Years ago I came across an old house that was being renovated and spotted a piece of 2×4 sticking out of the trash so I grabbed it. Since the growth rings were very tight and thought that I would build a nice box for some of my mechanical pencils with it.

After planing the lumber and cutting the 2×4 into quarter sawn strips I glued a few of them up to create the base and the lid for my box.

Hand planing and sanding the wood now saves a bunch of time down the road.

I was only concerned about the inside dimensions of the box which were:

  • 180mm long
  • 90mm wide
  • 25mm deep

After cutting the pieces to length, I needed to cut a thin groove down the length of the sides in this case 25mm from one edge.

The front also needed to be cut through in order to allow for the lid to slide through.

In order to shape the lid, I used my block plane to chamfer the edge until it slid easily through the groove. Once the lid fit I then shaped the lid by blending the chamfer into a nice easy curve.

To lend a hand with the glue up I used my 1x2x3 blocks to make sure things were nice and square. I also started off using Wood glue, then switched to CA glue as it is plenty strong enough and sets up much faster.

After the glue had cured it was time for some light sanding, mainly to remove the CA glue that soaked out.

Once everything eas sanded to 400 grit I applied a few thin coats of tung oil.

Author

My name is Adam Patterson and I am located in Canada. By day, I am a full-time web developer, but in my spare time, I love to make stuff. In my videos, you will find a variety of woodworking projects that I have created out of recycled and found materials. As a father and mountain biker, I enjoy spending time outdoors and capturing my adventures through photography.

Pin It