Wooden Box Project

By: Lex Sidhu

LexingtonAngadSinghSidhu.weebly.com 2023/2024
 Table of contents
01 Designing the Box 08 Raising the Grain

02 Picking the Wood 09 Dadoing (Rabbeting) the Sides

03 Splitting the Wood 10 Cutting the Base

04 Gluing the Wood 11 Sanding the Base

05 Planing the Wood 12 Finding the Lid

06 Cutting the Wood 13 Cutting the Grooves

07 Sanding the Wood 14 Entrance for the Lid

 Table of contents
15 Fitting the Base 22 Filling in the Gaps

16 Cutting the Glass 23 Adding Finish to the Wood

17 Smoothing the Lid’s Edges 24 Adding Vinyl

18 Gluing the Box 25 Finished Product

19 Smoothing the Lid’s Entrance

20 Lasering my Lid

21 Final Sanding
 Designing the Box #1

Before doing anything, I used paper to

make an orthographic of my box with
exact measurements, after that, I used
Sketchup to build a near replica of my
box in 3D, giving me a better idea of
what my box would be like when I was
done.
 Picking the Wood #2

For the next step, I took a look at many

pieces of wood to find the closest one
that would fit my needs with the least
amount of waste. To do this, I used a
ruler to measure out the exact height
(around 4”) and width (around ½”) of
my wood while also checking if it was
long enough (around 32”).
 Splitting the Wood #3

Once I picked my wood, I had one piece of

walnut, and one piece of maple, I then cut
my piece of walnut into two at a slight offset
to glue my piece of maple into. While cutting
the walnut, I raised the blade ¼ above the
wood. During this process, I had my sleeves
rolled up, had hearing and eye protection on
and stayed out of the line of fire of possible
pushback.
 Gluing the Wood #4

Once I cut my walnut into two pieces, I

rubbed glue on both sides of my maple
and two sides of my walnut, then
clamped them together to create one
two toned piece of wood.
 Planing the Wood #5

Before this process, I used a glue scraper to

scrape off all the large glue blobs on my wood,
then I put my piece of wood through the
planer, increasing the height of the table (by
about ¼ to ½ turns) as I kept planing to remove
more of the excess material until it was flat. I
used hearing and eye protection during this
process.
 Cutting the Wood #6

I used a mitre saw to cut my piece into two sets of

equally sized parts, I did this using the help of a saw
block, bringing my piece of wood gently to the saw
block, and then adjusting that on my second set of
cuts so I would have two pieces that were the same
length, and two other pieces that were the same
length. I used my left hand to keep the cuts straight
and keep the wood from moving. I used hearing and
eye protection during this process as well as rolling
up my sleeves.
 Sanding the Wood #7

I used palm sanders and orbital sanders

to sand my wood to become as smooth
as possible. I first went 60 grit to 100 grit
to 320 grit. I used a palm sander for 60
and 100 grit, while using an orbital
sander for 320 grit. During this process, I
was wearing hearing and eye protection.
 Raising the Grain #8

After I sanded my wood, I put water on

my hand and slightly wet each side of my
wood that I used 320 grit on. This caused
the grain to raise, no longer making the
wood feel smooth, and removed all the
dust. After that, I re-sanded the wood at
320 grit to make it smooth and keep it
staying smooth. Same safety as last slide.
 Dadoing (Rabbeting) the Sides #9

I used a dado table saw to cut rabbets into two

pieces of my wood. Before doing this, I
carefully set the height of the blade and
measured how close the fence needed to be
when I did my cuts. I made sure to hold my
wood down and keep it against the mitre gauge
I was using. I used hearing and eye protection,
rolled up my sleeves, and kept out of the way
of the blade during this process.
 Cutting the Base #10

Once I had the rest of my wood ready, I found a

base, made my measurements, and began to cut
my base down into a reasonable size, although
still leaving it a little bit too large for my box. I did
my cut with a table saw with the blade ¼” above
my wood, and used a push block to pus the wood
through. For safety, I rolled up my sleeves, used
hearing and eye protection and stook out of the
line of pushback.
 Sanding the Base #11

I used a 60 grit palm sander to quick remove

some scratches and drawings from the wood,
being careful not to take too much time
otherwise I could go through the plywood. I
used hearing and eye protection while doing
this.
 Finding the Lid #12

I went around looking for material for my lid,

landing on plexiglass, at which point I looked
for a pieces that was about the same
dimensions of my box, only a small amount
larger.
 Cutting the Grooves #13

I used the table saw to cut the grooves in my wood

that my base would fit into. I took out the riving
knife during this process, I also set the blade to
about half the thickness of my wood and moved the
blade about ¼” away from the edge of my wood.
Once I cut all my pieces, I kept cutting one piece until
the base and lid loosely fit into the grooves, and then
ran all the other pieces at that same setting. I used
eye and hearing protection, as well as rolling up my
sleeves and staying out of the line of kickback.
 Entrance for the Lid #14

I used the table saw with the riving knife

in to cut off the top of one of the end
pieces of my box. I did this so that I could
slide my lid in. I raised the blade ¼”
above the height of the wood and used a
push stick to help cut the wood. I used all
the same safety as in step #13.
 Fitting the Base #15

After cutting the groves for my base, I slowly

cut my base down, only a tiny bit at a time until
it fit the exact size of my box. I used a mitre
gauge for all cuts that were too against the
grain, or cutting on the wide side, and used
fence and a push block for all long side cuts. I
used same safety as in #13.
 Cutting the Glass #16

I used a table saw to cut my glass lid using the

same steps as in step #15, but I didn’t make the
glass fit my box exactly, as I left the long side a
little extra long so I could easily hold it when I
wanted to open and close the lid. I used the
same safety as in step #13.
 Smoothing the Lid’s Edges #17

I used file to smooth down the sharp edges of

the corners of the glass. I did two files at 20° on
each corner, and one filing session at 40° on all
corners to make the edges feel and look
rounded. I did this using hearing and eye
protection.
 Gluing the Box #18

I used similar procedures as in step #2 during

this step to glue together my box, gluing both
sides of the wood I wanted to attach, leaving
my base in but not gluing it so expansion
doesn’t break it, and clamping it in well. A
machinist square is also useful to ensure that
the corners on the inside are 90°. I used all the
same safety as in step #4.
 Smoothing the Lid’s Entrance #19

I used a chisel to slowly etch away at the from

lip of my box, as it was causing my lid to not
enter and exit smoothly, although I ended up
taking off too much wood. I used caution to not
cut myself or have my fingers or hand in the
way of the blade.
 Lasering my Lid #20

I used the internet to get an image of

sunglasses, I then flipped the image and sized it
appropriately, afterwords, I followed the guide
from my laser journal and lasered onto the
back of my glass, which on the top side, shows
a long-lasting laser etch of glasses on the lid of
my box.
 Final Sanding #21

I used the belt sander to remove any sticking-

out wood from the gluing process and then re-
sanded with the appropriate grits. While using
the belt sander, I made sure to keep my head
somewhere where I could see what I was
doing. I used hearing protection, eye
protection, and rolled-up sleeves for safety.
 Filling in the Gaps #22

I used glue and put it on my finger to dab onto

the little holes where I originally glued the box
together. While the glue was still wet, I used a
palm sander to cover the glue in sawdust and
close the gaps. I used hearing protection during
this process.
 Adding Finish to the Wood #2

Once I had my wood all smooth, I was ready to

add my finish, I used a clear coat finish on my
wood for a finish that would show the beauty
of my wood, and I used a very small amount,
dabbing it onto a paper towel and covering my
box in it. Once I was done with this, I would be
pretty much done with my box. I made sure not
to spill any or use too much and used eye
protection.
 Adding Vinyl #24

Once I had my box all ready to go, I cut and

weeded out some vinyl stickers that I used to
stick onto my box, I used the guide and there is
more information on what I did in my journal. I
used caution for safety.
Finished Product #25