A Small Box for the Fourth

[glenn bradley]

Visiting friends this week. I was informed that I had let quite a few of these little scrap projects escape into the wild without taking pics so I caught this one in time. Boxes are great for burning scraps when you don't have a stove.

I use double stick tape to align the hinges and then mark the holes.

Matchbox F&M 001.jpg

This is a different "cube" waiting for rough shaping.

Matchbox F&M 003.jpg

I used shedua for the body, ash for the top, keys and "pull". several coats of clear shellac and a touch of paste wax. The box is sized to hold long fireplace matches.

[Ed Sallee]

Very Nice, Glen.....

So.... double face tape to mark the hinges? Good idea... never have done it that way... can you expand on that a little?

Great combination of wood, by the way....

Long matches for the fireplace.... cool!

By the way.... "A Small Box for the Fourth" that holds matches...... Probably come in handy!~

[John Keeton]

Good looking box, Glenn! What do you think about the ash? I have used it some, and so long as the grain is good, it finishes well. Sometimes the grain can be really a pain!

[glenn bradley]

double face tape to mark the hinges? Good idea... never have done it that way... can you expand on that a little?

Wow Ed. It's great to be able to pass a tip back your way after all I've learned from your posts . . .

- I cut the mortises for the hinges, clamp the box and lid as shown and stick the DS tape to the box/lid.

- I peel the other covering off the tape and position the hinges and press real good.

- I remove the clamps and can actually close the box as if the hinges were screwed down. The tape allows me to make any small adjustments for a nice alignment of the box/lid.

- Carefully open and re-clamp the box/lid and use a vix bit to drill the hinge screw holes.

If all has gone well, the lid lines up perfect once the hinges are screwed down.

[glenn bradley]

Good looking box, Glenn! What do you think about the ash? I have used it some, and so long as the grain is good, it finishes well. Sometimes the grain can be really a pain!

Thanks John and you are dead-on about the ash. Some boards will splotch like difficult maple. I have actually re-made parts due to the finish looking so poor.

If you work hard enough, you can get a decent look:

done-1.jpg

I now try to clear coat it ONLY .

[John Keeton]

A little bit of your G&G showin' thru there!! Nice!

[John Thompson]

Very nicely done, Glenn. Thanks for the tip on the double sided tape on the hinges as hinges are not my favorite thing to do. I agee on clear coating ash as my experience with staining it years ago was not good but... I am no finish guru to begin with.

BTW.. nice idea on a fire-place match box. Could you give the dimensions as I can almost guess but....

Well done...

[Ed Sallee]

If all has gone well, the lid lines up perfect once the hinges are screwed down.

Looks like it all went perfect! Nice work. I love handle and the bold lid.....

Thanks for the tip!!! It'll come up sometime in the future.....

[Jim Kountz]

Very nice little box Glenn, came out great!!

[David Keller NC]

"Thanks John and you are dead-on about the ash. Some boards will splotch like difficult maple. I have actually re-made parts due to the finish looking so poor."

There's a way to deal with species like this if you want a darker color - use a toner. A toner is nothing more than a bit of dye in finish, generally applied after an initial clear coat and before a seal coat is put on. The initial clear coat prevents end-grain orientations from absorbing too much dye and blotching, and the toner coat gives you the color/shade you want.

It works well, especially on really difficult to color woods like pine, ash, and oak.

[Todd Young]

Glenn, very nice work. I love the grain on the top and pull. Also like the "raised panel" top.