Introduction: Making a Pencil Box From Scrap Wood / Gift Idea!

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About: Hi, I am Jake. Engineer by day, maker by night - I wanted to start a channel to showcase to my projects and inspire you to dream big and create often!

I signed up to do a "woodworking gift exchange" and as always, waiting until the last minute to build my gift!

Procrastinators Unite! TOMORROW!

I wanted to build something cool and modern, so I went with a matchbox design. Essentially a sleeve (zebra wood) and a drawer (cherry) that fit together with a nice slip fit. Oh, and just to up the stakes, I am going to be making a pencil on the lathe, just for an added bonus!

Alright, daylight is burning, let's roll!!

Supplies

These are just the tools and materials I used, but this box could be made way simpler! This of this 'ible as inspiration. :-)

*some of the links in this 'ible may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you choose to purchase. This does not cost you anything. Thanks for your support!

Materials

Tools

Step 1: Prepping the Materials

Ill be using rough sawn cherry for this project, as well as some zebra wood I picked out of the scrap bin at Woodcraft. Since the cherry was super rough, I needed to joint and plane it before breaking down my boards height that I wanted.

Step 2: Making the Pencil

Nearly forgot! Since this project is a pencil box, it deserves a pencil! To save time, I used a mechanical pencil kit that i already had laying around, as well as some pre made walnut and maple blanks. If I wasn't already cutting it close as it was, I decided to try using CA glue as a finish on the pencil. Surprisingly, it came out pretty great for my first time!

Step 3: Resawing on the Table Saw

Since this wood is about 3/4" thick, and that would result in a huge box, I used the table saw to resaw the stock right down the middle.

Note: If you don't have access to a planer, or don't feel comfortable resawing, you can always just buy 1/4" stock and skip this step entirely!

Step 4: Resaw Tip + Safety

Resawing on the table saw can be a little....sketchy. So be safe, leave a little bit of material in the center of the board and then use a handsaw to finish the cut. This will help make sure that the sliced wood doesn't tip into the blade and launch back at you at 78,234,904 miles per hour. Which would hurt.

Step 5: Getting the Thickness Dialed In

With my boards split down the middle, I used my thickness planer to mill the boards to exactly ¼” thick. The thickness isn't super critical, but as an engineer, I like spend way too much time getting my measurements perfectly dialed in.

I prefer dial calipers over digital, because the batteries never die.

Step 6: Trim the Panels to Length

Then I headed back over to the table saw and used my cross cut sled to cut down everything to the correct length. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to have a good crosscut sled with an adjustable stop. I really like this crosscut sled because it can be mounted in either miter slot, which opens up a big range of possibilities.

Step 7: Cutting the Miters

The zebra wood will make up the sleeve, or outer box, of the box. So, I tilted my table saw to 45 degrees using my fancy pants digital angle gauge and starting cutting the miters!

If you’re new to woodworking, these magnetic angle finders are a game changer when setting up your table saw. They are surprisingly affordable and are the best way to dial in an exact angle on your table saw. 

Step 8: Folding a Wooden Box

Gluing up a mitered box like this is a lot easier than it looks. I used the blue tape method where I applied tape to the outside of the panels, essentially making a hinge. Then, all I had to do was apply some glue to the mitered edges, and then roll up the box! 

Easy peasy! 

I still recommend checking that the box is square though, sometimes it can get a little wonky and require a little bit of incentive to get back into square.

Step 9: Quick Tips

First tip: Definitely sand BEFORE gluing the box together. Once assembled, you can't access the inside.

Second Tip: If you get glue squeeze out inside of the box, DON"T WIPE IT AWAY! Leave it as is and let dry for an hour or two. Then, use a chisel to reach inside and scrape it out. Since the glue has already started to cure, it wont smear all over the inside of your box!

Step 10: Starting the Inside Drawer

While the glue was drawing on the outer sleeve/box, I started working on the drawer.

Note: For the bottom of the drawer, I used a thin (1/8") piece of stock, and simply cut the dado using my 1/8" full kerf saw blade! If you don't have a full kerf blade, just cut your bottom piece a little thinner.

Step 11: Don't Do It This Way

Cutting the miters on the ends of the inner box panels was…a little sketchy. I added some extra blocks to my fence to help hold the piece, but my fingers were still a lot closer to the blade of doom than I would have liked. 

Next time, I'll make a purpose built mini cross cut sled for tasks like this. Safety first!

Step 12: Gluing the Inside Drawer

Since this cherry was…rustic, I had to fill the bug holes with CA glue and activator. You can buy black CA glue now, which looks super cool, but since this is getting painted, I opted for clear. After sanding down the panels, it was time for another glue up!

Step 13: Gift Exchange + Quick Tip!

While we wait for the glue to dry on the drawer, I wanted to talk about the gift exchange. A few of us woodworkers are each building a cool gift box, and then shipping them to each other. I just got my box from Married Man Woodworking and it is totally awesome. As a bonus, he sent me this awesome mallet ornament!

Alright, lets get back to the build!

Here is a link to the playlist of ALL the awesome builds!

QUICK TIP! I noticed some gaps on the outer box corners. I decided to use some titebond 3 to fill these in, and then scrape them with a chisel. Since titebond 3 dries brown, it blends in perfectly with the zebra wood and makes me look like a better box builder than I actually am!

Step 14: Fitting the Drawer

Once the inner box was dry, I sanded the sides until it slid perfectly into the outer box. Perfect Fit!

Step 15: Applying Finish

I used shellac because it dries super fast, and works as a seal coat for the cherry. This will help me get the crisp clean edges I want when I paint the inside of the box.  

But typically, I would use hardwax oil on any dark wood that wasn't going to get painted. Hard wax oils are great because they really bring out the texture of the wood grain and leave a natural feel to the wood. They are insanely easy to apply, just slather on some oil, let it soak, and then buff it off with a cloth. Its really that easy!

Step 16: Paint!

I wanted to add some color to the box to create some contrast and happiness, so I sprayed on some 2x Rustoleum blue spray paint. This is why I used shellac, because once the tape is removed, it is going to leave a nice crisp edge along the top of the box.

Step 17: Ta Da! It's Beautiful!

I am really happy with how this box turned out! It was actually really straightforward to build, and could be made with minimal tools if you selected 1/4" stock to begin with.

Let me know if you have ever built a box like this, and if so, hit that "I Made It!" button and share a picture! I would love to see what you come up with!

Thank you so much for reading!

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Don't forget to pick up your Woodworker's Notebook!

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Anything Goes Contest 2021

Runner Up in the
Anything Goes Contest 2021