Box for center drills

[cathead]

Yesterday I made a box out of a maple tree that I had cut into some boards and dried. My tool box had center drills
piled haphazardly so decided to use the box just for center drills. I put the largest stuff on the bottom and made a tray for
the medium sized stuff and added a flip out assembly in the cover for the smaller stuff.

I used my finger joint jig to fab up the box.






















I used some brass hinges from TEMU but was somewhat disappointed that the brass screws were magnetic as well as the hinge pins.
For the price it was acceptable.
















I added some little aluminum plates to the sides of the shelf so it would be easy to access the stuff on the bottom.
This frees up one drawer in my machine tool box so I can lighten it up a bit and hopefully get things more organized.

 

[mmcmdl]

I really need to learn more woodworking skills , we have a County owned wood shop open to the public a few miles up the road . I had woodshop classes back in high school but CRS . Nice looking work on the box !

 

[cathead]

I really need to learn more woodworking skills , we have a County owned wood shop open to the public a few miles up the road . I had woodshop classes back in high school but CRS . Nice looking work on the box !

Thanks for the kind words. The first boxes I made were quite functional but not really something to be proud of.
Making a finger box jig allowed me to make much nicer boxes and over time a person's skills tends to improve.
The only downside is the fine sawdust that settles on every thing requiring more time spent cleaning. But in the
final analysis, it's all shop time and as long one is having fun it doesn't matter much. It's job security as I will always
have something to do.

 

[GL]

Nice job on the box. Extra nice you were able to use wood you “made” from your own land. It seems sometimes the trees grow faster than I can keep trimmed back - and it’s mostly Elm, so not much use for heating or furniture, and generally just work to do. I find the lack of precision required for woodworking to be relaxing while still being creative (although, it’s hard to be that “not precise”). Most times, the precision of metal work is a different challenge and lots of fun. Being able to build in both categories makes you more rounded and keeps your mind active. As you said, shop time is always fun.

 

[ChazzC]

I really need to learn more woodworking skills , we have a County owned wood shop open to the public a few miles up the road . I had woodshop classes back in high school but CRS . Nice looking work on the box !

Then you could make boxes for all of those end mills and wouldn’t have to dip them!

 

[cathead]

Here's a little more information if any of you decide to make some finger joint boxes.
This is a photo of my jig for which I give credit to Ed Styles on You-Tube. He did a nice
job on the details of the jig.







Here the box is glued together and clamped. At this point there is no access to the inside of the box. The
next step is to saw the top off and finish up with the hasp and hinges. I ran out of small clamps to used
the Jed Clampett method to hold it all together till the glue dries.

 

[ChazzC]

Here's a little more information if any of you decide to make some finger joint boxes.
This is a photo of my jig for which I give credit to Ed Styles on You-Tube. He did a nice
job on the details of the jig.
View attachment 513345


View attachment 513346
Here the box is glued together and clamped. At this point there is no access to the inside of the box. The
next step is to saw the top off and finish up with the hasp and hinges. I ran out of small clamps to used
the Jed Clampett method to hold it all together till the glue dries.

Nice setup and yes, always run out of clamps that are big enough for the current job.

All I remember about making boxes is that you need to make a fully enclosed box (all six sides glued together) and then cut the top off so that everything fits properly.