A box

[trungdok]

I finished making a blanket chest to fit under my window a few weeks back. There are a few pine boards left over from that project so I decided to try making a box. The decision was inspired by all the beautiful boxes I've seen on here.

Well, here it is. It's made out of pine, stained, shellac, and then waxed. There are quite a few tearouts and one of the corners of the lid got chipped so I decided to make it "rustic." It's nothing to write home about, but it was interesting. You can't really tell from the pictures but there are many spots where the shellac was runny and I couldn't sand them out. Other than that, I actually enjoyed working on it a lot. I see many more boxes to be made in the future.

The few things I learned:
1. I hate finishing work. I can spend a few days working on a project, but can't stand a day doing finishing work.
2. Tearouts are easy to do, especially on pine. I really have to pay attention to the grain or else.
3. Chiseling pine sucks, even with a sharp chisel.
4. I learned how important a set on hand saw is. I used the Japanese style pull saw from HF. At first my crosscuts are not that pretty. Then I hammered the teeth to lower the set and the result was night and day.

[jking]

I really like the shape of the box. Did you band saw the sides to get the curved shape?

[trungdok]

jking, I used the table saw -- tilted the blade at some angle to cut up to roughly the center of the box, cut all 4 sides, flip it, and then repeat. After that, I come in with the block plane to shape it a bit.

[Bruce Cohen]

Don't Apologize

Well, here it is. It's made out of pine, stained, shellac, and then waxed. There are quite a few tearouts and one of the corners of the lid got chipped so I decided to make it "rustic." It's nothing to write home about, but it was interesting. You can't really tell from the pictures but there are many spots where the shellac was runny and I couldn't sand them out. Other than that, I actually enjoyed working on it a lot. I see many more boxes to be made in the future.

Trung,
Never apologize for your work. Everyone starts out making "mistakes", or finishes a piece that isn't up to a standard you're not experienced enough to achieve.

When I first started out and to a much minor degree today, my stuff isn't perfect. Its the sheer enjoyment you get out of creating something from a simple piece of wood. That simple board then takes on your feelings and contains a great deal of your energy, so what you may refer to as "goofs" are really the steps one takes to get better.

Some of my early stuff, although it still exists, has never been shown to anyone, including my wife. But I keep it around just look at and realize why I have gotten to a point where I feel confident in showing a finished piece to a stranger.
There are many "woodworkers" who never have the energy to accomplish what you have, regardless of what you think about it. Keep that in mind and
remember that at least you did do it.

Also, we never stop learning.

Bruce

[JoeyGee]

I like the shape and the size. I also like the "rustic" look. Good job. It beats the heck out of any box I've produced lately.

I agree on finishing. I am usually in too much of a hurry to see the finished product and I ruin the project at the end by rushing.

[LCHIEN]

I'm puzzled. You say its a blanket chest. But judging from the pegboard in the background that usually has 1" spacing for the holes, it looks like your box is about 12 x 12 x 4". What kind of blanket fits in that?

But it does look nice, the sides give it a sculpted feel.

[Carpenter96]

He made the box out of the scraps left over from the blanket box. By the way nice job.

Regards Bob

[trungdok]

I'm puzzled. You say its a blanket chest. But judging from the pegboard in the background that usually has 1" spacing for the holes, it looks like your box is about 12 x 12 x 4". What kind of blanket fits in that?

But it does look nice, the sides give it a sculpted feel.

Very small ones... lol. I meant to say that the box was made with leftover woods from the blanket chest.

It is about 6" x 6" x 4" -- around there. I didn't really followed any measurement.

Trung,
Never apologize for your work.

Thanks Bruce. I have no problem showing my mistakes. I'm a newbie and always making mistakes and learning from them. If my work looks good - win for me. If my work looks bad, then someone on here would feel good about their work - win for them. It's a win-win situation After all, I just want to show something being done to contribute to the community.

[billwmeyer]

I recently took a scroll saw course. My instructor insists that they are not mistakes. You are just altering the design.
Bill