Last minute Valentines present A gift box!

Back in November of 2012 I picked up a few 1x6x24 1/2" thick boards so I could enter A Simple Design of Ocalas box making contest.I got busy around the holidays and never got a chance to build anything out of them.  Fast forward to the day before Valentines day and I decided to build my wife a gift box.  I tried to keep it as simple as possible and finished it just in time to give to her.

 

 

I started out with the goal of making the box sized to fit a standard 4x6 photo
on the inside of the lid.

I cut eveything to length with my mitre saw.  On a side note, I always called it a
chop saw until I started watching woodworking videos.  Is there a difference between the two?

 

All the sides cut to length.

I then cut them to the proper width.

A quck dry fit to test the inner dimensions.

 

I used some scrap to refine the depth and width of the rabbits.
I used a 1/2" straight bit in my router table.

Another dry fit to test the joints.

I lightly clamped the pieces together and slowly trimmed the top

and bottom insets to the proper size.

All ready for glue up.

 

I am glued up the sides first and used the top and botton insets to keep everything square.

What is that famous saying about clamps?

 

The sides of the box all glued up.

Next time I am going to use some tape to mask off the glue joints first.

Top and bottom insets glued in and drying.

Its a box!

I set my table saw up for a 1 1/2" wide cut and a little over 1/2" deep.

I cut the 2 long sides first.

I then put some shims in before cutting the 2 short ends.

The top has been cut off!

For some reason these cuts went a little deeper.

I tried to even it out when I sanded but ended up making it a little worse.

I sanded it some more and then added a chamfer on the router table and it evened it out.

This was my first time using Danish Oil.

I applied the first coat and then went ate lunch and came back about 45 minutes later and applied

a second coat.  I then came back 15 minutes later and wiped the whole thing down.

It ended up taking a couple of days for the wood to stop feeling oily.

I picked up some adhesive backed felt at Michaels and applied some to the bottom.  I also

measured and marked for the hinges.

I finally got to use my new mallet on its first project.

I used my 1/2" chisel score inside the line for the hinge.  I then used the same

chisel to gently pry the pieces out.

I marked and then drilled holes for the mounting screws.

Its a box!

I applied some spray adhesive to the back of a picture and mounted it to the inside of the lid.