Box

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Monty

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Monty
IMG_0326.jpg


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I had no plans at all for this - just made it up as I went along. This is made from the same test piece you saw in my "two words" thread. The panel in the lid is a piece of leftover plywood from my shop cabinets. I didn't bother with any hardware - I just made a little liner for the top which extends out to form a snug fit. This will make a nice gift for my 6 year old daughter to play with.



Don't let the pictures fool you, folks. This little box has more mistakes per square inch than the United States Congress! ;-) :lol:
 

DaveO

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DaveO
Looks great to me. If you hadn't told that the top was plywood I would have thought otherwise. Great job:eusa_clap , your daughter is lucky to have it to "play with". I am not one to throw stones in any way, but I feel a part of the purpose of forums like this are to provide constructive criticism so we all can do finer work. IMHO, I would have made the bottom deeper or the top more shallow. Maybe half pins on the top. Please don't gump me.:eusa_pray :eusa_pray :eusa_pray The box looks really good and I would be just as proud, if I had made it myself. But that just jumped out at me. BTW that walnut is beautiful, need some cherry???? Dave:)
 

Monty

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Monty
I agree with you.

Some of the major problems:

1. Proportion (like you pointed out above) - I would have made the bottom 1-2 pins deeper, had I planned ahead.
2. The bottom part of the "box" is glued to the base upside down - didn't notice until the clamps were already on... this resulted in two facing pins on the same side on the top and the bottom. If you look carefully at the pattern of the box joints, you'll see what I mean.
3. My crappy ROS rounded over the edges of the sides of the box. Or maybe it was me... :roll:


There are other problems, but it's too painful for me right now...
 
R

rickc

As I started out in woodworking, my Dad pointed out that in many cases the woodworker is harder on themselves because they know the flaws, but to the viewer, the project looks fine.

Coluld you have done better, probably, worse, definitely. :roll: Did you enjoy what you were doing, and did you learn anything? Sounds like it. I had a friend in high school who can't hit the broad side of the barn with a hammer. Yet you were able to put together a workable box "on the fly"!

I think your niece will have a lot of fun with it, and come up with more uses for it than your count of mistakes per inch! Keep learning and enjoy your hobby.
 

Big Mike

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Mike
That is a very nice looking little box.

I have a couple of suggestions...From the pictures it is hard to tell if the lid section and the bottom section were made from the same piece of wood. If they were disregard this comment. When I make boxes like that I make the box carcass out of one piece of wood and then saw the box in two so that I have a grain match running around the box and also from top to bottom. (Oops, just re-read your post and see what happened, with the bottom glued on the base upside down....) Never mind...I have done that myself....Don't you just hate it when that happens...

Secondly, I like to put my retaining strips, box liners on the base section as opposed to the lid section. Putting them on the bottom extends the useful depth of the box while putting them on the top can "pinch" items when closing if folks aren't careful.

Again, I think you have a very fine looking box and your box joints look great, your finish looks great and the lid panel is very nice even if it is just a piece of plywood.. Great job! Make some more!!!!!
 
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Monty

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Monty
Big Mike said:
I like to put my retaining strips, box liners on the base section as opposed to the lid section. Putting them on the bottom extends the useful depth of the box while putting them on the top can "pinch" items when closing if folks aren't careful.
That's a great point - thanks for pointing that out, now I've learned something else! This truly was put together using scraps plucked from the depths of the scrap bin. It just happens that the piece I took out was just wide enough to line the top, not the bottom. That's why I put it in the top! :eusa_doh:

It's funny - I didn't put much thought into this fugly little box (as is readily apparent), but I ended up learning a LOT more than I thought I would in the process. I think I'll call this one my "prototype"! :lol:
 

DaveO

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DaveO
Insomniac, I often make my retainer strips that don't line the entire box wall. This is very effective if done with a contrasting wood, plus you don't need to find the exact sized scrap. Dave:)

Avainjammies006.jpg
 

Jay

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Jay
Insmoniac, just a newbie here but the box is great. You hid the mistakes well. Thanks for posting as I have learned some things from the comments.
 
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