SawDustB Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 So next up on my list to build is a toy box to help handle the toysplosion that had hit our family room. After running a couple of options by the design committee, we decided on Marc's toy box design. https://youtu.be/T4yMa3LQKQ0 I suspect we'll make a couple of deviations along the way, and I'm pretty sure we'll be going with a natural wood finish rather than paint, but we both liked the general size and features. I'm going to be using plain plywood panels rather than whiteboard, since we already have an easel nearby with a whiteboard. For the wood, I'm using 3/4 and 1/4 Baltic birch ply and natural birch for the hardwood. My hope is this will give me a reasonable match for finishing. I lucked out and found a couple of pieces in the standard pile with some curl to them, so I'm going to try to highlight that on the front of the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Be great to see your build Sawdust.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Looking forward to seeing this go together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Yep, can't wait to see photos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 So I managed to get a start today, just with rough parts layout and breaking down the plywood. I used my table saw for the sheet goods and the chop saw for the hardwood. Next up is refining the parts (including running them through the planer) and getting ready to cut joinery. I'm planning to use less screws in mine than Marc did because I won't be painting, so I'm thinking of either dowels or mortise and tenon for some of the screwed butt joints. I'm not going to worry about any of them on the underside, since they're not visible anyway. And yes, that's water on the floor under my saw... I had to sweep snow out and move the snowblower to get started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 I feel your pain guy about the cold. Unfortunately my neighbor didn't sun bathe today as the temp today never got above 72*. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SawDustB Posted January 31, 2016 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Well, after talking about having figured boards I thought I should post a picture. This is just as I got them from the hardwood dealer (no sanding, scraping, or planing). These pieces should give me all of the long rails. I left them a bit longer than called for in the plans because I'm considering mortising them into the stiles. If I get lazy I'll just use dowels. Pocket screws are out because you would see them with how I'm attaching the front and back panels. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 The pocket screws on Marc's design are on the inside of the case so are not seen. So it wouldn't matter if you painted or not. However if you are going for M&T that is a mighty fine joint. Nice boards BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 The pocket screws on Marc's design are on the inside of the case so are not seen. So it wouldn't matter if you painted or not. However if you are going for M&T that is a mighty fine joint. Nice boards BTW. Maybe I'm assuming incorrectly then... I thought he went that route because they were covered by the whiteboard panels. My only concern was really the top rails, since knowing my daughter it'll be open most of the time. It's still a good excuse to try making some mortise and tenon joints, since I haven't done many yet. I'm hoping I can use dye to highlight the figure on the boards. They were apparently what was left after a local cabinet guy cleaned out the straight grained material for a job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TerryMcK Posted January 31, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 10 minutes ago, SawDustB said: Maybe I'm assuming incorrectly then... I thought he went that route because they were covered by the whiteboard panels. My only concern was really the top rails, since knowing my daughter it'll be open most of the time. It's still a good excuse to try making some mortise and tenon joints, since I haven't done many yet. I'm hoping I can use dye to highlight the figure on the boards. They were apparently what was left after a local cabinet guy cleaned out the straight grained material for a job. Brian, Here's one I made earlier. You can see the rear hinge rail closest to you in this shot but can see the inside view of the front rail in the distance. All the other rails are exactly the same method of construction. And a finished view. The lower rails pocket holes are partially obscured by the base panel. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 1 hour ago, TerryMcK said: Brian, Here's one I made earlier. You can see the rear hinge rail closest to you in this shot but can see the inside view of the front rail in the distance. All the other rails are exactly the same method of construction. And a finished view. The lower rails pocket holes are partially obscured by the base panel. Thanks Terry! The visual is very helpful. You've built your toy box very much like what I was envisioning for mine. I can't tell from your pictures, but did you end up screwing through the lower rail and the stiles to attach the box together, and just plugged the holes? I was thinking that at least the lower rail holes could be avoided by putting pocket screws through from the bottom panel on the underside. The part I'm stuck on is attaching the side rails. Right now I'm thinking that I'll attach them with dowels or mortise and tenon, but I'm curious what your solution was since I don't see obvious holes/plugs. I also can't believe I didn't think of standard frame & panel for the front and back - I was thinking of rabbeting the panel in from the inside, but what you've done is much cleaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 20 minutes ago, SawDustB said: Thanks Terry! The visual is very helpful. You've built your toy box very much like what I was envisioning for mine. I can't tell from your pictures, but did you end up screwing through the lower rail and the stiles to attach the box together, and just plugged the holes? I was thinking that at least the lower rail holes could be avoided by putting pocket screws through from the bottom panel on the underside. The part I'm stuck on is attaching the side rails. Right now I'm thinking that I'll attach them with dowels or mortise and tenon, but I'm curious what your solution was since I don't see obvious holes/plugs. I also can't believe I didn't think of standard frame & panel for the front and back - I was thinking of rabbeting the panel in from the inside, but what you've done is much cleaner. Brian yes they are glued, screwed and plugged. I used European oak and made some oak plugs with the veritas plug cutters. These pictures show the construction. I could have used a figured ply but my customer was ok with standard big box type ply. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Looks good Terry and I think the plugs look fine.I like what you did with the panels and top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Yes, it does look nice. I never think to use screws and plugs, even though I have tapered plug cutters. I think I've only ever used them for mistake fixing, not as a planned technique. I've got some time to think on it, since I doubt I'll be working on joinery for a week or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strasberry Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Great looking box! Love the double sides! Last time I made a toy box for my kids I used a lock miter on the corners, Very tight and when glued, virtually no gaps to deal with and no screws or other fasteners to deal with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted February 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 I got a chance this evening to start milling the boards for the box. The stock is s2s from the lumber yard, and the boards seemed reasonably straight. I have no jointer, so my general process has been: 1. Cut boards to rough length 2. Straight line rip on table saw using jig 3. Rip to rough width 4. Skip plane to thickness 5. Rip to exact width and clean up edges 6. Cut to exact length Tonight entailed steps 2&3 in that process. Here's my lovely jointer: It actually works quite well, as long as it's kept tight on the fence and there's out feed support. And a cleaned up edge. I'm using a combination blade for this, so the cut is very smooth but I did get some burning. I suspect part of that is needing to clean the blade after the pine I had to cut for my last project. I ripped everything to rough width as well. I tried to keep the figured part of the boards, and left all parts 1/8" oversized. Next up is dragging out the planer and getting down to thickness, but that'll involve changing the blades first. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Great start man! I will be following along. I see we have the same outfeed support roller from canadian tire Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted February 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 9 hours ago, shaneymack said: Great start man! I will be following along. I see we have the same outfeed support roller from canadian tire Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk Yep, if you look in the background you'll see a fair bit of Canadian Tire stuff... Not the highest quality, but it is cheap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 I agree but sometimes the sales they have on things makes it hard to pass up! I have had that roller stand for over 10 years and its still going strong ! I wouldn't buy a mastercraft tablesaw for finewoodworking but some of the stuff they sell there is worth the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted February 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 3 hours ago, shaneymack said: I agree but sometimes the sales they have on things makes it hard to pass up! I have had that roller stand for over 10 years and its still going strong ! I wouldn't buy a mastercraft tablesaw for finewoodworking but some of the stuff they sell there is worth the price. No argument here. I've got a pile of C & quick clamps, the roller stands, sawhorses, etc... I actually did have a mastercraft job site saw before my current one. I really couldn't recommend it for anything much more strenuous than cutting 1x pine, never mind hardwood. You don't want to know how it sounded when I used it to rip purpleheart for a picture frame... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 I agree but sometimes the sales they have on things makes it hard to pass up! I have had that roller stand for over 10 years and its still going strong ! I wouldn't buy a mastercraft tablesaw for finewoodworking but some of the stuff they sell there is worth the price. No argument here. I've got a pile of C & quick clamps, the roller stands, sawhorses, etc... I actually did have a mastercraft job site saw before my current one. I really couldn't recommend it for anything much more strenuous than cutting 1x pine, never mind hardwood. You don't want to know how it sounded when I used it to rip purpleheart for a picture frame... Hahah!! I believe it! ! Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 So I changed the planer blades in preparation to finish milling.... And managed to quite effectively slice myself on the new blade. Looks like that's all the progress for today, since it's in a very awkward spot on my finger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted February 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 Well, I went out and spent a half hour putting all the boards through the planer. They started at a heavy 7/8 and I took about 1/32 off each face. Seemed a shame to take off more than that. The new planer blades were worth it, though. These boards are pretty once the rough surfaces were taken off. Hard to tell from the pictures, but they almost seem to shimmer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 Wow, you have some nice lumber there! Almost too nice for a toy box! Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted February 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 Wow, you have some nice lumber there! Almost too nice for a toy box! Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk Yeah, the two boards on top are the front rails. It's going to be in our living room, though, so it's actually worth using nice stock on. I need to just figure out the grain popping procedure and I'll be good for finishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.