# Making my Watch Box



## JDMdenon (May 11, 2017)

Hi all, thought I'd show you all my current project which is a to-be watch box!! Its taking a while as I work on it in the spare moments I have in the workshop!! I thought just instead of showing the finished object, which it isn't yet, Id show the work that goes into making it and hopefully it comes across to be interesting! haha!

*Just a quick disclaimer, this isn't some kind of advertising stunt, I unfortunately wont be able to make one for anyone if they ask as I'm usually busy! This is just a little bit of fun I'm booking in for myself! I should really machining up 10 Sliding sash windows haha!*

Anyway, the wood of choice was Oak and the plan was to joint it up with the use of 'Dovetail' joints which look quite nice once sanded and polished! My lid will have a glass top and I've planned it out to fit ten watches in plus a little compartment to fit straps and other little bits!

The first job was to cut the oak up and plane it down to 15mm, the wood came at 20mm so It required 5mm removing after that was done I cut it up to the desired length and then cut my 'Dovetail' joints in! Here's an image of the pieces of oak cut with there joints!


















After the dovetails were cut I then had to machine a grove in the bottom of each piece which enabled me to slide a piece of 5mm thick oak faced plywood which would be the bottom of the box! An image below shows the groove with a bloomin' big piece of plywood! I wasn't able to check my joints until the bottom was cut out! This is because the rule of thumb for cutting dovetails is that you never try them before gluing and you never cramp them! So it had to be done once, and done right!










Once the bottom was cut out, I glued up the joints with the bottom correctly slotted in! Here is an image after the base was glued together and wiped off! As mentioned before, no requirement for cramps was needed!









Once the base of the box had been constructed I then turned to construct the lid! The plan for the lid was to glue three pieces of oak together and then once dried, a rebate will be cut into the edge of the lid so it actually sits into the base! Then glue it up and sand it down so the lid is flush with the base. Then carefully cut, with a circular saw. the top of off again but with part of the base aswell! The reason why this is done as it makes it easy to keep the lid true to the dimensions of the base!

Here are a few images of the lids construction, the first image is showing the three pieces of oak glued together, no actual joints where required as modern glue technology is flippin' good! The use of 'D4 Glue' has been used throughout the build of this box, its similar to to 'PVA' however once set is a lot stronger and is ideal!!










As mentioned before, once the lid had been glue it was planed off to create a face side and edge and then it was sent through the Spindal Molder in order to cut a rebate which allowed it to sit into the base!










And finally the finished base components....










The next part of the box is to cut out part of the top in order to place a piece of glass into the lid! In order to do this It will be need to be cut out with use of a router! However a jig has been needed to be made which will be clamped to the top and then the router will follow the edged of the jig in order to cut out a square slot for the glass to sit in. Also another slot will need to be cut from the other side to create a rebate which the glass will actually sit in!

Anyway, that's my current progress of my watch box. Let me know if you would like me to carry on showing you how its been made. Also feel free to ask any questions of the construction!

Thanks for reading!


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## deano1956 (Jan 27, 2016)

hell yes carry on with the project fella I say, nice to see hand cut dove tails :thumbsup: and a lovely piece of wood , how are you going to finish it stain, oil?

deano


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## jsud2002 (Nov 7, 2015)

Well done a great achievement making something yourself . I am always envious of people that have the skills to work with wood it is something I have always wanted to learn but never got round to doing it . I look forward to seeing the finished result


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## chocko (Nov 9, 2008)

So far so good . I for one would like you to continue as I love to see a project completed


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## JDMdenon (May 11, 2017)

Thanks everybody for the positive feedback! I shall continue with the project updates!! Thanks @deano1956 , the finish will be a spray polish not sure what finish i'm going for yet!!


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## brummie1875 (May 2, 2016)

A bit of good old fashioned woodworking with 'real' wood is a sight to behold. Would like to see the progress through to completion thanks.

Good work that man. :thumbs_up:


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Maravillosa! Lovely work! :notworthy:

(if you get stuck I've some 8 inch M6 roofing nuts and bolts and some 1-1/4 inch self tappers in the kitchen drawer :yes: - left over from an IKEA flat pack)


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## crilin202 (Sep 6, 2016)

Very good work on those dovetail joints. Looking very good so far. I only wished I had the skills....


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## JDMdenon (May 11, 2017)

Part two coming soon.....


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## Caller. (Dec 8, 2013)

I've only just seen this - looking forward to the rest!


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## Amplidyne (Jul 11, 2017)

Nice bit of woodworking there mate. Those dovetails look like an excellent fit. :thumbsup:


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## Pete wilding (Jul 13, 2017)

Good old fashioned craftmanship


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## RoddyJB (May 11, 2008)

Looking forward to seeing the progression to the end...


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## JimboJames1972 (Jun 3, 2016)

There is definitely some massive satisfaction in being able to say, "I made that" when someone asked about it.

Big Kudos! Can't wait to see the end result.

J


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## Roger Red Hat (Jul 29, 2017)

looks great, looking forward to seeing the finished article


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## JDMdenon (May 11, 2017)

Right Guys!! Part 2 is here! Apologies for the long wait, I've been unable to update it due to work!

So for this part of the article I'll be making the slot in the lid for the glass to fit into! This proved to be one of the more difficult tasks as it required two jigs to enable the Router was guided around the lid to cut the correct sized slot! Also, a rebate was required in able for the glass to 'sit in' so one jig needed to be smaller than the other!










Here is the first jig which had been machined and glued and cramped together!

Also before letting loose on the Oak lid a mock lid was made from softwood to test the cutter and jig was all good! Unfortunately my cutter was not on the sharp side and the jig which had been made was too thin and did not provide adequate support for the router to sit on as it rocked slightly! The picture below shows the result of a blunt cutter and thin jig!



















As you can see the cut is quite wavy and wouldn't even look straight after 5 pints of Guinness! Therefore a new jig was made with wider edges as shown below.









The new and improved jig on the right, as you can see its wider therefore the fence of the router a larger area to sit on! Another mock lid was made and the new jig was tested and it was a success, we used plywood as I couldn't find any redwood. Note that the use of MDF has not been used due to the fact it contains metal traces that can really knacker up your cutters on the router!









A nice straight cut! I didn't bother putting a decorative mold on this mock lid as I knew that the jig and cutter were satisfactory. The next job was to attach the jig to the lid and cut the hole out in the center.

In order to attach the jig to the lid we used screws as this was the safest option because the use of a cramp could get in the way of the path of the router. The holes in the lid from the screws would be just filled in with oak filler and after it is sprayed the fill will unnoticeable!
















Unfortunately I was unable to take a picture of the router doing its job as I was doing it and both hands were required. A decorative mold was then done to finish it off. Note the two wet patches on the lid were done to swell up the screw holes created in order for the least amount of filler to be used later.










After the top slot was made a smaller jig was then created in order to produce a rebate for the glass to sit in as mentioned earlier in this post. The jigs are quite simple to make, all I did was cut a slot half way down the material to the width of the meeting piece. It took about ten minutes to make but gluing it up meant I couldn't use it till the next day This part of the project was a little bit slow but needed to be due to the high risk of messing up the lid and having to start again! Below is the other jig that was made to a smaller size however the same thickness was maintained in order to create adequate support.









Just on a side note the other bloke assisting me is my dad as I needed his help with 'modelling' with the machinery also we work together so he is sometimes seen in a few pictures doing 'proper work that puts food on the table' haha!

After the jig the was glued together and dried, it was then fixed to the bottom of the lid with the use of screws as before.









Luckily I managed to get a cheeky bit of routing taking place on the box....









After abit of sanding down here is the finished article of the rebate for the glass top....









Now it was time to glue the top part to the base and cramp it up like mad to ensure the top part did not twist. It does look abit over the top but it was needed to be done to prevent twist...










That's it for now, part three should follow in the next couple of weeks, I'm hoping to do it in four parts. After the box has dried I will machine down the sides to get rid of the lip of the top part then with the use of the circular saw the box will be split into two pieces. As mentioned in the first part this is done to ensure the box and lid fit perfectly! Then after this is done, the dividers and strap storage compartment will be made and then finally it will be sprayed in with polish to give it a nice finish as well as the glass being fitted, the use of perspex was considered instead of glass however it can have a tenancy to dis-colour over time.

Thanks all for the feedback and I should be back with part three in the next few weeks!


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

:notworthy: looking forward to parts three and four :notworthy:


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## ab20000 (Aug 9, 2017)

Looking good - I'm in the process of designing a new box. (wood TBC but have some high density beach plywood that I may use). Will be keeping an eye on this to see how this evolves. The joints look spot on BTW


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## MOK (Jul 17, 2017)

Good work thus far, are you going to line with baize?


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## JDMdenon (May 11, 2017)

MOK said:


> Good work thus far, are you going to line with baize?


 If I can find a colour I like and matches well then yes! I find green a little bit dated thats all!


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