I saw photos of Mike's ( @Mike1950 ) boxes a few years ago and he makes these boxes with gorgeous coved sides. I've wanted to try that ever since and finally got up the nerve over the last two weeks. I had some beautiful canary wood boards I got from David ( @gvwp ) and they were closer to 3/4" thick which made them perfect for cutting coves. Used one of the curly maple thins I got from Mike for the lid panels. And thank goodness - NO stinkin' hinges! - the handles are canary and some leftover pieces of figured redwood with tiny 1/8" dowel pins to strengthen the glue joint. These two are twins, same size, etc. These boxes are nominally 6x4x3.5 inches deep. Finished with several coats of satin wipe-on poly, then micro pad and then waxed with paste wax. Nice smooth, silky feel.
The cove making process went pretty smoothly. But I have to admit to one mistake. If you look close at the coves you'll see they aren't centered on the box side. The cove is closer to the top than to the bottom. I thought I measured and positioned my fences properly but obviously not. The blade on my table saw does not raise straight up, it rotates upward on an arc. As a result, the center of the cove moves closer to one side than the other. In the end, it actually worked out perfectly. Because when I made the lids and cut the rabbets to fit them, the box section above the cove ended up being the exact same width as the bottom below the cove. So it looks like I knew what I was doing. Sssssh, don't tell anyone.
The cove making process went pretty smoothly. But I have to admit to one mistake. If you look close at the coves you'll see they aren't centered on the box side. The cove is closer to the top than to the bottom. I thought I measured and positioned my fences properly but obviously not. The blade on my table saw does not raise straight up, it rotates upward on an arc. As a result, the center of the cove moves closer to one side than the other. In the end, it actually worked out perfectly. Because when I made the lids and cut the rabbets to fit them, the box section above the cove ended up being the exact same width as the bottom below the cove. So it looks like I knew what I was doing. Sssssh, don't tell anyone.
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