Some Sample Boxes

[Mike Henderson]

I've been asked to teach a one day class on box making. Boxes are good for teaching woodworking because you use many of the joints and skills that you would use on larger projects and you don't use a lot of wood.
To prepare for the class, I made several boxes out of pine - just to see what will work well. Since the class is a one day class, I can't use dovetail joinery because I can't teach dovetails and box making in one day. So I'm going with miter joints. This allows the grain of the wood to flow around the box and a glued miter joint is plenty strong enough for a box. In making the boxes, I varied the thickness of the wood, the way the top goes on, and some techniques for doing some things on the box. For example, I hand beveled the top on a couple of these and cut at least one on the table saw. Here are some pictures of the pine boxes I made.
This first box has a lift off top. The top is held in place by the boards lining the inside which extend upward from the main part of the box. This box uses 1/2 inch material but it looks thicker because of the lining material. If this was a "keeper" box, I'd have taken the liner material all the way to the bottom of the box.

Box001.jpg

Box002.jpg

This next box also uses a lift off top but the top is captured by putting a groove all around the top so that part of the top fits inside the box. This box is made from 3/8 inch material - which works well for this box.

Box003.jpg

Box004.jpg

I also made a lift out tray for this box.
Box005.jpg

Continued to next post

[Mike Henderson]

The last box is one with hinges. The hinges are "stop" hinges that hold the top at about 105 degrees when it is open. The disadvantage is the cost of the hinges. This box uses 5/8 inch material, which is too thick. The box doesn't need that thickness for strength and it makes the inside too small. However, a box that uses hinges requires that the material be about 1/2 inch to match the hinges

Box006.jpg

Box007.jpg

I made a lift out tray for this box, also.

Box008.jpg

The decision on what to use for class is 1/2 inch material and hinges. A woman I showed the three boxes to commented about the non-hinge boxes, "When using the box, you have to find someplace to put the top if you don't have hinges." Good point!

Mike

[I also made one box out of walnut as a "sample" but it's at the store to show people what they will make in class.]

[Andrew Hughes]

I like them Mike, clean and simple I bet they smell great when you open them up.

[Phil Thien]

I like 'em too. I think the other advantage of the hinge version is that you have another skill (hinge mortising) you can teach.

[Art Mann]

I like the knot in the first box.

[Scott DelPorte]

Hi Mike, Last summer my niece came over for a visit, and wanted to try her hand at woodworking. We made a box using construction methods identical to your first example (except we used maple with sycamore lining), and she was able to complete the construction in a day. It was her first project and she was thrilled with it. I am sure your students will enjoy it similarly.