making a dovetail marking template

I am planning to have my students do a unit in box making, so I am preparing the tools needed. The first thing is a simple jig for marking out dovetail pins as shown in the drawing above. The steps in making this are shown in the series of photos below. No doubt you have seen similar tools made of brass. These are what you can do when you need several and would rather spend your money on other things. Because the ends are 90 degrees, they can also be used for marking the other lines necessary for cutting dovetails. And it is so much more fun to make things yourself. No shopping on-line, no credit card required, no waiting for the UPS truck to arrive, and you have the fun and satisfaction of having made something yourself.

Tilt the sawblade to 8 degrees and cut the dovetail shape.

Return the blade to 90 degrees and remove the stock between the angled cuts

Make a cut with the blade height set at 3/8 in.

Set the fence 1/8 in. from the blade and rip to finish forming the template.

boxes from readers

Every once in awhile, I am contacted by readers with boxes to share. The tea box ws made by John Gasser for his Daughter-in Law, and you can see from her reaction that the box is a success. The Pin and Earring chest was made by Les Riddell.

I had the following question about wood movement:

I have constructed a small jewelry box recently and have some wood movement concerns. The box is 11” wide (the front and back), 6” deep (the sides), and 5.5” high and is made of 1/2” cherry. The grain runs in the same direction for all of the panels. The sides have vertical rabbets on each side  of 1/4“ depth and 1/2” width. For the bottom, I cut rabbets of 1/4“ depth and 1/2” on all four sides.

I am worried that the wood on the bottom and top of the box will expand enough the sides or front/back. I live in the Boston area, so there is some summer humidity, but it’s not like I’m sending the box to south Florida. Should I be concerned?

Wood will almost always expand and contract, even when you have heated and air conditioned space. It will not expand or contract any significant amount in length. My rule of thumb is to allow for both expansion and contraction, with the expansion often being the more destructive effect, pushing parts apart at the corners. So I generally allow 1/32 to 1/16 in. expansion space per 8 inches of board width. This can vary some by species and will vary more dependent on the condition of the materials and their storage and working conditions with regard to humidity. If your storage and working conditions are on the moist side, or during the moist season, build looser than you would be inclined during the driest of conditions. You can take each board as a science experiment, worthy of investing a great deal of time, or knowing what wood does, just take your best shot. You will get more done if you take your best shot.

latest box design

since I'm still not bored with my latest box design, I share it again, after adding one more coat of oil, a lining, and felt feet. this will be sent to Fine Woodworking to be shared with readers as part of a router bit review.

testing router bits...

I have been asked by Fine Woodworking to do a small box to demonstrate the use of the tiny router bits, so I am making a small Greene and Greene styled box with box joint corners. First (after resawing and planing the stock to an appropriate thickness) comes the use of the table saw sled to cut the parts to exacting lengths. This requires two settings of the stop block.

Two settings of the stop block gives material for two boxes.

Next, I use a sled on the table saw with a guide pin to cut the finger joints. as shown in the images below. Now the box parts are ready to test router bits.

This technique of cutting box joints becomes easier with practice. Knowing just how tight to hold the stock against the guidepin helps. If you apply a lot of pressure one time, but simply just touch lightly the next, the distance between cuts can be distorted leading to a poor fit between parts. Practice, practice, and practice.

Use a  5/16 in. box joint blade and 5/16 in. drill bit as guide pin.

Trial fitted finger joints... a tight, but near perfect fit.

Sander holder

A reader, Roger, sent this idea for holding a sander inverted for sanding small boxes. It is simply a board, some zip ties, and clamps.

Planing thin stock

Reader Ray, asked the following:

I'm looking at one of the plans in your Basic Box Making book - the jewelery box - to find out more about dividers. You use 1/8" stock and that would seem good for the box I want to make. My thickness planer recommends 1/4" as the thinnest cut for material. How do you get material that thin? I've done a quick check at the local stores and they don't have anything like that in stock. I don't want to buy a thickness sander - although it sounds like a great tool.

Lay a piece of 3/4 inch plywood on the table of the planer and attach a cleat at the under side of the board. Use it as a support under the planer cut. Wax it so that the wood slides smoothly on it. At Marc Adams School of Woodworking, the planers are equipped with melamine boards for this purpose. The melamine provides an extra smooth passage for thin wood through the cut. I also rip thin wood on the table saw, and depending on the sharpness and quality of the blade, I can get a pretty smooth cut requiring little sanding. If using the planer to get 1/8 inch stock be sure to support it as it enters and exits the cut. I lift up on in developing some curvature which develops a tension that helps it to not be lifted by the blades during the cut. In the photo, a cleat on the underside of the board secures it in place on the planer table.

let it begin with schooling

As many of my readers know, my first published articles and books were about box making, and still, after over 30 years as a professional woodworker, a portion of my annual income is from making small boxes to sell through gift shops, craft fairs and galleries. I got the following email on Friday describing the potential for box making in schools...

I teach woodshop at a public high school in St. Paul, MN and wanted to write you and tell you that your box making book is taking my school by storm. I recently was told to teach a reading based woodshop class where the students had to read as much as cut wood. The students found it boring to begin with but when I introduced your DVD and the first section of your book to them, including the introduction, my attendance went up and stayed up and the students loved the simple design of your lift lid box. I am just finishing up my first set of boxes today and I have students, whom I don't know, coming by and they ask to build one!

Thanks so much! It's easy to teach to students with enthusiasm! Your book made it possible.

Box making is such a wonderful way to become engaged in woodworking. The amount of materials required is small. The amount of storage space for materials and materials handling is small and far more predictable. You can learn every form of woodworking skill by making boxes, using every tool in the wood shop and learning what it and you can do. In box making you can make expressive heirloom objects that motivate students to learn.