Jewelry box door joint recommendations.

[Matt Allan]

Pictured below is a jewelry box plan from Rockler, I am going to make something similar to this for my fiance for xmas just for necklaces. So basically I am just going to make the top half, maybe with panels on sides as well but my main question is what you guys think about attaching the doors to the sides.

The sides open up with the front, so you can have access to all the necklaces more easily. The side is hinged to the back but I was worried about the joint holding the front onto the side. From the picture I am assuming they used a 3/4 thick piece on the side and put a rabbet in and put the 1/2" front into that. I doubt they would just butt joint them.. Wondering if that rabbet would be strong enough since some stress would be on that joint when opening/closing all the time.

Would a spine miter be strong enough on 1/2" pieces for both the front and side? I think I would prefer this just for looks.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Michael Stafford]

I would prefer a tongue and groove over the rabbet. Your glue surface area would be increased...

[Dan Stuewe]

Just a guess, but since the "door" seems to be inset to the "side", what about a sliding dovetail? I think this would handle the stresses.

[James Giordano]

Maybe I'm not understanding the question but it looks to me that the door is hinged to the side and the side is hinged to the back. So that it folds when you open it. It looks like there is a piece of molding or strip of wood attached to the edge of the door rails to form a "rabbet" , which conceals the "joint".


Of course my van has a serious exhaust leak and I may still be suffering the effects of the ride home from work.

And BTW if your going to make the top, why not make the whole thing?

[Matt Allan]

Maybe I'm not understanding the question but it looks to me that the door is hinged to the side and the side is hinged to the back. So that it folds when you open it. It looks like there is a piece of molding or strip of wood attached to the edge of the door rails to form a "rabbet" , which conceals the "joint".


Of course my van has a serious exhaust leak and I may still be suffering the effects of the ride home from work.

And BTW if your going to make the top, why not make the whole thing?

After doing some more poking around forums and googling I found someones site who built one exactly like this and emailed him, he told me the way they do it is how I thought they did in my original post. The sides are 3/4" with a rabbet to accept the 1/2" front doors and the side is hinged to the back.

I just don't know if I like that.. He has had no problems with it. I do like Dans suggestion of a sliding dovetail, but I would still rather have the look of a spline miter. Just think that would LOOK the best, I just don't know if that's strong enough.. Guess I will deicide when I get to that point.



Oh, and I am not building the whole thing because I am building a separate jewelry box for rings and earrings later. So I would like to keep this as small as possible.

Thanks for the ideas