Friday, February 28, 2014

Book-a-zine, Wooden Boxes

Fine woodworking calls it "The beauty of boxes from the hands of experts." The new book-a-zine, Box Making by Doug Stowe and Strother Purdy is now available from the Fine Woodworking website. We are arranging an autographed box book-a-zine giveaway on the Fine Woodworking website and I'll alert my readers when it is time to participate.
Whether you’re a first time woodworker or an experienced hand wanting to learn more, Wooden Boxes – a special collection from the editors of Fine Woodworking magazine – is perfect for you. Here you’ll find step-by-step instructions for completing nine favorite box projects. These projects – perfect ways to learn a new skill or refine an old one – are gathered from the collections of master craftsmen Doug Stowe and Strother Purdy. Their expert advice allows you to learn new techniques to make your box-building safer, easier, and more efficient.
In my own shop, I'm working on an article for American Woodworker Magazine, and about 50 or 60 other small boxes for gallery sales. The jig at left is for holding a mitered box side on the router table for routing a groove for a hidden spline to fit.

3 comments:

Peter said...

The common wisdom is to allow some room for the top panels in boxes to expand/contract with seasonal changes. Are there any special considerations that need to be taken into account when adding inlay, like a rectangle made with stringing, into a solid wood top panel?
Compliments on the "Complete Illustrated Guide to Box Making". Beautifully done and one of the most useful woodworking books in my collection.

Doug Stowe said...

Peter, Thanks for reading. I consider it virtually impossible to build in expansion/contraction space for string inlay the way it is traditionally done. I've seen string inlay come apart when used across the grain in large panels, but that is one small risk. The larger the cross-grained string or inlay, the greater the likelihood of problems.

On small boxes the trouble may be negligible.

I leave some expansion room on box panels because if built too tight, the panel may widen and push the corners of the box apart, and weaken the corner joints. The addition of string inlay will not be enough to do that... in my opinion.

Anil Chopra said...

Yes i,m satisfied with Mr. doug stowe. He is right