Box - Shaker Wood Box.pdf - Woodworking Plans - qqwwee119

Shaker-Style Woodbox

287

iven the resurgence of fire-

places and wood-burning

stoves over the last couple of

decades, needs for in-home

firewood storage also have

redeveloped. Unlike earlier

times, when many

households depended upon

wood-fueled fires for all of

their cooking and heating,

storage requirements today

are somewhat reduced. This

became readily apparent as I

looked through my library for

design ideas to construct a

woodbox. place. While the

room's overall ambiance is

southwestern, it also contains

a few other early-American

antique pieces. A durable,

functional woodbox was

needed that, rather than

providing a focal point for

the room's decor, would

serve its purpose without

detracting

does and rabbets were used to

join this box, securing the

joints with cut nails. Cut nails

are my choice over wire nails

because they have more holding

power and are historically

correct for this style of joinery.

I oriented the grain so the ends

and bottom expand and contract

in unison; that is, the cross-

grain dimension extends front

to back in these components.

Thus, the front and back panels

are carried along as the end and

bottom shrink and swell.

The cross-grain orientation in

the front, back and partition is

vertical so these three

components move as a unit as

well. However, the partition is

not carried with the bottom;

therefore, the partition is

housed in dadoes at each end

and its length is adjusted so the

bottom (along with the front and

back pan- els) will move

independently throughout the

year.

Finally, the rabbets in the

end panels are stopped at the

bottoms of the front and back

panels. With the bottom

housed in dadoes in the ends

and in rabbets in the front

and back, the bottoms of the

front and back should be

fixed, forcing expansion and

contraction of these

components to operate along

their tops.

Since the back is housed in

the top of the rabbet, the gap

between the back and top

from late-winter to mid-

summer will be visible only

from the back. However, the

front will shrink to expose an

1/8 " or so of the rabbets in

each end, while in late

summer the front's top edge

will extend above the relief in

the ends

If this is objectionable, one

could use a housed rabbet

and dado joint, stopping the

dado below the relief. This is a

more complicated joint,

however, requiring a bit more

time which translates, in the

commercial world, to addi-

tional cost.

With these design and

construction details thought

through, I proceeded to select

and square-up stock for this

box, not overly concerning

myself with grain and color

matching since the box was

going to be painted. I also did

not discard stock because of

blue stain as I glued-up stock

to the panel dimensions given

in the cutting list. To make the

wider panels, I simply edge-

joined the stock, liberally

spreading yellow glue on

the edges, and clamped the

stock together. Since one of

my most important goals is to

build furniture that does not

self-destruct a decade

from

the

ambiance.

Because the box was to be

painted, I built it of clear white

pine. Also, since the box was to

be simple but functional, the

joinery was selected on the basis

of durabil-ity and efficiency.

This box is easy to make, but it

is still high quality To ensure

that the box would hang

together as chunks of firewood

are thrown in, and as the wood

shrinks and swells with the

changing sea-sons, the joinery,

the grain orienta-tions and the

seasonal movements of its

components all had to be

carefully considered.

As indicated in the drawings,

da-

288

289

Cutting glued-

up ends to

finish

dimensions

or two hence, I did not "reinforce"

these edge joints with biscuits or

dowels.

Once the glue dried, I cut each

piece to its finish dimensions (photo 1)

and planed the components smooth

to a thickness of 13/16 ". Then I laid

out rabbets and dadoes. Using a

stacked dado head in my table saw, I

cut the 13/16"X3/8" deep rabbets and

dadoes as required (photo 2), and

finished them using a par ing chisel

(photo 3). (Photo 4 shows one of the

completed stopped dadoes.) I also

cleaned up the rabbets with a shoulder

plane so the assembled joints would be

tight and crisp (photo 5). Then the

reliefs that create the feet in the bottom

of the end panels were drawn in, cut

out and spokeshaved smooth. Now I

was ready to dry assemble the box.

Given that I was building this box

in mid-June, I guessed my wood was

about two-thirds of the way between

its winter minimum and summer

maximum dimensions.

Consequently, I reduced the back's

width and the partition's length by

about 3/32 " to allow for continued

expansion of these components

through early September

With the box dry assembled, I laid

out the curved relief in the top front of

the end panels. By drawing the curves

full-size on the ends, I could play

with the shape until I found one that

was pleasing to the eye.

Disassembling the box, I cut the

reliefs in each end, spokeshaved

them smooth, and sanded the inside

surfaces to 180 grit. The box was now

ready for final assembly.

Cutting the

rabbet in the

bottom edge of

the back panel

Completing a

stopped dado

with a paring

The

complete

d stopped

dado .

As before, I assembled the box dry

and clamped it together securely. No

glue was used in the box's assembly

to ensure that slight differences in

expansion would not cause the

components to pull themselves apart.

Using a 1/16" drill bit, I provided pilot

holes for the nails and proceeded

to nail through the ends into the

front, back and bottom panels. In

using cut nails, which have a

290

Cleaning up a

rabbet joint with

a shoulder plane

rectangular cross-section shape, the

wide dimension must be oriented

along the grain (photo 6); thus the

wedge effect of the wider than thick

nails is exerted against the end grain,

thereby eliminating the possibility of

the nail causing the wood to split.

Similarly, the bottom was secured to

the front and back by nailing through

the front and back into the edges of

the bottom panel. No nails are used to

secure the partition, since the idea is to

allow the partition dadoes in the front

and back to float along the length of

the partition as the bottom/ends unit

expands and contracts. Finally, I

nailed the top to the ends, then

countersunk all nail heads 1/16" to

1/8" below the surface. The cavities

were filled, and after the filler

cured, all exterior surfaces were

sanded to 180 grit. (Photo 7 shows the

assembled box.) While 180 grit

abrasives leave far too coarse a surface

for my taste, this box was to be

painted with tavern green milk paint.

Since milk paint provides a textured

mat surface, sanding beyond 180 grit

would have been a wasted effort.

Driving a cut nail, showing the

wide dimension of the nail, is

oriented along the grain of the

wood you're nailing through

The assembled and sanded woodbox.

Following the manufacturer's

directions, I mixed a pint of tavern

green milk paint and coated the box

inside and out. Now I have painted a

fair number of Windsor chairs with

milk paint since I began building chairs

in 1984, but despite this decade of

experience, my reaction as the first

coat of milk paint dries is almost

always the same — good grief, I have

ruined it! For whatever reason, the

first coat of milk paint tends to dry

off-color and blotchy, in a word, awful!

(photo 8) Anyhow, I persevered and

burnished the dry painted surface

with #2 steel wool. Then I applied

the second coat and, voila, things

were looking up. Once the paint was

dry, I again burnished the surface,

this time with #0000 steel wool. Now

the box looked like something I

could sign.

While the milk paint provides a

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Box - Shaker Wood Box.pdf

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