The Toy Box

I decided to build (and design on the fly) this Toy box for my daughter using the left over Southern Yellow Pine from my woodworking bench.  I tried to avoid having knots but since I was using left over wood I wasn't completely able to accomplish this.  I was able to minimize the knots to the interior and back of the case.
I really like the end grain pattern in the SYP so I decided to showcase it a little by finger jointing the case for the box.  This was the first time I did finger joints and decided to keep it simple...sort of...I cut all the wood into 1 1/2" strips and then cut those strips to match at corners making the finger joints.  So basically I had two lengths to cut for the front and back at 30 1/8" and 29 1/4" - the longer length would have the end grain exposed on the sides.  The sides were made in the same manner as the front.  With both the front/back and sides I left the exposed end grain 1/8" long to overshoot the corners; after glue up I flush trimmed them with a router.

I trimmed the top and bottom with a standard Ogee pattern and glued them flush to the case.  If I had planned this over and had the wood I wanted I would of attached the trim using a sliding dovetail joint. 

Finally I built the lid in the same manner as the the case from 1 1/2" strips.  Another first for me - I decided to hand plane the lid smooth.  The pictures below show the finished underside of the lid.

The plane I used (pictured above) is an old Craftsman (probably a #3) I got at a flea market for $10 and cleaned up.  

Awww - smooth!!  Again I love the end grain pattern!! 

Final product - I finished it with a light amber shellac to bring out more of the yellow in the wood. 

Thanks for reading!!  Check back soon for another post!!