Building a Deck Box
Some of you may have noticed I haven’t been too active lately. Thankfully I remain in good health, but life has been super busy. I’ve missed woodworking and creating things with my hands, though, so I ended up making a small card/deck box for a friend. Small boxes are great! You can knock one out in a day or so, and this felt like a good project to get me back into some woodworking. If any of you have played Magic the Gathering, it’s a box to hold that sort of cards… most people buy cardboard or plastic boxes to keep their cards in, but this was meant to be a special thank you. Anyways, feel free to click through the pictures or grab a cup of coffee or tea and read on.
![A wooden box with a figured lid, dovetail joinery, and hasp.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/01.jpeg)
Because this was a spur-of-the-moment project, I picked over my offcuts and found some 1” thick “bacon padauk”, a 1/4” thick piece of padauk, and some 1/2” thick and 3.5” wide poplar. A quck drawing later, and I determined my box would be 6” wide, 4.75” tall, and 4” deep.
![Three uncut boards of poplar and padauk.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/02.jpeg)
![Dimensional plans for a small 6 inch long by 4 inch wide by 4.75 inch tall box drawn in pencil.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/03.jpeg)
Because my poplar was 3.5” wide, and I wanted the box (before the lid) to be 4.25” tall, I needed to glue some boards. So I used my 1/4” thick padauk and quickly laminated and planed up a board that was 4.25” wide and about 24” long. By quickly, I mean it took me about 3 hours. I did all the ripping, jointing, and planing by hand. And I had to be careful not to glue one section of the board that would later make the lid.
![A workbench with a number 7 hand plane, brush, and jointed board of poplar with a thin stripe of padauk down the center.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/04.jpeg)
![A picture of a Record 043 plane sitting on top of several pieces of poplar with a groove cut on one side.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/05.jpeg)
I also needed a lid, so I cut my paduak around a paticularly interesting section (to me), and then marked and planed it down to 1/2” thick.
![A piece of padauk clamped in the vise.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/06.jpeg)
As I had my sides, I ran a groove for the bottom with a Record 043. This little plane belonged to a former VTP member, Francis d’Aguilar, and I think of him every time I use it. The plan was originally going to do rabbet joints with dowels, but that was before I chose padauk, and I wasn’t super excited about making dowels… so I found my favorite dovetail saw and pivoted to much more challenging mitered dovetails. Poplar is soft and brittle, and I didn’t have extra stock prepared, so this would have to be cut right the first time. I took my time (about 30 minutes per joint) to lay out, cut, cope, and chisel. Luckily things fit pretty tightly with only a few uneven gaps on the miters.
![The front side of a mitered dovetail joint.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/07.jpeg)
![The inside of a mitered dovetail joint.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/08.jpeg)
I beveled the bottom and slid it in, then realized made it too long. This was quickly fixed with my Stanley 150 miter box and shooting board.
![A picture of a box standing on one end with a padauk panel slid into the bottom groove.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/09.jpeg)
Some glue up for the top, I rummaged up some hinges, mortised them in, and added a hasp. At this point I had spent just about a whole day on the box, but it just needed finish. I saved that for the next day.
![The box lid in clamps next to the assembled caracass.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/10.jpeg)
![Showing the back side of the box with hinges mortised into place.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/11.jpeg)
![A view of the lid and front of the box with a brass hasp.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/12.jpeg)
For a finish, I went with Odie’s Oil on the outside only. Why? Well I chose Odie’s OIl because it’s easy and is quite nice to handle. I left the inside unfinished because you don’t want oils or waxes getting absorbed into the box’s contents. After a couple hours in the sun, I buffed it off, brushed on a coat of Alfie Shine, and then let it sit overnight. The next morning (we’re now on Monday) I buffed everything out, added another coat of Alfie Shine, and left it again for most of the day before giving it a final buff.
![Viewing the inside of the box with two decks of cards and a drawstring bag.](/assets/images/building-a-basic-box/13.jpeg)
So that was it. A weekend project, and a nice little box!