Woodworking's 1839 school box

[Matt Edwards]

I started building one of these this weekend, as done in the Autumn issue of Woodworking. I'm not sure if its the picture of it on the cover or Chris's mastery of wood and printed word. But I knew shortly after I first thumbed through the magazine that I would have to build it. Its been a great project thus far! (pics to follow in a day or so)

Anyone ever made their own strap hinges like whats on the box, I'd like to try if I can gather enough information.

Thanks
Matt

[Jim Paulson]

Heh Matt,

I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures. That school box project is on my list of things to make. When I built my tool chest awhile back I purchased some strap hinges online from Fagan's Forge. They were reasonably priced.

Jim

[Jon Toebbe]

Anyone ever made their own strap hinges like whats on the box, I'd like to try if I can gather enough information.

Yeah, it's not hard at all! I didn't have a machinist's vise, so I just pinched the hinge in the face vise of my bench, butted a piece of scrap aluminum against it, clamped the metal to the bench, and beat the hinge with a hammer. It's a little... uhh... "rustic," but that's in keeping with the six board chest I was building at the time.

And as for the School Box: yeah, I want to make several for gifts. There's something about the proportions of that simple, little box that keep drawing my eye. It seems like a great small project to hone your hand tool skills with -- a useful, pleasing end result, with a whole lot of practice of the fundamentals along the way.