Update: I just noticed I made this it own separate post. the original is here, I will keep this one but i will add it to the other as well
I Think this is Jewelry box project part 4.
This one is for my niece Grace and as uniquely fun to make as the others so far.
This one started from 2 – 2″ thick butcher block style pieces glued together to make 1 – 5″ X 8″ X 4″ block. and also 1 for the lid.
Once the glue dried. I think I let it set a day or two, I drew out the pattern I wanted on top on the ol computer and then used a jagged wheel to trace out the opening I would drill, and a hammer and nail to mark the the holes I would drill for the dowels. Off to the ol Drill press to drill the holes. I didn’t go all the way through as I wanted the bottom to be solid.
I changed out the blade to start drilling mass out of the center. This was a long an tedious process, but better that listing to the high pitched router longer than I had to. I then Built a Quick Jig to put the router on so I could smooth out the edges from the drilling. This turned out pretty well, but some day I will have to get new router blades that are a tab bit deeper.
I prepped the dowel rods, cutting them to about 2 1/2 inches, then installed the dado blade on my table saw. set the fence to the thickness I wanted the base and the top to be. set the depth to about 3/4″ and ran the box sideways through the saw so that the middle was smaller that the outside edges.
Next step I installed the Dowels, putting a little wood glue to hold them in and taped them with a hammer jut to make sure they were snug and let them dry. I then put it through the table saw to cut off the excess. and quick run through the plainer as well and the base was done!
OK So that third chuck I talked about in the first paragraph. I ran it through the plainer till it was just about 1/2 of an inch. I traced out the opening from the base on it and took the router and cleared off the edges so it would sit down in the opening on the base. I secured the lid on with some frog tape so I could attach the hinges to it. I let it all sit for a day or two and them i stained it all with a dark gel stain.
Not pictured but I finished the inside bottom off with some purple felt to have a soft place for items to sit.