MY First Small Boxes.. which will be obvious

[John Thompson]

OK.. OK.. I almost didn't post these Ed Sallee inspired set of boxes which are my first attempt at small detail. I do ammo crates pretty well but without a clue other than a tip by my neighbor up the road (Ed Sallee) on pin placement. I was inspired from his boxes to attempt to build a box for my favorite niece Lydia who got shorted at Xmas with a wooden gift as the adult women in my wife's family got them from me.

So.. with scrap on hand I set out and decided to do one for my wife also as I know where this would lead. I wanted to "head em off at the pass" before I set up to do another from scratch. Years of marital experience has taught me a lot on how women think even though you will never figure that out for sure.

Lydia is 15.. loves to march to the beat of another drummer as she despises cliques at school. She likes everything modern from clothes to texting on the cell phone. She likes what she refers to as "funky" (?) and thought the piece of ambrosia maple I had sitting in my shop was "kewel". The light from different directions made it undulate like a wave she said. She is a straight A student and I was not so.. I guess she knows something I don't. ha.. ha...

Built with only the thought of modern and unusual as she likes to please "her"... I set out to attempt my first boxes and design and adjustments came on the fly as there were no plans other than visual. I did not expect to match Ed's skill at boxes on the first attempt (or any attempt really) but.. when Bill and Tom posted boxes yesterday I was almost embarrassed to post mine. I really expected to "flub" it more than I did but.. took it slow to keep down the errors and had fewer than expected which was surprising.

So... what you see if what you get with my interpretation of what a young teen girl might like without asking as that would give away the surprse of getting it without prior expectations. Not so hot but I did gain some experience on small detail as I am a large carcass builder. Perhaps next time the outcome might be better as I did learn a few things.

Without further ado....

[Jim Becker]

Quite nice, John!!! I'm sure that it will make her smile!

[Dewey Torres]

I think they turned out great. I like the lid and the latch.

[Mark Valsi]

Nice,


I hope they like them, it's always hard to tell with teenagers !

[Jason Tuinstra]

Maybe it's just because I have a daughter named Lydia as well, but I like it! You have a great teacher up the road there. Keep it up and continue to show em' off.

[Ed Sallee]

Outstanding, John!!!

They really look nice..... we had a lot of fun talking about them, it sure is nice to see them.....

So, how do you like box making?

You seem to have a knack for it....... I love the ambrosia maple..... I also like the deliberate cuts running around the sides.... that's a neat idea.

Very nice!!! I can't wait to get home and show my wife!

[Brian Effinger]

There's nothing wrong with those boxes at all John. They are quite beautiful and I'm sure they will be appreciated.

Now get to work on the next box

[Jim Tobias]

John,
Thoise are both beautiful and unique! I cannot imagine that your daughter will be ecstatic over the box. Very nice design and execution on your part.

Jim

[John Keeton]

John, you commented in other threads warning us about the quality of these, but we were mislead!! Excellent job. I have all the admiration in the world for you box builders. It just looks far more difficult than casework furniture. I love the look of the maple, too - Lydia has good taste!

[Roger Warford]

Very nice! I really like the relief cuts. How did you do the names? Looks a bit intricate.

[John Thompson]

First.. thanks to all that replied as it is appreciated... I will try to answer the questions here in lieu of doing a quote which throws post around a bit and is difficult for someone as I to keep track of them without missing something. In the order of the questoin and hopefully I won't miss one.

Jim.. It did make her smile.. well kind of. She took it to her room and sat with it on her lap staring at it for about 20 minutes before the tears quit rolling down her cheeks. This was Lydia's (my 15 year old niece) first really personal gift. I'm glad I added the name as that made it more than just a box I built. It made it one built for "her".

Dewey.. lid and latch were a take-off of what I saw on one of Ed's boxes. I did a little modification to meet the needs of these particular one's though.

Mark.. Lydia is my 15 year old niece.. the other is for my 12 year younger than I wife Lisa. Lisa liked hers well enough to send me in quest of QSWO for a new Mission computer desk today. She just sits food at the top of the stairs and I produce.

Jason... yes.. Ed was a big help over the phone with a few concepts. Keep in mind I have been wood buthering for 37 years but I had to scale it down on this and I have never scaled it down that far. It took me 36 hours to build a Mission coffee table a month or so ago but.. these took around 28 hours not including finish. I had to stop and think it through and build a jig for the miter splines and side angles that rides my long fence rail without slop. Next time it will be more automatic as carcass work for me because of the familarity. And boxes are on hold.. I start a new Mission computer desk tomorrow as "she said so".

Ed.. since we have already conversed on this elsewhere I will just add that it was a challenge to detail down to this size and figure all the phases out as I basically had no clue on these. But.. careful thought won the day and I ended up with far fewer errors than I could have ever imagined.

Brain and Jim.. thanks much and BTW Jim.. Lydia is our favorite niece and Lisa is the Chief of Upstairs Affairs at my home.

John... I felt these were not bad for my first attempt at small but.. you don't know what others will think until the precincts are all in. So.. a smoke screen for just in case and I lowered your expectations to think they would look like blown and battered material from Hurricane Katrina. Then when you see them.. you think they're not that bad whether they are or not. I think we called it a stealth tactics in Vietnam.

Roger.. Thanks on the relief cuts as I was experimenting there as my niece has a taste of the unusal and I had never seen it used that way so..

The name were done with a 30 mm plastic template with Old English letters transferred onto the lid with pencil. Then I cut them with my DW 788 scroll saw and a Flying Dutchman blade. Here was another challenge as I have had that SS for two years and never used a SS hoping I would get there someday when I slow down (right).

The day finally arrived as I had to learn the saw methods and how to use it in one afternoon to stay on schedule. Let me tell you what a PITA those Old English letters are as say L is a 3 cut letter with all the fancy stuff that goes with it. It took me what seems forever on the first three letters on the first lid taking the blade on and off re-inserting in yet another slot and getting the blade pinned each time.

But.. after about that 3rd letter.. suddenly I could changetake the blade off... re-insert and move to the next cut blind-folded as it all just started getting easier and easier as I went. At this point concerning me and a scroll-saw.. Bring er on as I feel confident enough to tackle about anything with it. Just another learnig curve that got tackled on this project.

Thanks again to everyone that replied...

Sarge..

[Craig T. Smith]

John, One word from the old school Groovy. Really like the way the boxes turned out. However I think you just expanded your gift giving dance card. Fantastic boxes your women will cherish them forever. Happy Woodworking, Craig

[gary Zimmel]

Went through the thread looking for some bad boxes...

Couldn't find any. Great job John.
These I'm sure made a couple of special people very, very happy.

Now it may be time to start cranking them out for next xmas.

Thanks for the post

[John Thompson]

John, One word from the old school Groovy. Really like the way the boxes turned out. However I think you just expanded your gift giving dance card. Fantastic boxes your women will cherish them forever. Happy Woodworking, Craig

Unfortunately.. you are probably correct on expanding the gift giving dance card. The women who got simple maple knife holders for kitchen knife sets have already let it be known that they would sure like a box next Xmas for themselves.

My wife went to lunch with a group of her friends yesterday and showed them the box.. more request which I probably can't fill as I stay rather busy and have to diplomatically as possible detour around. I wish I did have the time.

Thanks for the compliments...

Sarge..

[John Thompson]

Went through the thread looking for some bad boxes...

Couldn't find any. Great job John.
These I'm sure made a couple of special people very, very happy.

Now it may be time to start cranking them out for next xmas.

Thanks for the post

I showed the good set here, Gary. I showed the mock-up.. chain-saw versions to her family and friends for the reasons Craig just mentioned.

Unfortunately now is not the time. I gave my wife her's on Saturday and she sent me to the hard-wood supplier yesterday for QSWO for a new Mission computer desk and hutch. I just finished a Mission coffee table about two months ago for her. Since October of 2008 I pumped out a bed.. a 6 drawer chest.. a 5 drawer chest.. BR TV stand.. a shoe rack.. an entertainment center for my son and then the coffee table and boxes.

So... she has me fully involved for her as she just puts food at the top of the shop stairs so I don't have to waste time coming upstairs. But.. after the computer desk things may slow down slightly and then her female family and friends start throwing request.

I am retired but those job openings with the Border Patrol out on the Rio Grande are beginning to look better with each passing day.

Thanks very much for the compliments...

Sarge..