Box with Sliding Lid

Putting Them all Together

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The last cut separates the lip of the lid from the rest of the side.  I take the right-hand short side (labeled 'A'-'D' on the mitre cuts) and rip the lip off with a bandsaw. I cut right down the bottom of the dado trying to keep a straight line and not cut into the bottom of the side any.

To keep the lips from getting mixed up I label them on the underside using Roman numerals.  This area will be glued to the plywood so the markings will be covered up.  Roman numerals are easier for me to right in this narrow area.

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I use a belt sander for the lips, and a disk sander for the rest of the side.
I dry fit the pieces together, including both bottom and top. Although I don't show it, I also dry-fit the lip (it won't hold still for the camera :-) ).

(in the background on the left is evidence of what happens to the plywood if the blade is too low.  After the cut, the plywood caught the edge of the blade).

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I use Arlene's Tacky Glue to put the box together.  It sets up quick and tends to be pretty forgiving.  It may not be as strong as yellow glue, but strength is not needed in these boxes.

I smear a thin coat on both mitre cuts on the left end, and then do the same with the right.  Then you just hold the box together (the top and bottom keep things roughly square) for about a minute and the box is together.

A thin smear of glue goes on the lip, and then it is held in place on the top.  The idea is to get a tight fit on the mitre cuts so the top has a nice, closed appearance.  Again about of minute of pressure and the glue is set.  

I always glue the top first.  Sometimes a little squeeze-out will glue the top to the sides at the corners of the lip.  The bottom will usually pop out easily. You can then break that bond by pushing on the plywood from both sides.  I try to do this before the glue dries just in case there is that squeeze-out.

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 Turn the box over and glue the bottom and we're done! 

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That concludes the log for the boxes.  After about three hours or so we've got eight sassafras boxes ready to assign to the puzzles.  We still need to do the final sanding and finishing, but that's for a later date. 

I hoped you enjoyed this log.  Thanks for visiting!

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