It’s been three years since I’ve done any sort of woodworking, so building a box was both unexpectedly difficult and fun! Unboxing the box:

• 1/2″ x 8″ x 8″ plywood (1)
• 1/2″ x 7 1/2″ x 7 1/2″ plywood (4)
•   Phillips flat head wood screws No. 8 x 1-1/2″ (12)

The total amount of wood was approximately 2 sq. ft. which I estimate to be roughly $3. The screws I assume to be worth approximately $2.50. Labor costs and machine time costs are much more significant. Overall, I spend 5 hours working on the box, though half of the time was spend learning and experimenting with technique. Also, I had a technician assist me in the wood shop for 1 hour. If I value technician and machine time as $20/hr and my labor as $7.50/hr (the wage of my first job), then total labor costs are $57.50. This brings the total cost of the box to $63.

I found Dr. Wettergreen’s “box of in-determinant size” technique interesting and wanted to give it a try. The top and bottom view of my box design can seen in the figure below.

Cutting plywood with a table-saw was a new experience for me. It was surprisingly quick and easy to measure the sides of my box. However, there were some complications. The wood I initially used was warped, and the second piece I chose chipped rather easily. The technician recommended that I fix the chips with wood-glue if it became more of a problem. Next, I routed all 4 edges of the base of the box, and 1 edge of each side piece. This would make all edges of the box round except for the top edges. Those I decided to sand after I fit the entire box together. 

I used a right angle clamp to screw all four sides together, followed by the base. It was very tricky to align the sides perfectly and get a smooth face, especially when fastening the base. I miscalculated and had to drill very close to the routed edge, so some screw protrude slightly and punctuate the smooth edges. This was mitigated by using a countersink bit to drill a shallow hole and making the screw heads flush with the wood. Another issue was chipping wood. The chipping from the tablesaw only became worse once the router, drill, and orbital sander were used. In the future, I will be more careful early on and when selecting wood.

Lastly, I used various files, an orbital sander, and 180 sandpaper to sand the box. I had to be particularly careful in some areas.

It was quite enjoyable and actually helped with the chipping situation. Rounding out the top edges took 20 times longer than using the router, but the result was smoother. The final result has some uneven areas do to misalignment, but it is smooth overall.  There are some mistakes but I learned a lot from them!