My first box.


BeautysBeast

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Cool box! How does the top open? Hinges or lift-off? What sort of joinery did you use?

Would love to see it once you've applied finish to it.

I'm going to be tackling some small wooden boxes for collectible card game decks soon... taking ideas from ones I've seen online and trying to combine the interesting features of a couple of them. Is it just me or does it seem that smaller boxes are harder than larger ones to pull off well?

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Yeah, it's definitely not a cheap hobby. I've learned that as long as I make stuff for my wife along the way, she's very supportive. Craigslist finds have saved me a lot of money, though. Was able to upgrade from my old Skil tablesaw to a Craftsman 113 for $50. Still need a better fence but it's already light years ahead of what I had.

I've also discovered that I can order wood from my company's supplier at their cost so that means 4/4-8/4 rough cut walnut for $6.80/bd-ft, cherry for $3.50/bd-ft, etc. Easily half of what I can get the same wood for elsewhere in town. That certainly helps in a big way, too.

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The lid will be hinged, and the joints are just but joints into the squares on the corner. The box was about a quarter of an inch thick, and I didn't want to practice cutting joints I have never used on expensive wood. Next time I will use better joints.

Smaller is always harder if you compare equally. the mistakes show more.  I have fallen in love with that red heart. It has such amazing colors in it. But I agree with Janello, it is REALLY expensive. I can see using it for inlays and such. But that is about all I can afford at this point.

I also built a 16 foot workbench, complete with a drop for the miter saw, and inlaid my router table. It was a productive 4 day weekend.

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Uhm, that is why I mentioned when you compare them equally. Am I wrong in thinking a small dovetailed box is harder? I honestly don't know, I would just think that with smaller dovetails, there is less room for error. Again, I will admit that I am no expert, and will defer to those who are.

I joined the edge grain with the long grain using glue, and clamps. My next box I am going to tackle lap joints, and then on to dovetails, but I didn't want to screw up 70 dollars worth of wood "practicing"..

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Nah I don't think so. There's no room for error in any project regardless of size. But bigger means more joinery, more wood to work, heavier and more awkward parts to fit together. They're all challenging but I'll take a small project over a giant one any day.

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The only thing better about a small project is that it takes less gkue & sawdust to hide the gaps.

Nice work, keep those projects coming! I am quite serious when I say that hearing / seeing someone's path to discovery is often more enlightening to me than a more experienced woodworker simply stating how it was done.

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BeautysBeast, nice project!  The variety of woods is cool.  Welcome to an extremely fun hobby that can quickly become an obsession.  This forum is great for advice and encouragement.  Keep challenging yourself and posting your progress.

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