We’re going to make a small box using a jig to cut box joints or finger joints with the router table. This is a small walnut box. Well, a small walnut box with a lid. To make it, I used a piece of walnut wood that I recovered from the woodpile. This piece was saved from the fire, and now I regret not having saved more pieces before burning them. At least I still have the oak pieces we use for burning in the iron stove of the rural house. What I did was saw the piece of wood with the table saw to get boards of the same thickness. Then I planed those boards with the homemade thickness planer to make the faces smooth and to the thickness I wanted. I cut the boards to the desired dimensions and finally used the jig to make box joints with the router table.
The video is a bit longer than I intended, and it’s at triple speed (after having to re-edit it, it’s now at normal speed). It has no comments or subtitles, just music, but I think you can still follow the process well.
Honestly, I made this little box just to see how the technique of cutting finger joints with the router table works. After learning a few things, I think I can now write a proper post, so for the explanations about the system, you’ll have to wait for the next video (how to cut joints for boxes). I also discovered a small problem with my router table that I’ll fix soon.
The box looks good, at least on the outside, but I admit the joints are a bit forced, and the interior is not as nice as the exterior. I think the most beautiful thing about the box is the wood I used and the fact that I made it from a reclaimed piece of firewood. When sawing the boards, I made tangential cuts to the wood rings to show the grain patterns in layers. This wood has really beautiful grain and color, so with some sanding and a clear varnish, it’s hard to stop looking at it.
Also, see how I made a wooden slat box.