Weighted Base Box Build Process

26/9/2021

The next job was to start making the box bits. I've decided to make the lid separately (so it can overhang a bit); that means that I don't have to allow for the size of it when making the box base, so I marked up the height I wanted the base to be and filled in the marked line with a pencil to make it clearer:

I then put the two boards (one at a time) in the vice from my portable workbench and cut a millimetre or so to the side of the line:

This gave me two slightly oversize boards:

Which could be planed to the line with my #5:

There were some rough bits on the face near the ends (where I didn't scrape enough), but the boards are much longer than needed for this tiny box, so I picked out some good bits and marked the two boards and which bit joined which. Spot the mistake I made here...

I then cut the pieces up (with the two boards together this time):

The result: most of this wood is spare for a future project!

It's not quite right yet:

Next up was the trusty shooting board to turn those right-angles into mitres:

All done and matched so they're all the same length:

It was at this point that I realised my mistake: I'd marked the end of each piece with A, B, C or D so I knew which one joined onto which and then proceeded to plane off the markings. That meant I had to shuffle them around on the bench until I found how they should fit together. As the grain is quite straight, it was quite difficult to figure it out, but I got there in the end. Unfortunately, the only masking tape I could find for a test fit didn't allow me to check the grain pattern but I'm fairly sure it's right!

My plan had been to reduce the size of the box sides until they were a fairly close fit on the lead block, but the trial fit showed I'd have to take a millimetre or two off each side and I realised it would be better to have a gap to allow for expansion/contraction (not that I expect there to be much on a box this size). I had some neoprene (or something like that) sheet in the drawer, so I cut out some pieces to match the size of the lead block and this should hold it in place while allowing for a bit of movement if necessary:

The next job is to plough the grooves for the base and the insert that goes over the lead. My plan at the moment is to use a rebate (rather than a groove) for the base and glue a piece of wood into the rebate. That won't allow any room for expansion/contraction, but the base will only be about 50 mm × 50 mm, so I'm hoping it won't be a problem.

I've also got the challenge of figuring out how to hold such a small piece for ploughing/rebating. I'd wondered about cutting the grooves while the boards were long, but I was worried that there would then be a lot of break-out when shooting the mitres. Hopefully some double-sided tape will allow me to hold them down and cut the slots.

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