Weighted Base Box Build Process

19/11/2021

I've pretty much given up on trying to find a hinge that's any good for the box. I think the box is just too small for anything but some very low quality hinges. As much as I really wanted this box to have a hinged lid, it's never going to get finished if I keep hoping to find something, so I decided to just make a simple loose lid for it. On the off-chance I ever find a decent small hinge, I can always remove the loose lid and cut slots for the hinges.

I had a small off-cut of American Black Walnut that was the perfect width, so I trimmed a bit off to get the other dimension right, shot it square on the shooting board and then tried out my "new" Stanley #45 to cut a rebate all the way round:

It needed a bit of cleaning up (mainly because of the spur that helps when cutting cross-grain), but I was quite pleased with how it went. I then used my block plane to chamfer in lots of places and, partly because of the body of the block plane leaving some rub marks and partly because the cross-grain rebate cutting didn't leave a very clean surface, I tidied it up with some sandpaper, going all the way to 320 grit on the rebates as I couldn't realistically sand with the grain.

That just left a test-fit. If I hold the box upside down, the lid stays put in either orientation, but if I lift the lid, it comes off without lifting the box (which is much heavier than the lid, obviously).

I'm not convinced about the colour of the walnut with the other woods (padauk and maple) so I may make a maple replacement in due course. I used walnut mainly because I had an offcut that was nearly perfect in size. I think I'll give it a couple of coats of oil (probably "Mike's Magical Mix" - Tung Oil, White Spirit & Varnish) and then decide how I feel about the look before deciding to make a new lid.

Page Navigation:

This website is free, but costs me money to run. If you'd like to support this site, please consider making a small donation or sending me a message to let me know what you liked or found useful.