WoodworkingDrawing 18 of 47

Jewelry
box

I built this small walnut jewelry box in one go, with just a table saw and a drill. There was no drawing or cut list, and I didn't use CAD. All I had to go on was a picture of it in my head. I learned more about tolerance stack up from it than from any class.

StatusBuilt, in use, made in one run
MaterialWalnut throughout. Not pre-surfaced
SizeRoughly 12 by 8 inches outside
PlanningNone. No drawing, no CAD, a table saw and a drill
Not recordedFinish, and when it was built

Sheet 02 of 06/No drawing

Building it without a drawing

I didn't draw this one or write a cut list. I just built the box I'd already put together in my head.

The closed jewelry box on a dark wood desk against a white wall, seen from a raised three quarter angle, showing the mitred lid frame and the grain of the panel — *PL 02*Closed. The lid is a mitred frame around a floating panel, and it sticks out past the base by its own thickness.

The jewelry box open on a dark wood desk, photographed from the front, the lid standing open against a white wall and the loaded tray filling the base — *PL 03*From the front, with the lid standing open at its stop. You can see everything the box holds in one view.

The closed jewelry box resting on a pale wood floor, its lid a mitred frame surrounding a panel of horizontal grain — *PL 09*The closed lid, lit from one side so the frame shows up. It's a frame around a floating panel, mitred at all four corners.

Sheet 03 of 06/The saw

The table saw setup

The walnut wasn't pre-surfaced, and the only tools I used were a table saw and a drill. So the saw's setup was the only reference the box ever got.

The jewelry box stood upright showing its back face, a framed panel in dark hardwood with two vertical brass plates each fixed by three screws — *PL 12*The back face and its hardware. It's a frame and panel, the same as the lid, with two brass plates screwed across the joint.

A hand holding the closed jewelry box clear of a table, photographed square from the front, with a brass plate visible underneath it — *PL 13*Straight on from the front, held up off the surface so the only thing behind the lid line is the floor.

Sheet 04 of 06/Frame and panel

Frame and panel construction

The lid and the back are each a mitred frame around a recessed panel. The tray's dividers use the same idea, just smaller. They're notched into each other, so the grid holds itself square.

A cream coloured lattice of thin strips laid flat on a wood floor, forming a grid of rectangular compartments, the strips notched into one another where they cross — *PL 15*The tray's dividers. Every strip is notched to half its depth, so the strips going in the two directions pass through each other and the grid holds itself square.

A short section of divider lattice on a wood floor, cream strips crossing at right angles with a notched halving joint at each intersection — *PL 16*The same idea on a shorter run, and the clearest look at the halving joints. Both slots have to be the same depth or the grid won't sit flat.

Seven cream coloured padded fabric rolls laid side by side on a wood floor — *PL 17*The ring rolls, taken out of the tray. There are seven padded bars, and the gaps between them are what hold a ring.

The jewelry box open and empty on a wood floor, its cream lined interior bare, with the removable compartment tray sitting to the right of it — *PL 07*Empty, with the tray lifted out and set beside it. The base underneath is one open space, so the tray does all of the organising.

The jewelry box open and standing on a desk, seen from the front, its lid folded back past vertical, with a blurred office desk behind — *PL 08*Open and upright. This is the only view that shows how far the lid swings back and where it stops.

Sheet 05 of 06/The lid

Tolerance stack up

Every small error from earlier in the build shows up at the lid. If the four corners are each a little out of square, those errors add up instead of cancelling out, and by the time you can feel it in a rocking lid, the box is already glued.

The closed jewelry box stood on one end and photographed from the side, showing the fine gap where the lid meets the base and two brass plates on the back edge — *PL 10*Stood on end, with the lid line running the full height and the two brass plates that carry it.

The closed jewelry box seen from above and behind, showing the full length of the back edge and the gap where the lid meets the base — *PL 11*The back edge from above. The test is one even gap from end to end, and this is the view that shows it.

A close square on view of the closed jewelry box from the front, showing the lid overhanging the base slightly and the thin shadow line between them — *PL 14*The same view, closer in. The lid sticks out past the base by the thickness of its own frame, and the gap between the two is the number that matters.

Sheet 06 of 06/Next time

What I'd do differently

Next time I'd write the dimensions down before touching the saw, and I'd dry fit the whole box with clamps before any glue goes on. I'd also take pictures as I go instead of only at the end.

A dark hardwood jewelry box open on a pale wood floor, lined in cream, a compartment tray full of rings and earrings filling the base and a row of small brass hooks along the top of the lid lining — *PL 04*The box the way it gets used, open with the tray in and everything in its place. The upper half is there for the eight hooks along the top of the lid.

The open jewelry box with a fine gold chain hanging from one of the brass hooks in the lid, the loaded tray visible in the base beneath it — *PL 05*One chain hung where it's meant to go. The lid holds the long pieces so they can't tangle with what's in the tray.

Looking down into the open jewelry box at the cream lined tray, padded ring rolls holding rings on the left and a grid of small compartments holding earrings on the right — *PL 06*The tray from above, with ring rolls down one side and a grid of compartments sized for earrings and studs.