Instructions for Wooden Boxes

Making wooden boxes is a fun way to meet your storage needs.

Knowing the instructions for building a wooden box opens up unlimited woodworking project ideas. You can create any box, including everything from small, intricate trinket boxes to large poolside toy boxes, if you learn the instructions for one simple box. It might seem complicated at first, but understanding how to design a box and select the wood, box joint technique, lid type, hardware and appropriate woodworking tools will make building any box easy.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pencil
• Wood
• Box joint tools
• Box hardware
• Table saw
• Router
• Dado bit
• 220-grit sandpaper
• Tack cloth
• Stain
• Varnish
• Paint
• Polyurethane

Instructions

1. Sketch your box on a piece of scrap paper with a pencil. A quick way to draw a simple box is to draw the front of the box as a square or rectangle. Draw the back of the box above and to the right of the first shape and connect each corner of the first shape to the corresponding corner of the second shape with a straight lines. This creates a cube-like box shape on which you can draw an open or closed lid.

2. Mark the height of your box from top to bottom, the width of your box from front to back and the length of your box from side to side on your sketch. Determine the dimensions of each piece of your box, including the bottom, lid and individual side pieces from your final dimension markings. For example, a box that is 5 inches high by 7 inches wide by 5 inches long will require a 5-inch-by-5-inch back and front piece, two 5-inch-by-7-inch side pieces and a 5-inch-by-7-inch bottom and lid. Depending on the lid design and bottom placement, the two 5-inch-by-7-inch bottom and lid pieces may need to be adjusted slightly to rest inside or outside the box frame pieces.

3. Select the appropriate wood type for your box. You can build a small box from very soft woods because the strength of the wood is not an important issue when the box will not be supporting anything. However, a furniture-grade very hard wood is best for a box that will become a piece of furniture, such as a toy box that can also be used as a bench. Hard rock maple, furniture-grade cherry and alder are a few of the suitable woods for wooden boxes; but depending on the box's purpose, you can select any wood, including exotic woods or simple pine with a distinctive grain structure and other naturally occurring characteristics that will work with your box design.

4. Determine the box joint technique that will work for your box, depending on the needed strength for each joint and your box corner design. Splined miter joints are formed by making a spline cutting jig that will support your box joints at an angle against your table saw rip fence while you cut your slot joint design into the box corners and create the openings for your contrasting or matching spline stock, which you will glue in place. Butt joints are the simplest joints to use; you simply apply wood glue to the edge of one piece and butt the two side pieces together before reinforcing the joint with nails. A simple joint that hides the end grain is a conventional miter joint. You cut each board edge at a 45-degree angle with a miter saw and then butt the side pieces together utilizing the butt joint method. Rabbet and double-rabbet butt joints are stronger and more rigid than butt joints, but they do not eliminate the appearance of the end grain. The rabbet joint is done by cutting a rabbet (channel) into two of the side pieces with a router so that the other pieces are butted within the rabbets that you cut. Finger joints and dovetail joints are also strong options for your box, but they both require special bits or machinery. A joinery machine is used to cut corresponding finger joints for a finger joint box. A dovetail jig is required for cutting the corresponding dovetail-shaped cuts on the pieces for a dovetail joint.

5. Choose the hardware that is required for your box. You will need to select the lid hinges for function and design. Select simple, reasonably priced hinges if your hinges will be mounted on the inside of your box or choose decorative hinges if you prefer to mount the lid hinges on the outside of the box. Whatever you do, don't forget to include function in your plan. A piano hinge will hold up best on a box where the lid will be opened often. A self-locking safety hinge would be best for a toy box.

6. Refer to your sketch and cut the individual box pieces to your dimensions with a table saw. Remembering that the bottom piece will sit inside of the front, sides and back piece, and the lid or top piece (if any) will sit on top of the box frame piece, you will have to cut them to the appropriate smaller or larger size, depending on your board width. 1/2-inch lumber is used on most boxes, but you may have selected a thinner or wider wood depending on your design.

7. Cut an appropriately sized dado along the outside edges of your bottom piece with a router. Place wood glue along the dado and assemble the front, sides and back piece on the box bottom utilizing the joint technique that you chose.

8. Attach the box lid, if any, with the selected hardware.

9. Sand the box with 220-grit sandpaper.

10. Wipe the sanding dust off with a tack cloth and apply wood stain, varnish, paint or polyurethane following the application directions on the product.

Tips & Warnings

• Any wooden box can be dressed up with decorative feet, mosaic inlaid designs or a decorative lid shape.

• If your box is for outdoor use, choose a treated wood.

• Wear safety glasses while operating power tools.

References

• How to Draw: Draw Cubes & Boxes With Easy Step by Step Drawing Instructions
• azWoodman: Unfinished Wood Boxes Design Specifications
• azWoodman: Box Joints: Finger Joint, Dovetail, Mitered, Rabbet Butt
• Humboldt Woodworkers Guild: Wood Types and Techniques
• Blood and Sawdust: A Simple Pine Box

Resources

• azWoodman: Custom Box Hardware: Hinges