark the finger hole centres. Drill the holes first, then
cut the contoured top edge using a bandsaw or jigsaw. Sand the
edges smooth before assembly. Here’s a tip if you don’t
have an oscillating spindle sander or sanding drum and drill
press to smooth the curved edges. Clamp a hand-held belt sander
to your workbench on its side, with a thin spacer underneath
so the belt doesn’t mar the surface. You’ll find the
front wheel very useful for smoothing inside curves and the
flat area great for outside curves.
Next,
cut the base to size and attach solid wood base trim to all
the exposed edges with glue, mitring each corner to fit. After
this has dried, sand everything smooth and use a router fitted
with a 3/16"-dia. bit to shape the base edge.
| You
Will Need |
| Part |
Material |
Size |
Qty |
| Sides |
Baltic
birch |
1/2"
x 3 3/4" x 6 5/8" |
4 |
| Base |
Baltic
birch |
1/2"
x 7 3/4" x 7 3/4" |
1 |
| Base
trim |
solid
stock |
3/8"
x 1/2" x 8 1/2" |
4 |
| Feet |
hardwood |
3/4"
axle caps |
4 |
|
Attach
the sides to the base using two screws in each, driven from
the underside. This works best if you drive the screws into
predrilled holes so the points extend just above the base. This
stops the sides from sliding during assembly.
Depending
on the final finish you choose, apply it now, or before the
pieces are assembled. To duplicate the finish I used for my
project, apply a wash coat of two parts white latex paint to
one part water to all surfaces. When the wash coat has dried,
sand the parts to flatten raised grain them apply another wash
coat. Finally, with a small detail brush paint the inside of
finger holes and the routed base edge.
To complete the project, attach
the four feet to the bottom.
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|
And In This Corner... |
| Easy-to-build
classic trinket shelf |
 |
| An
ideal place for displaying keepsakes |
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Start by
making a full-size template for the sides and transferring the
outline onto the pine blanks. Note that one side is 3/4"
narrower so that the sides of the shelf will be equal when joined
together. Cut the sides out using a bandsaw or jigsaw and sand
the edges smooth. Join the sides together using glue and four
countersunk 1 1/4" screws. To make the shelves, glue up
narrower stock to make up the 9" and 11" widths. Lay
out the arcs that define the shelf fronts using a compass. Cut
shelves to shape, notch the back edges where the shelves meet
the sides and ease the curved fronts using a router equipped
with a 3/16"-dia. roundover bit. Sand all the pieces now
before the final assembly. To complete the construction, attach
the shelves with screws driven through the back of the sides.
Finish the shelf as you like. For a natural look (like the shelf
in the photograph) apply three coats of satin polyurethane. |
| You
Will Need |
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| CLICK
ABOVE TO ENLARGE |
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| Part |
Size |
Qty. |
| Back
left |
3/4"
x 7 1/4" x 21 1/4" |
1 |
| Back
right |
3/4"
x 6 1/2" x 21 1/4" |
1 |
| Top
shelf |
3/4"
x 11" x 16" |
1 |
| Bottom
shelf |
3/4"
x 9" x 13" |
1 |
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