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You will need:
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Parts
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Size
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Quantity
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| Top |
1/2"
x 3 1/4" x 10 1/4" |
1 |
| Long
sides |
1/2"
x 2" x 10 3/4" |
2 |
| Short
sides |
1/2"
x 2" x 3 3/4" |
2 |
| Bottom |
1/4"
x 3 1/4" x 10 1/4" |
1 |
| Handle |
1/4"
x 5/8" x 3" |
1 |
Start
with a piece of 8/4 material (in my case cherry) and resaw
it into three equal thicknesses. Edge joint and surface
plane. Cut the blank for the box top now, before ripping
the balance of material to width. Mill the groove that
holds the bottom panel before cutting the sides to length.
Because
the sides are small, I cut them to length using a bandsaw
and milled the mitres on my disc sander. This method
eliminates the danger of working with small pieces on
a tablesaw and results in less waste material--the less
material you remove the better the grain match will
be.
 A
good trick for ensuring gap-free mitres is to make sure
opposite sides are exactly the same length. After cutting
and sanding the parts, stand them up on a flat surface
with their outside faces together. In this position
it will be easy to see if they are the same length and
that the combined angle of the mitred ends is a perfect
90°.
For
the bottom panel, I veneered curly cherry to 1/4"
MDF but you could use store-bought ply or even adhere
some decorative rice paper in keeping with the Asian-inspired
design.
To
assemble the box, lay the sides in line on a flat surface,
inside-down, and apply three pieces of masking tape
to the outside of each joint. Carefully bring the sides
together in a dry run to make sure everything fits properly.
Flip the taped-together assembly so the interior is
facing up and use a small brush to apply glue to both
sides of the joint. This is an unsupported joint so
make sure it is well glued but without messy squeeze-out.
The masking tape will stop the glue from squeezing onto
the outside of the joints; only apply glue to within
an 1/8" of the inside. Let the glue dry overnight
before finish sanding the outside.
Cut
the top to size then mill the rabbet with a tablesaw
spinning a dado blade--the depth of the cut is half
the thickness of the top, which reduces the visual mass
of the top.
The
final piece of the box is the handle. Start by drilling
a flat-bottomed hole three-quarters of the way through
the top with a 13/8"-dia. Forstner bit. Then rout
the groove for the handle centred on the hole. Cut the
handle now and notch each end to hide the rounded groove.
I dyed the handle black to simulate ebony using aniline
dye. As an alternative you could use alcohol-based non
grain raising (NGR) stain. Once the dyed handle is dry,
fit and hold it in place with a dab of glue. If you
used cherry for the body of the box, place it in the
sunlight for a few days. The exposure to sunlight will
considerably speed up the cherry's natural tendency
to darken. Finish the box with three coats of tung oil.
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