One Board Bandsaw Box Office Desk Caddy

by keithd24

2.9K528

Intro: One Board Bandsaw Box Office Desk Caddy

 I’ve been coming to Instructables for ideas and inspiration for a few years now but have never submitted an Instructable myself. Then this contest shows up. I have a left-over 2x4 from a previous project, so I figured why not. I was thinking about what to make and I thought I could make a band saw box, but I wanted to do something a little different from a little jewelry box. After a little more thinking, I decided to make a band saw box that is a desk caddy. This is what I came up with.

STEP 1: Design

I chose a simple design due to the limitation of material in this challenge. But with some creativity, you can come up with an attractive and functional piece. If you decide to make one of these, play around and make something that works for you. I through this together using PowerPoint, but a pencil and paper will work just fine. This is the design I came up with. There’s a secret compartment in it as well. The whole thing is 10" W x 51/4" H x 4" D.

STEP 2: Creating the Blank and Glue Up


  • Cut 2x4 into 8 – 11” pieces
  • On the table saw, rip ¼” off both sides of boards to remove rounded edge.
  • Glue four pairs together along the long edge. You will have four separate pieces.
  • Once dried, remove the pieces from the clamps and plane them down to 1” thick
  • Glue two pieces. These will become the two middle pieces.
  • Once dry, cut out the pen/pencil holder using a copy of your pattern as a guide
  • Glue on the front and back pieces to finish the blank. Be sure the tops are flush.  


STEP 3: Cutting It All Out

  • Now that the glue has dried, remove the blank from the clamps and remove any dried squeeze out from the edges.
  • Using a glue stick or spray adhesive, place a copy of the pattern on the front of the blank. Align the top of the pattern to the top of the blank.
  • Take the blank over to the bandsaw and cut ½” off the back of the blank. Take your time and let the saw do the work. Lightly mark the top of the cut-off so you can realign it later when it is glued back on. Set this piece aside.
  • Place the blank on its back and cut the drawers out. Set the drawers aside for now.
  • Glue the back piece on. Clamp it up and set aside to dry. (clean as much squeeze-out in the drawer cavities while the glue is wet)
  • Now for the two small drawers:
  • On the bandsaw, cut about ¼” off the front and back. Keep these pieces.
  • On the middle piece, take a pencil and mark out the drawer cavity, keeping the walls of the drawer at least ¼” thick.
  • Cut out the drawer cavity. Set aside scrap
  • Glue the respective front and back on to the middle piece.
  • Repeat process with the remaining drawer.
  • Set drawers aside and let the glue dry. 
  • Once the glue has dried, sand the drawers to remove saw marks
  • For the large drawer with the Secret Compartment:
  • On the bandsaw, cut off the front of the drawer only and set aside.
  • Cut out the secret drawer, set aside.
  • Cut off the back of the main drawer and set aside
  • Cut the drawer cavity on the main drawer piece. Set aside scrap.
  • Glue the front and back of the main drawer on to the main piece.
  • Cut the from and back off the secret drawer. 
  • Cut out the drawer cavity.
  • Glue the front and back on to the secret drawer piece.
  • Once the glue has dried, sand the drawers to remove saw marks
  • Now for the main body
  • On the band saw, cut out the outside of the desk caddy
  • Sand piece to remove saw marks.


STEP 4: Making the Drawer Pulls

  • Using the scrap piece from the drawer cavity, mill a turning blank for the lathe
  • Put the blank between centers on the lathe and turn a drawer pull of your design. I made little knobs with a ¼” diameter tenon a ¼” long.
  • If you do not have a lathe, use your imagination and create a drawer pulls of your own design.
  • On the front of the drawers (not the secret drawer), drill a ¼” hole to receive the tenon on the knob. 
  • Glue the knob on to the drawer. 

STEP 5: Finishing

  • I chose to stain this desk caddy. You don’t have to. If you want the natural wood, skip the next two steps.
  • Since this is pine, in order to get an even finish, apply a pre-stain.
  • Once dry, apply stain and wipe off excess. Allow to dry completely.
  • Once dry, apply a few coats of polyurethane, sanding between coats.

STEP 6: Dressing It Up

(These steps are strictly optional, I had the stuff to do it from previous projects so why not)

  • Flocking the drawer interiors:
  • Apply flocking glue to drawer interiors to all four drawers.
  • Load the flocking applicator and get to flocking.
  • Allow to dry overnight and vacuum the excess flocking fibers.
  • Installing the clock insert: (Since I already had one from a project that I ended up not doing)
  • Mark out and drill the appropriate hole at the required depth. This particular clock required a 2-3/8” hole at 11/16” depth.
  • Install AAA battery and set the time
  • Place clock in to the hole


This was an extremely fun project and as a bonus, I didn’t have to buy anything extra for it. I hope you all like it and maybe want to try your hand at making one.

6 Comments

eopmusic2007 2 years ago

Just wondering if you could share the file for the power point design. Thanks!

perrybear 2 years ago

Great project! I appreciate the very clear photos of each step; they made it easy to understand.

throbscottle 2 years ago

This is so brilliant! Saving for when I have a band-saw, one day...

seamster 2 years ago

Excellent work, very nicely done! : )