Display all your skills building an exquisite project.
Making a small box is as challenging as building a large cabinet. This box, made from maple, cherry and ebony, will take your craftsmanship to a new level. Youll learn an advanced dovetailing technique, make your own inlay, and embellish a piece with crossbanding and stringing.
It’s not easy to put so much effort into a small project. However, I believe that a jewelry box should look as beautiful as its contents. I made this box as a present for my daughter, Jessica, on her 21st birthday. It will likely outlive the cabinets I made.
Jessicas Jewelry Box Cut List
Overall dimensions: 5
Notes:
a) Make from 2 bookmatched pieces.
b Crossbanding pieces
Fig. A) Exploded View
Fig. B) Tray Dovetails
Fig. C) Lid and Base Dovetails
Fig. D) Tray Cross Section
Fig. E) Star Inlay
Fig. F) Star Inlay Pattern
Notes About Construction
I use an old trick: First, I glue up a hollow box, with sides, ends, top and bottom. Next, I cut around the box to create a lid that is separate from the base. Following this technique, the figure of the lid automatically matches the figure of the base, and the lid and base are exactly the same length and width.
All sides, ends, top, bottom, and top of this box are made from solid wood. The top and the bottom are glued all the way around the lid and base. I live in the U.K., where woods moisture content doesnt change much from season to season, so this method of construction is acceptable. Solid wood is a safer choice if indoor humidity fluctuates from summer to winter. If the glue is not strong enough to prevent them from expanding or contracting, they could crack at the top and bottom. Consider making these parts from plywood instead. You could make your own, using a subtly figured maple veneer, if you wish.
This box has ebony stringing, 1/41 cm thick cherry crossbanding and edging. A). I bought the stringing (see sources, page 42) and made all the 1/41 cm thick cherry slices from solid wood. Alternatively, you could buy 1/41 cm thick cherry veneer (see Sources).
This box was made with a unique type of joint: double lap Dovetails. There are many ways to attach a box. But dovetails are my favorite because they won’t come apart. However, through or half-blind dovetails wouldnt be appropriate for this design. Over time, theyd show under the crossbanding covering the boxs corners (see The Telegraphing Effect, below). This problem is avoided by double lap dovetails.
Double lap dovetails require skill to make by hand. Half-blind dovetails are a great way to start if you don’t have much experience with dovetail cutting. Theyre easier to make than double lap dovetails, but both use similar techniques.
Double laps can be made with a router or a dovetail joint if the material is thin enough. Basically, youd make the sides of the box from 3/20 cm thick pieces and the sides from
As a completely different alternative, you could miter the boxs corners and reinforce the joints with cross-grain spline. This joint would work best if the box was made from plywood.
Cut The Dovetails
1. Handsaw the boxes dovetails, starting with the ends.
Start by milling the ends (A) and sides (B). Lay out the pins on the end pieces (Fig. C), then saw the joint ( Photo1).
2. Get rid of any waste that is around the pins. First, use a router to remove the waste. Next, use a chisel for cleaning up the corners and end grain.
This procedure is just like making a half-blind drawer joint, only here youre making the drawer front first. I use a router, equipped with a fence, to remove most of the waste, then remove the remaining waste with a chisel (Photo 2).
3. Cut a rabbet on each side piece. Stand the end piece on top of the side piece and mark around the pins.
Place the dovetails onto the sides. First, draw the gauge lines . Photo 3. Saw and chop out the waste (Photo 4).
4. Saw and chop the tails, then glue the sides and ends together.
Before gluing, apply finish to the inside faces of the ends and sides-just on the upper half, above the lining (E & F), plus a 1/10 cm wide strip at the bottom. Finishing these areas will make it easier for you to remove dried glue after the box is assembled.
Glue The Box
5. Glue on the top and bottom pieces. Theyre rabbeted all the way around to fit inside the box. These pieces can be removed with a flush-trim tool.
Glue the ends and sides. Plane or sand the outside corners flush. I mill the top (C), and bottom (D). I glue them together from two bookmatched pieces. Cut the top and bottom to 1/20 cm larger in width and length, and then run rabbets around the edges of both. Glue the bottom and top to the box ( Foto 5).
To remove 1/41 cm of excess material from the top and bottom, use a router with a flush-trim tool. All edges should be straightened when you’re done.
Add Cross Banding
6. Attach the cherry crossbanding to a shallow rabbet inserted into the top. Start with the corners, using tape to hold the pieces in place, then fill the spaces in between.
You can either use veneer or solid wood to cut the crossbanding (G). Rout a shallow rabbet all the way around the top and glue the crossbanding in place (Photo 6). Use clamps and blocks-tape alone isnt adequate.
Scrape or sand any cross bands so they are flush with the top. Remove any overhang with a block plane or a router and a flush-trim bit. Repeat the same process all the way around the sides and ends of the box.
The Telegraphing Effect
Dovetails were used to join high quality furniture years ago. Its easy to spot them on the veneered jewelry box at right, isnt it? Over the years, the sides of the box have shrunk in thickness, but not in length. This results in dovetails that are slightly proud of the surface. Their protruding end grain has deformed the veneer on top.
Telegraphing was a term that the old-timers used to call it. In this case, telegraphing doesnt refer to Morse code sent along a wire. Telegraphing is sending a message unwittingly. It’s like raising your eyebrows when you get dealt four aces. Only here, you havent hit the jackpot.
Telegraphing can be found on many antique furniture pieces. Most of these pieces were made using air-dried wood which has since contracted in width and thickness in modern, centrally heated homes. Any flaws in the substrate (the underside of the veneer) can show through. Knots, checks, uneven gluelines-all of these eventually come to the surface, so to speak, even though the veneers used were often quite thick.
Does telegraphing rule out the use of dovetails under a veneer? You don’t have to do a modified half blind joint. This includes the double lap dovetail, which is used on this article’s jewelry box, or the secret mitered dovetail, which can be even more difficult to make. These joints will not show the tails or pins when glued.
Add The String
7. A small rabbet should be cut all the way around to the edges of your lid. Attach 1/20 cm squares of ebony stringing to the rabbets.
Make or purchase the stringing (L & M). Rout a slightly undersize 1/20 cm x 1/20 cm rabbet along all the edges of the box (Photo 7).
8.
You can remove the stringing by scraping it so that it is flush with the surface.
The 1/20 cm length of stringing can be cut with a chisel. Glue and tape each piece in place, then scrape or sand the stringing so its flush with the surface (Photo 8).
9. Rout a small groove on the inside edge of the crossbanding. Use a fence to guide the router.
Rout grooves for the 1/41 cm inner stringing (Photo 9).
10. Attach 1/41 cm square of ebony stringing to the groove. Press in the stringing with a hammer-it doesnt need to be clamped.
Miter the ends of the stringing and glue each piece in place (Photo 10). Scrape or sand stringing until it is flush.
Remove The Lid
11. Saw all the way around the box to separate the lid from the base. Place a plywood-laminated piece on top to minimize tearout.
Use a thin-kerf, crosscut blade to cut all around the box ( photo 11). Plane or sand all of the sawn edges.
12. Glue 1/41 cm thick cherry edging to the top edges of the base and the bottom edges of the lid. Trim the edging with a low-angle block plane.
Use solid wood or veneer to make the edging (H & J), about 1/35cm wider. Cut the pieces to length, mitering the ends. They should be flush with the inside of the lid and base, and overhang on the outside. Glue them together. Sand the inside edges and trim the outside edges (Photo 12).
13. Pare grooves at each corner to continue the stringing.
Continue the 1/41 cm stringing around the corners of the lid and base (Photo 13). These grooves can be scored first with a marking knife, and then the waste can be removed with a 1/41 cm file. Add a small ebony square on each outside corner, so the 1/20 cm stringing appears to run right through the corner.
Use The Star Inlay
14. Begin making the star inlay for the lid by sawing out diamond-shaped pieces of cherry.
To draw the paper pattern for the star segments (Figs. E & F. Cut 8 small pieces of inlay material (K), trace the pattern on each piece, and cut the segments (Photo 14). Mark the centerlines of the lid.
15. Tape the pieces together and position the pattern on top of the lid. Score lines around the pattern.
Tape the sections together and place it on the lid aligned with the centerlines ( Photo 15). Score lines around the star.
16. For the inlay, make a recess. Start by working freehand with a router. Straighten the edges of the recess using a chisel, then use a knife to clean out the tips. Glue the inlay in the recess.
Rout a recess for the inlay, freehand. Clean up the edges and corners with a chisel and a knife (Photo 16).
17. Route a 1/15-cm groove around the pattern. To guide the router, clamp a straight board to the lid.
Glue inlay into recess
18. Glue stringing in the grooves. Trim the ends of each outer piece with a knife, guided by a straightedge, in order to fit the pieces that will go across the star.
Rout grooves are for the ebony strings that border the star segments ( Photo 17 & 18). Glue the stringing, then scrape and sand it flush.
Tray And Hinges
19. Dovetail the tray. These joints are extremely small and should be done with a thin-bladed knife.
Make pieces for the lining (E & F). The lining serves to seal the box tightly when it is closed. Cut rabbets in the pieces (to support the tray), miter their ends, and glue them inside the base.
20. Feel free to place felt linings inside each section.
Construct the tray (N-S). You can dovetail the corners ( Photo 19 and Figure. B) Cut shallow mortises to make dividers. Form the top of center divider (Fig. D) and glue the tray together. Add felt lining in each compartment (Photo 20). I glue felt fabric to pre-cut pieces of cardboard, but you could also use adhesive-backed felt, available at craft stores.
Install the hinges. I use quadrant hinges (see Sources), which incorporate a stay to hold the lid in an open position. These hinges are delicately mortised, but they look great and match the rest of my box.
Martin Greshoff, a graduate of Rycotewood College, designs and builds custom furniture in Mitcham, South London. You can see more of his work at www.martingreshoff.co.uk
SOURCES
Inlay Banding, www.inlaybanding.com, 221-2147, 1/20 cm x 1/20 cm x 91 cm Ebony stringing, ea. ; 1/41 cm Ebony stringing, /ft.
Constantines, www.constantines.com, 443-9667, 1/41 cm thick cherry veneer, #16CH, / sq0.0 m
Rockler. www.rockler.com, 279-4441, Brusso Solid Brass Quadrant Hinges, #11099, /pr.
Product Recommendations
These are the tools and supplies we use every day in the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
