My woodworking experience has been putting decorative trim on bookcases and building two flowerbeds. My tools were a tiny battery chainsaw and drill. Didn’t even have a bench. Now I have a work bench and have bought The Boy a chop saw for Christmas. I have begun scheming.
Using [url=“http://www.squidoo.com/simplewoodenbox”] these ‘how to make a box’ instructions, I plan to make 5 boxes to make a stairstep kinda storage unit. Since I’m not sure I won’t mess up the hinge part, they’ll be open.
I’m thinking 20x20 boxes using 1 inch thick wood using 2 1/2 inch double headed bolts holding them together, like two inches away from the back. I thought about glue and nails but I think I’d like to see the bolts for that utilitarian look. Finishing it off with a one-step stain and poly.
Ha! My first try putting trim on a bookcase I thought I could miter the edges by eye with a chainsaw holding the trim with my foot on a concrete pad on the ground. Because I was dumb.
Even if it’s a sliding mitre chop saw, getting a straight cut across 20" is going to be very difficult without constructing a jig of some type to reference the boards against.
I’d say go with 3/4" Baltic Birch plywood. That has no voids and looks great when cut. It’ll also be a lot LOT LOT cheaper than trying to find S4S 4/4" wood(that’s fancy talk for 1" thick dimensional lumber that is smooth on all sides), even poplar which has weird green hues but is cheap at least.
Check out Kerf Design for some really cool ideas IMHO for storage type boxes.
If I was going to do what you are planning, my first investment would be in a router. You can do all sorts of cool rabbets and miters with a router that are ideal for making boxes. Look up lock miter on Youtube for what Im talking about.
If you have just a basic setup I would avoid doing mitered joints, opting instead for pocket hole joinery. With mitered joints it will require glue and nails and clamping to help hold it all together while the glue dries. You would not need to buy the big pocket jig set the mini from Kreg would be fine. If you already have a handheld drill all you would need is the jig. You will find a ton of other uses for it. The only down side to this method for you project is it will leave some odd holes on either the inside or outside surface of you piece, Kreg also offers plugs that will fit the holes.
If clamps are measured in the unit of Norms, with 1 Norm being all the clamps in The New Yankee Workshop, I have 1/8 to a 1/4 Norm in bar and pipe clamps in various sizes. For a project like your I would still use pocket holes to eliminate some of hassles, I also have dowel pin jigs and a biscuit jointer.
I thought about pocket holes but getting the alignment right is a pain for a newbie. If you are thinking along those lines, a biscuit joint would be much easier and forgiving.
Not sure how you are going to bolt it together. Without glue you probably won’t have a strong joint. There’s another thread somewhere on similar wooden boxes. That one used a double layer of plywood (I recommended 1" pine boards) with glue and nails, and would be much stronger than any simple butt joint.
I construct simple things like this with a handsaw, hammer, nails, glue, clamps and sandpaper (okay I use a one of my many power sanders now). A radius plane or a surform tool would be useful for taking the edge off the corners.
See now already I’m out of my depth. Biscuits and pocket holes? You mean just bolting the boxes together isn’t going to work? Or do you guys mean making the boxes with biscuits or pocket holes.
I see the link in my OP isn’t working. Here it is again: Simple wooden box. This box without the lid is what I was thinking of. Then bolting the boxes together in a stair-step-- three boxes, two boxes, one box.
My set up, if you can call it that, is quite rudimentary. I’ve got a Black & Decker workbench and Ryobi tools (a circular saw, drill, sander and, soon, a chop saw).
Hey, that’s my thread! I posted the project a few posts down from the OP. I haven’t tried it yet but I decided to try purchasing long boards that are the width I want instead of doing alot of cutting and then just sand the edges flush. I may still buy myself a router for Christmas.
Your project is a bit different then mine in that you’re gonna hang a box off a wall (I think). My project is boxes that will sit on the floor but attached to each other.
