Introduction: Walnut Boxes
Walnut Half Blind Dovetails. 11/16 Walnut 10x7x5. These were old pieces of walnut I had in various sizes.
THE BOX--I planed them all to 11/16. I cut them with a Chopsaw to 11 inch pieces to allow for squaring of wood. Then using a Table saw I cut all of them to 5 1/8 then planed the sides down to 5 inches. I cut half of them to 7 inches long.( doing them 2 at a time ensures they are exactly the same size, which will show in the joint if off). The process of doing a half blind dove tail is too long to explain so I included a link that explains it very well: http://woodworking.about.com/od/joinery/p/HalfBlind.htm. After the Tails are cut I use a 1/4 dado to cut a slot for the bottom to fit in (doing this first will cause a hole in the sides to show through). Glue each joint and place plywood bottom in then clamp and let dry for a few hours.
THE TOP-- I planed this down to 5/8 then sanded it to 1/2 and glue to the box after it dried I cut the lid off and sand it to sit flat on box. On the inside of the lid there are 4 1/8 pieces of maple to hold lid in place, simply glued inside to lip of lid. I finished them using spray on Polyurethane sanding between each layer. .... The lid on the Spalted one is one piece that I cut and glued back together to get the look I wanted. They take about 5hrs if you have the equipment to do by hand using full dovetails would take about 10-15 hours.
THE BOX--I planed them all to 11/16. I cut them with a Chopsaw to 11 inch pieces to allow for squaring of wood. Then using a Table saw I cut all of them to 5 1/8 then planed the sides down to 5 inches. I cut half of them to 7 inches long.( doing them 2 at a time ensures they are exactly the same size, which will show in the joint if off). The process of doing a half blind dove tail is too long to explain so I included a link that explains it very well: http://woodworking.about.com/od/joinery/p/HalfBlind.htm. After the Tails are cut I use a 1/4 dado to cut a slot for the bottom to fit in (doing this first will cause a hole in the sides to show through). Glue each joint and place plywood bottom in then clamp and let dry for a few hours.
THE TOP-- I planed this down to 5/8 then sanded it to 1/2 and glue to the box after it dried I cut the lid off and sand it to sit flat on box. On the inside of the lid there are 4 1/8 pieces of maple to hold lid in place, simply glued inside to lip of lid. I finished them using spray on Polyurethane sanding between each layer. .... The lid on the Spalted one is one piece that I cut and glued back together to get the look I wanted. They take about 5hrs if you have the equipment to do by hand using full dovetails would take about 10-15 hours.