My beautiful and talented wife had a great idea this year to exchange “Maker gifts” with some of our friends that we usually do holiday gifts with. They are creative, crafty people as are we. I decided to make a small wooden box with an interesting grain pattern for one of the gifts.

My idea was to use three woods and have the grain of all three woods wrap over the top of the box. I used maple, western red cedar, and walnut. The western red cedar is quite a bit softer than the other two woods which was tricky but it worked out fine in the end.

I cut the wood into strips and then resawed them to 1/2” thickness. This accidentally had the effect of book matching the two stripes of maple on the outside of the blank. I glued up two blanks with extra length and width in the pattern that I wanted.

I’m still figuring out how to use the Rockler Panel Clamps with material thinner than 3/4” it’s a little challenging to pad out the space and get even pressure. I had a decent result with this setup.

I flattened the panel that I decided to use ( you may see the other one in a future project ) with the sanding station and palm sander. I squared it up and cut it to width centering the pattern in the process. I then cut a rabbet on all sides of the panel to receive the sides of the box and the bottom. I then cut the top of the box using a 45 degree miter on the table saw. I had to tweak it a little on the sander and shaving a tiny amount off on the table saw. I then trimmed the front and back of the box to the correct length.

I sanded all the components to final 320 grit inside and out because I wanted to finish the inside to show the grain pattern running through there as well. I then glued the box up.

Once it had dried I tidied it up with the sanding station and I re-sanded areas as needed. I then set the table saw to 1 1/2” and cut around all four sides to create the top lid of the box. I sanded the cut edges then I applied natural Danish Oil in the usual manner.

When the finish had dried I glued in a piece of blue felt to line the bottom of the box and put hinges and a front hasp on the box. I also applied a thin coat of paste wax to the outside of the box.

I really like how the box came out and the person I made it for was pleased with it.