Cedar storage box

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OK, so this project is a lot like the elm hassock just posted. Dimensions are very similar (14" x 14" x 15" high), but instead of blind mitered dovetails it uses blind mitered box joints. Not sure that change saved me any time, but that was the hope. This box includes a lid with a raised panel that added some steps. It will not receive a finish. 


 Again the process started with an old cedar board salvaged from a closet in an old house. This one was clear 7/8" cedar about 16" wide and 60" long. A bit cupped, but far easier than the elm to flatten and thickness. It was sawn into 4 equal parts, squared, and labeled. The lid and bottom panels were from some 1/2" pine (I think) from the same closet - also 16" wide. 
The 4 sides just prior to miter trimming.
I did all layout and miter trimming before ripping the lid sides off the main pieces in order for the parts to fit and match. The lid and side rabbets still had to be removed so the lid actually ends up lower by the distance of the overlapping rabbets, but with straight grain it should not be too obvious. 
The lid was rip cut off after the miter trimming.

Side piece, rabbet cutting with kiwa-kanna.
  So once the rabbets for the lid and sides were cut and the miters trimmed and pared I made the top and bottom panels. To try my hand at dressing up a raised panel I carved the corners of the raised lid panel. 

Here are all the parts prior to assembly.


And after...

 I made a small wooden triangle stamp and used it to mark the matching lid side and box side with aligned red triangle marks to help with lid fitting. I had marked the lid and side parts so they would not get mixed up. That kept the original pieces together so the grain (and dimensions, miters, etc) would match as intended. 
Not easy to see the red alignment triangles in this pic. 

Comments

Unknown said…
It looks like a tremendous amount of work. But looks like it really paid off! The final storage box looks impeccably put together! Thank you for sharing your method with us.
June 22, 2016 at 11:04 PM
Peter Mac said…
Thank you, Nathan. Yes, it takes time but there are no machine setups, no screaming power tools, and it is at times a workout. This kind of project you can do in a small space with basic tools. It is far from perfect - I did not intend for the corners where the lid meets the box to be large radii, but I planed one off by mistake and had to then do the same to all others. My goal is to make that seam nearly invisible. Next time.
June 25, 2016 at 5:43 PM
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