Evolution of a Box Design, or How Not to Build a Box

[Tom Sontag]

Second alternate title: Why Every Box I Make Ends up a Prototype

This might be a bit wordy, but I am trying to describe a journey and not just share the destination. (Some photos are staged using the final version of the box; pretend those feet aren't on yet).

I have built a number of small boxes and return to the genre regularly to see what I can add to the conversation I am having with it. I have found several features I like to repeat but with each effort I try to improve some aspect of the design. I also hoard wood and have special pieces lying around waiting to inspire. One of my design goals when making something like this is to simply get out of the woods way and let the beauty of the material be the focus for the viewer. At an extreme I could simply frame a nice piece of wood, but that is unlikely to work for most people. (Interestingly, I notice that my final top is basically a framed piece of wood, so HA!) So I must struggle with top, sides, feet, handles, interior, and all the other design issues of a “simple” box.

A 4/4 piece of crotch cherry shouted at me to be a box top. I got excited about texturing it as I had another piece a while back and immediately shaped it, carved it and slapped a coat of oil on it to see how spectacular it could be. I think we can agree it is a nice piece of wood:

(Underside of the top):

bottom of top boxcar_edited-1.jpg

(Top of the top):

top of top boxcar_edited-1.jpg

Okay, that was fun and rewarding but now I need to make a box to hold the lid. Oops, now I have to size the box to fit the lid versus simply sizing a single piece of wood to an already assembled box. This is the kind of unnecessary challenge that arises when working without a complete plan of action. I managed to get the slightly spalted cherry and tiger maple sides to fit the lid without losing too much of the continuity around the mitered corners.

boxcar corner_edited-1.jpg

The height of the sides came mainly from the grain of the spalted cherry and the overall proportions came out a bit like a boxcar. Now I am staring at a rectangular boxcar of nice wood. It needs something to liven up the overall shape, like feet and/or handles. I don’t want to mess with the top and do not want to cover up the sides either, so something minimal is suggested.

I glue on four blocks for feet, an effort that worked for me on a much shorter box but turned out to be wholly inadequate for this effort. They soon get planed off.

boxcar1.jpg

Time to brainstorm on paper. I filled several pages of a sketchbook with feet and handle designs.

boxcar sketch1_edited-1.jpg

boxcar sketch2.jpg

I thought that handles on the ends would give the overall shape some needed variety and shaped several attempts in basswood.

boxcar handles_edited-1.jpg

The problem with end handles is that they all cover the surface of the spalted cherry and remember I am trying to get out of the way of the wood’s beauty, not cover it up. Frankly, at this stage I am feeling a bit discouraged and wonder if I will ever find what this thing needs. I set the project aside and finish a few picture frames.

The real problem is the overwhelming recti linearity – the very subtle curve to the top is completely lost. This thing needs some curves. The long sides have some sapwood peeking in at the ends and this subtle hint is my cue. Going back to that dark drawing on the prior page, I sketch the final idea:

boxcar sketch3.jpg

[Tom Sontag]

So I find some more tiger maple and shape a long flowing arch in some feet. I have ample depth in the maple borders to shave more arch on the bottom and a big shallow arch to the top of the long side borders. Since I try to balance between sketching and actual building, I am done wrestling with these issues and glue on the new feet and shave the borders. Removing material from an already assembled box feels fairly permanent, like that feeling of drilling holes through the front of a finished drawer for the hardware. Don’t screw this up! I was going to taper the lid to match the border curves, but leaving it proud helped emphasize the curve plus (duh) the top was already receiving finish. I am liking the proud lid; the perfect version of this box might keep this detail.

boxcar proud top_edited-1.jpg

Not sure I like the end grain of the feet as seen from the ends. You can also sense the improvisation of the feet when examining the bottom. Things to improve on next time.

boxcar bottom_edited-1.jpg

Maybe the next effort will have mitered feet to match the sides, but for this effort the effect seems to reinforce the boxcar aesthetic, like rail car wheels would. At least that is the justification I give myself for not even bothering to find some thicker pieces to shape at the ends for the feet. These are the kinds of compromises that come from venturing forward without a complete plan of action.

Everybody likes a little interior complexity, so I fitted maple runners on the long sides before assembly and made a tray with more maple, spalted cherry and a piece of dead-on quartersawn cherry for the tray bottom. The sparkle of the ray flecks combined with the texturing of more carving looks rather spectacular (if I say so myself) plus ties into the carving of the top.

boxcar tray_edited-1.jpg


If I remake this design I will likely shorten the runners so they can be completely hidden by the tray instead of poking out each end; another design-on-the-fly detail that may not be ideal in the prototype. I am also unsure of the visual effect of the maple framed bottom with the cherry sides of the tray. I wanted hard maple sliding on hard maple, but I think the tray itself could maybe be more cohesive without the contrasting wood. Fortunately this only looks a little odd when the tray is removed.

boxcar tray in_edited-1.jpg

That’s it. The finish is polymerized tung oil, a lengthy process of rubbing on thin coats and allowing them to dry that I have not completed yet, but I thought the story of struggling with this design was a story worth sharing. Thanks for following along. I would love to hear your comments regarding each design decision, the top, the excluded handles, the feet, the curves, the interior, etc.

boxcar profile_edited-1.jpg

boxcar lid askew_edited-1.jpg