A Box for a New Tool
November 23rd, 2008
Turkeys before paint
Turkeys after paint
Sometime in September Sister Thiot (a.k.a. Robynn Thiot) asked me if I would cut out turkeys for a crafts project the Relief Society was doing for Thanksgiving. I agreed and Sister Thiot brought me 12 pieces of pine from which I was to cut out 12 turkeys. This consisted of a head piece, beak, and 5 feathers. When finished, nails are driven into the bottom of the pieces and they are stuck onto a pumpkin. And amazingly it kinda, sorta, does look like a turkey.
shelf-pin jig in original box
Anyway after finishing this up, Sister Thiot rewarded me with a $25 gift certificate to Home Depot. That very same day a tool I had ordered arrived at my home via UPS. The tool is a Veritas Shelf Pin Jig which is used to drill perfectly aligned shelf pin holes in cabinets for adjustable shelves. The tool arrived in a flimsy cardboard box and contained about 30 pieces. My first thought when I opened the box was: “Great! How long until I lose a critical component?”. At that point I realized that I had the perfect solution. Use the $25 Sister Thiot had given me to purchase the oak necessary to make a box to hold the tool. So, I proceeded in that direction.
all the tool parts
After a few failed attempts, I finally hit upon an efficient way to organize the tool in a box about 6″ wide and 30″ long. Based on that design, I drew up detailed plans using Google SketchUp (which is a great little utility by the way). Then I hit the road for Home Depot to purchase the oak; one piece of 3/4″ x 8″ x 8′, and another 3/4″ x 4″ x 8′. After cutting out all the pieces for the box to length/width, I was able to use my new 15″ thickness planer to reduce the stock to 1/2″. Then I made a few dado cuts on the top and sides to facilitate the glupe up, and then I glued the box together. When I was done I had a hollow oak cube. I used the tablesaw to trim about 1/32″ of each end to clean up the inconsistencies in the edges and then used used the tablesaw again to cut the box in half to create the bottom and top.
All the pieces in the box
With the box cut in half, I started adding compartments, and dividers to the bottom of the box to hold all the tools components. With those in place, I added blocks of wood to the top of the box that would hold all the pieces in place when the box was closed to keep them from rattling around. The only thing left unfinished are the holes that need to be drilled for the various sized collars. These will be drilled in the block of wood on the right side of the box once I get a drill press.
I finished the box with an amber shellac to bring out the color of the red oak, then added hinges and locks.
the box before finishing
If your father was a carpenter, or woodworker, you might remember that most of the tools produced 50+ years ago came in nice wooden boxes. This box reminds me of those. It is solid, functional, and beautiful. Now all I need is a place to put the box — I smell another woodworking project coming on…
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