Contoured keepsake box

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Norman Pope
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1 Contoured keepsake box 2012 ugust Home Publishing Co.

Designer Series Project contoured Keepsake ox reat-looking veneer and hardwood plus a few interesting woodworking techniques add up to a memorable project.

2 Designer Series Project contoured Keepsake ox reat-looking veneer and hardwood plus a few interesting woodworking techniques add up to a memorable project. keepsake box is something that just about everyone appreciates. nd an elegant design like the one shown above is suitable for any occasion. On top of that, you can enjoy trying out a few interesting woodworking techniques that go into making the box. Splined miters and contoured sides are the focal points of the basic box. he hinged lid not only has an interesting profile, but it features a veneered center panel trimmed with thin, inlaid banding. used an easy and reliable method to veneer the panel without using an expensive vacuum press or any special tools. he best thing about this project is that you can find most of the material you ll need to build it in the scrap bin. ny hardwood will do just fine. ( chose mahogany.) You can change the look of the box by choosing matching material for the splines, or use a contrasting wood, like did. nd since it only requires a small piece of veneer, you can look for an interesting piece without spending a fortune. While this box may be small, it s a timeless piece that will show off your skills. t s hard to imagine a better way to spend your shop time. 1 WoodsmithPlans.com WS ugust Home Publishing Co. ll Rights Reserved.

3 NO: ront, back, and sides are planed to thickness from #/4"-thick stock CK NO: ox will be tapered and shaped after assembly 2!/2 C OO 8 SD ven though the finished appearance of the keepsake box is elegant and contoured, it begins as a very straightforward, rectangular assembly. Later, you ll add splines in the corners and taper the outside. ill the Stock. he front, back, and sides of the box are all 5 8 " thick. So started by planing some 3 4 "-thick stock to this thickness. hen cut the pieces to final width and rough length, as shown in the main drawing above. roove. he box below shows how used a standard blade to cut the groove for the bottom. y moving the rip fence slightly between 7 Size groove to match thickness of plywood 11 NO: ront, back, and sides are %/8"-thick hardwood. ottom is " plywood building the mitered ox passes you can sneak up on the correct width to match the thickness of the plywood. Cutting perfect miters. Since you ll shape the sides of the box, it s very important that the miter joints are as close to perfect as possible. You can start by tilting the saw blade 45. Here, you ll want to take the time to set this angle accurately. hen attach an auxiliary fence to the miter gauge. he auxiliary fence backs up the cut, and stops it from tearing out on the back side. also attached adhesive-backed sandpaper to the fence to prevent the workpiece from slipping during the cut. RON 12 Now you can cut one end of each piece. he right drawing below shows how used a #/8 stop block to keep the length of opposite sides exactly the same. his step is critical to assembling tight miter joints. ssembly. or the final steps to assembling the box, lay out all four pieces against a straightedge with their inside faces down and tape across each joint. hen, cut the plywood bottom and dry fit the assembly. inally, add glue to the miters, insert the bottom in the groove, and bring the pieces together, taping the final corner. SCON VW %/8 2!/2 How-o: Prepare the ront, ack, & Sides Sandpaper holds piece in place Stop block Cut groove in two passes to match thickness of plywood #/8 ux. fence roove. irst, cut the upper edge of the groove. hen bump the rip fence in to sneak up on a good fit for the bottom. iter to Length. With an auxiliary fence on the miter gauge and the blade set to 45, start by cutting one end of each workpiece. hen set up a stop block to cut the opposite end to final length. 2 WoodsmithPlans.com WS ugust Home Publishing Co. ll Rights Reserved.

CROSS SCON SD VW Refer to Shop Notebook on page 7 for details on making and using the slot-cutting jig PR NS NO: his RS: his is SCOND: his HRD: his!/16 #/4 #/8 his is callout text R!

4 CROSS SCON SD VW Refer to Shop Notebook on page 7 for details on making and using the slot-cutting jig PR NS NO: his RS: his is SCOND: his HRD: his!/16 #/4 #/8 his is callout text R!/2 %/8 &/8 S H V sing contrasting wood for splines adds an interesting decorative detail { he corner block makes it possible to clamp the splines in position. RS: Cut slots for splines completing the ox J W K X L Y With the box assembled, the next order of business is to cut slots in the corners and add the splines. s you can see in the box below, use a simple, shop-made jig to hold the box at the proper angle to cut the slots. You can find the plans for making the jig on page 7. Cut the slots. sing the jig is a reliable way to accurately cut the slots. ut there are a couple of things to set up first. Start by setting the blade height to cut through the jig to the correct depth on the corners. You can see what mean in detail b above. 1 2 SCOND: lue splines in place D SPLNS SD VW ake test cuts through the jig and measure the blade height to get it set properly. Since the jig rides against the rip fence, all you need to do is set the fence to the correct spacing for each slot. Detail a shows the positions of the slots. ake the splines. he center drawing below shows an easy way to cut splines from a piece of contrasting stock. ( used walnut.) Plane or #/4!/2!/2 b. HRD: rim splines then sand flush Splines are resawn from thicker stock to fit slots OP VW!!/16 sand the splines for a snug fit. hey should not be so tight they need to be pounded in place. fter applying glue, used a piece of scrap with beveled edges as a clamping aid, as you see in the margin photo at left. flush-cutting saw makes short work of trimming waste from the splines. hen, a little sanding is all it takes to smooth out the sides of the box. nd since subsequent How-o: Create Slots & Splines ND VW Kerf thickness lushcutting saw Slotcutting jig b. ND VW 1 NO: Secure box in vise to trim splines Rip blade Cutting the Spline Slots. Hold the box firmly in position in the jig as you cut the slots for the splines. Contrasting wood for spline stock Ripping Spline Stock. Set the rip fence and cut (detail a ), then flip the workpiece over and repeat. Cut the splines free as in detail b. rimming. sing a flush-cutting saw, carefully trim the waste to avoid breaking off the splines. 3 WoodsmithPlans.com WS ugust Home Publishing Co. ll Rights Reserved.

5 SD VW PR NS NO: his RS: Rout centered hinge mortise while sides are square 10!/32 HRD: evel sides on the table saw RS: his is SCOND: his HRD: his!/16 #/4 #/8!/2 %/8 &/8 SCOND: Rout roundover on lower edge his is callout text CROSS SCON D Q R S H V J W K X L Y OVRLL operations DNSONS: rely on the sides riding against the fence on the table saw CROSS and SCON router table, having the sides flat is important for getting consistent, even cuts. Hinge ortise. he lid is connected OP VW to the box with a continuous (piano) hinge. o get a good fit for SD VW the lid, the hinge needs to be mortised into the back edge of the box. PR NS he depth of the mortise equals the full thickness of the hinge. (he lid isn t mortised.) NO: his he edge of the box is too narrow to support the router during this cut. RS: his nd is there s a risk of tearout if you try this on the router table. So used SCOND: an his easier way to rout the mortise. simply sandwiched the back of the box between a couple of support blocks. With the blocks taped in place, there s plenty of surface area to safely rout away most of the waste for the hinge mortise, as you can see in the left drawing below. hen squared up the ends of the mortise with a chisel. Routing the ottom dges. Next, used a roundover bit to add a visual detail to the lower edge of the box. he center drawing below shows how this profile creates a small foot on the base. eveling the Sides. he beveled sides provide a very distinctive look for the box. he bevel also gives the hickness of hinge 11 #/8" radius illusion that the splines are each a different size. You can safely make this bevel cut by installing a rip blade and tilting the blade 11. he right drawing below has the details. t s not unusual to get a little bit of burning here, so be sure to use a sharp, clean blade. inish up with a good sanding. 2 R HRD: his!/16 #/4 Shape the ox #/8!/2 %/8 &/8 Support blocks his is callout text S H J K L V W X Y ttach support blocks with double-sided tape hickness of hinge CROSS SCON Hinge ortise. y taping support blocks to both sides of the back, routing the hinge mortise is a breeze. #/8" roundover bit Rout. sing a roundover bit, rout the bottom edges. y making multiple, shallow passes you ll get a clean profile. urn box upside down to cut bevels ilt blade 11 ND VW 79 eveling the Sides. With the box upsidedown on the table saw, sight down the edge to set the fence. 4 WoodsmithPlans.com WS ugust Home Publishing Co. ll Rights Reserved.

6 OP VW OVRLL DNSONS: SD VW SCON VW PR NS 2#/4 Chain anchor NO: his OP VW RS: his is SD VW SCOND: his PR NS HRD: his NO: his!/16 #/4 3 RS: his is #/8!/2 %/8 &/8 NO: Lid frame pieces are made from #/4"-thick stock 11#/4 making the H J K L #/4 Veneered Lid his is callout text HRD: his N O P Q #/8 R S!/2 %/8 &/8V W X Y N O C C P D!/16 D Q SCOND: his his is callout text R S H Cut ball chain to final length (6") V hinged lid completes the look of the box. he beveled edge of the lid complements the tapered sides of the box. ut the veneered panel and K Linlaid border really make the box stand out. X Y Start with the Panel. fter finding a special piece of figured veneer, prepared a slightly oversize plywood panel to use as a substrate. Since this is a very small panel, you can glue the veneer to the substrate using only clamps and some cauls. he cauls are just a couple of 3 4 "-thick flat panels slightly larger than the lid panel. J W #/8 LD RON Purchased inlay banding NO: Lid panel cut to final size after gluing veneer to oversized plywood panel 9 elt lining glued in place after assembly NO: o make lid, see How-o box (next page) LD CK Veneer applied glue and attached veneer to both sides of the panel. Next, sandwiched the panel between two cauls with waxed paper in between to prevent the panel from sticking to the cauls. hen, just place several clamps around the assembly. or this kind of glueup, like to let the panel stay under clamping pressure longer than normal to ensure a good bond. So after letting How-o: Create the Veneered Lid & nlay 5 Continuous hinge b. c. NO: Center hinge in mortise and measure final length from center to leave even-sized knuckles on both ends LD PNL nlay 1!/2 SCON VW Veneer 7#/4 LD SD #/4 SCON VW the glue set up overnight, you can remove it from the clamps and cauls and trim it to final size. Rabbet & Recess. s you can see in detail c above, you ll need to rabbet the edges of the panel to fit into the frame. n addition, you ll also need to cut a very shallow recess for the inlay banding. hen glue the banding in place in the shallow groove (see How-o box below). ux. fence RS: iter and install one edge fter veneering the lid panel, cut the rabbet using a dado blade Sneak up on depth and width Width of inlay SCOND: ove on to the next piece Rabbet. With an auxiliary fence installed, bury the dado blade and cut the rabbet on the outside edges of the panel. Rout Channel for nlay. sing a straight bit, rout the very shallow channel to hold the narrow inlay banding. nstall the nlay. it each piece of inlay one at a time, mitering the corners with a sharp chisel or plane iron. 5 WoodsmithPlans.com WS ugust Home Publishing Co. ll Rights Reserved.

7 W VW WVW W W VW W NS S NS S Lid rame. o hold the veneered : his panel, made a mitered frame. Of his : his course, it will become the lid of the his S: his is box, but you ll go through the same his : ishis is sort of process as you would for his OND: is hismaking a picture frame. OND: his : his his t may look like a complicated D: his his RD: his task, but the step-by-step instructions at right break it down into his D: his his easier, single cuts. #/4 fter selecting the stock and milling it to final size, head over to the /4!/2#/4 #/4 #/4 %/8 #/4 &/8 #/4!/2 %/8 &/8 &/8 table saw and cut a groove to fit %/8 &/8 %/8 &/8 &/8 the tongue on the panel. hen tilt the s is callout t saw blade 30 and cut the bevel on allout is callout the lower inside edge, as shown in allout Step 2 and in the detail. H J K L ssembly. t this point, you can S HH H J J V KK miter JW L L KX L the Y H J K L frame pieces using the S VV W WV same XX WY Y X techniques Y as before. Once V W X Y that s complete, install the panel and assemble the frame. he remaining steps to create the profile are finalized after assembly. Completing the Profile. Now, cut the shallow notch shown in Step 3 to create the shoulder of the raised panel profile. he final bevel cut, as in Step 4, should just meet the edge of the notch, as shown in detail a of Step 4. n the final two steps, you ll rout a shallow rabbet on the underside of the frame and round over the edge, as well. he rabbet you rout in Step 5 creates a lip for the lid to rest on the upper edge of the box. fter completing the rabbet, install a roundover bit and rout the profile to soften the appearance of the lid, as in Step 6. inal details. y now, you ve got a good fit for the lid. here are just a few final details to complete. fter cutting the hinge to length 3/4" x 5" - 96" RCH (3.33 d. t.) with a hacksaw, used double-sided tape to hold it in position while installing the screws. Now you can apply your favorite finish to the box before you install the chain and anchors, as you see in detail a on the previous page. inally, glue a felt lining in the bottom of the box. he result of your effort is an attractive lidded box that s sure to gain a prominent spot in the home. nd, of course, a lot of admiration from your friends and family. How-o: ake the Lid rame 1 Rip blade roove. With a rip blade installed, cut the shallow groove that will hold the veneered top panel in the frame. 3 4 Cut groove to create shoulder for bevel Shoulder. fter assembling the frame, cut a very shallow groove that will define the border of the frame s top. 5 6!/2" straight bit!%/16 #/32!/2 hickness of veneer panel Rout the Lip. With a straight bit installed in the router table, rout the rabbets to form the bottom lip of the lid. 2 ilt blade 30 ilt blade 15 to trim waste Outside evel. s you did earlier on the box sides, carefully sight the edge of the saw blade to meet the shoulder. " roundover bit aterials & Supplies and Cutting Diagram Waste nside evel. he next step is to tilt the blade 30 and cut the bevel on the inside edge of each of the frame pieces. Round Over the dge. Complete the profile of the frame by adding the roundover to soften the look of the lower edge. ront/ack (2) 5 8 x (1) 16mm x 780mm Continuous rass Hinge Sides (2) 5 8 x (10) #1 x 3 8 " h rass Woodscrews C ottom (1) 1 4 ply. - 7 x 11 "irch plywood (1) #3 all 12"x Chain 24" D Splines (12) 1 8 x 1-2 (2) #3 Chain nd nchors Lid Panel (1) 1 4 ply x 9 1 C 4 (2) #4 x 3 8 " Rh rass Screws Lid ront/ack (2) 3 4 x (1) " x " elt Lid Sides (2) 3 4 x (2) 6" x 12" Veneer (1) 36" nlay anding "irch plywood 12"x 24" C #/4"x 5"- 48" ahogany (1.7 d. t.) LSO NDD: Contrasting wood for splines #/ ND VW 6 WoodsmithPlans.com WS ugust Home Publishing Co. ll Rights Reserved. #/4"x 5"- 48" ahogany (1.7 d. t.)

8 N OP VW SD VW PR NS tips C D from H J K L our shop O P Q R S V W X Y RS: his is #8 x 1#/4" h woodscrew SCOND: his #8 x 1!/2" h woodscrew HRD: his #8 x 1" h woodscrew!/16 # C C D D H H J J K K L L N N O O P P Q Q rass ple V V WW X X NW CROSS SCON RN R R Y Y S S Splined ND ND iters VW 17 PR NS!/16 o strengthen the miter joints in his the corners ypical Plywood of the keepsake box, #8 x 1" h added woodscrew endgrain (#/4" splines. shown) he splines create additional gluing surface and help NO: his prevent the miter joints from opening up over time. he hardwood splines are glued into slots cut across the miter joints. he easiest way to cut these slots is at the table saw. ut the trick is to hold the box at a 45 angle while cutting the slots. o do this, made a simple jig, like the one shown at right. he jig is just a short fence with a couple of supports that cradle the ntique rass box at the proper angle. color sample s you NW can see in the lower right ND drawing, RN the jig rides against the rip fence of your table saw. his way, you can use the rip fence to position ypical Plywood the slots on the box. endgrain fter you set the rip fence for the (#/4" first shown) (bottom) slot, simply rotate the box to cut identical slots on all four corners before moving on to the next (middle) slot. #8 x 1" h wood-screw ence NO: Jig is built out of #/4" plywood NO: lue and screw fence to supports NO: se rip blade for flat-bottomed kerfs Support NO: Locate screws above height of saw blade SD SCON VW ox 12 Support!!/16 ux. fence 7 WoodsmithPlans.com WS ugust Home Publishing Co. ll Rights Reserved.

9 L ORDR SORCS Woodsmith Store Lee Valley leevalley.com eneral inishes generalfinishes.com Project Sources ll of the hardware used for the contoured-side box is available from Lee Valley. his includes the hinge (00D52.16), hinge screws ( X), ball chain ( ), chain end anchors ( ), and brass chain screws (91Y04.01X). he felt used to line the box can be purchased at a fabric store. o finish the box, we wiped on a coat of eneral inishes Seal--Cell and then sprayed on two coats of lacquer. 8 WoodsmithPlans.com WS ugust Home Publishing Co. ll Rights Reserved.

ribbon handle box 2010 August Home Publishing Co.

ribbon handle box 2010 August Home Publishing Co. ribbon handle box 00 ugust Home Publishing Co. eature Project Ribbon Handle ox This imaginative design not only makes a wonderful gift, it s also a great way to build your woodworking skills. Ithink of