BASIC BOX CONSTRUCTION

MAIL MANAGER

Im what you might call a sequential mail opener. I tend to open all the woodworking catalogs that come in the days mail first. Next, I read cards and letters. Later —some - times much later —I open the bills.
To keep the mail organized I decided to invest part of a weekend to make an old - fashioned wall - hung letter box from some scraps of pine.

BASIC BOX CONSTRUCTION

The letter box derives much of its charm from its very basic joinery. Except for a few tongue and dado joints used inside to align the vertical parts, the rest of the joints are simple butt joints.
pattern tempi - ATKS. The first step is to make eardboard templates for the profiles used on the front, middle, back, and sides.

Only two templates are needed for all the profiles on the letter box. see Fig. 1. The pattern thats used for the front, middle and back pieces. it forms the scoop in the front and middle pieces. When its flipped upright, it forms the outline on the highest part of the back.

 


sidk pattern. The pattern used for the side pieces ) is a combination of curves and straight edges. To make this template, first lay out the straight lines. Then strike the arcs for the curves with a compass.

CUTTING THE PIECES

After the templates were made. I resawed enough УГ pine to make all the 3/8 - thick pieces markcentermne. To resaw the 3/4" pine, start by marking the center of the width of the workpiece on one end. see Fig. 2. Then set the fence 3/8" from the saw - blade to establish the thickness of the re - sawn stock.

SAFE SUPPORT. De|ending on the width of the board, it may take several passes on each edge. (Make each cut about %" deep.)

However, the last passes should be about Vie" below the line marked at the center of the board, which will leave a section at the center con - nected. This keeps both halves together throughout the resawing Operation, and lets the two edges of the workpiece provide support on Ixith sides of the blade so theres n< tendency for the workpiece to tip as the final cut is being made.

CUT WEB. After the resaw kerfs are cut into both edges of the stock, the weeb holding the halves together can Ik - cut with a hand saw. Then use a hand plane to smooth off the ridge down the center of the resaw n piece.

Shop Note: For another method to reduce the stock to 3/8" thick.

CUTTosiZE. After the ridge is planed away, cut the five workpieces to width and length, see Fig.

TRACE PATTERNS. Now the patterns can be traced from the templates onto each piece. Then cut away the waste to form the profiles.

Shop Note: When cutting out the profile on the front and middle parts, its easier to make the cen ter arc by boring with a 11/4 - dia. spade bit. Then use a band saw or coping saw to finish the profile.

HANGER HOLE. After all the profiles were cut, I bored a 1/4" hanger hole centered near the top of the back, see Fig. 4. As a finishing touch. I chamfered both ends of the hole with a countersink.

DADOES

After cutting the profiles on the ends of the pieces, the next step is to cut dadoes across the insidcs of the pieces to hold the tiers. The tiers act as both align - ment spacers and drawer guides, refer to Fig. 7. I made these dadoes 1/8 wide by 1/8" deep Using a combination blade on the table saw.
 


Bottom dado. The first dado is made across the bottom of the front, back, and both sides to hold the letter box bottom tier. To position this dado, begin by setting the blade height to 1/8. Next, lock the fence as a stop so theres 1/4" between the inside of the blade and the fence. Then, use the miter gauge for support while cutting this dado across the bottom of all three pieces.

Middle divider dado. The next dado is made across the middle divider. This dado will align with the top dado on the back and is used to mount the top tier. This dado is 13/8" up from the bottom of the middle divider.

Dadoes on back. Therere two dadoes on the back. The first one is 21/4 from the bottom, and the second is 33/4 from the bottom.

TIERS

After the vertical parts of the letter box were done. I cut the three 3/8"- thiek tiers that tie the letter box parts together.

The bottom tier forms the bottom of the letter box and the drawer compartment. The middle tier is the top of the drawer compartment and serves as a base support for the middle divider. And the Upper tier is sort of a stair step that keeps mail from dropping too deep into the rear letter compartment.

Tongues. To lock these tiers into the vertical pieces, tongues are made to fit into the dadoes. To make these tongues. I cut rabbets on the edges of the workpieces.

rabbets. The rabbets that form the tongues can be cut in a single pass on the table saw. But. because the width of the rabbet is the same width as the saw blade teeth, the fence has to be protected. To do this, first fasten an auxiliary fence to the table saws rip fence.
With the auxiliary fence in place, adjust the fence until the edges of the teeth are just skimming the surface. Then use the miter gauge to guide the ends of the work - pieces over the blade to form the tongues.
Shop Note: Test the depth of cut first on a piece of scrap stock of the same thickness. Keep adjusting the blade height until the tongues fit the dadoes.
The upper tier and middle tier have tongues along the front and back edges, see Fig. & The bottom tier has tongues on three edges to fit into the two sides and the back.

ALIGNMENT BLOCKS

After all the parts are cut to size and the dadoes are cut. the letter box can be assembled. However, the butt joints make aligning the parts tricky. To help, I cut up some scraps to be used as alignment blocks.
drawer opening BixxK. First, make a block for the drawer opening to align the bottom tier and middle tier so the height of the drawer opening is the same at the front awl back.

To make this block, resaw a scrap to the same thickness as the distance between the bottom and middle tiers. Then cut it 4" long to provide а 1/2 finger space on both ends so you can pull it out before the glue sets.

Dividkk blocks. The other two blocks keep the front, middle divider, and back aligned parallel during gluing. To make the front block, rip it to a thickness that exaeatly matches the distance between the front and middle divider, see Fig. 8.

Next, rip the rear block to a thickness of the distance between the middle divider and the back.

Pins. After making the blocks, there one last step to help keep the pieces aligned while setting up the clamps. 1 put pins on the edges of the front, middle, and back to bite into the sides.

To make these pins, drive wire brads about 1/4" deep centered on the edges. Then snip off the heads to leave 1/8"- long pointed pins.

ASSEMBLY SEQUENCE

Assembling a small project with exposed butt joints gets tricky. For gluing the parts together. I used white glue because it takes a little longer to set up than yellow glue, so it allows more time to get the pieces into position.

Begin assembly. To glue the parts together, begin by placing the back on a flat surface with the dadoes facing up. Next, apply glue to the edges of nil the pieces. Then press the tiers into the dadoes and slip the spacer block 1x4ween the bottom and middle tiers.

Add divider. Next, add the middle divider. Place the spacer block on the back so the top edge is aligned with the "homs" of the middle divider. Then press the divider in place.

Add front. The front is positioned just like the middle divider. First place the spacer block on the divider lined up with the "horns" of the front. Then press the dado over the tongue on the middle tier.

Add sides. The fastest way to glue the sides is to put them both in place at the same time. To do this, position the dadoes on the tongues of the bottom tier. Then swing the sides against the edges so the brad pins can temporarily grip the sides.

Clamping. While the pins are holding the box together, add clamps so pressure is applied on the center of the sides. Then tighten the clamps and remove the spacer blocks before the glue starts to set.

DRAWER

A drawer is made to fit the bottom opening. The first step is to resaw stock 1/2 thick for the drawer front, and 3/8" thick for the sides and back. Then rip all pieces to Vie" less than the height of the drawer opening.

The front. The next step is to cut the front to length to fit between the sides of the box.

Chamfer front. To dress up the front, I chamfered the edges to "raise" the center. Set the blade at a 15° angle. Then position the fence 3/8" from the blade at the table level.

Shop Note: To make this chamfer cut safely, I notched a piece of3A" scrap to use as a pushing jig.

After the chamfers are cut, cut rabbets at the ends of the drawer front to join it to the sides.

Drawer sides. Now the drawer sides (D can be cut to length to position the chamfered edges of the drawer front flush with the front of the box. To do this, subtract the thickness of the shoulder on the drawer front from the depth of the box.
 


Next, cut rabbets on the rear ends of the drawer sides, see Detail В in Fig. 11. Then cut the drawer back to fit between the rabbets.

Bottom groove. Finally, plough a 1/8" by 1/8" groove for the Masonite bottom 1/8" from the bottom edge of all four pieces.

KNOB

Before the drawer parts can be assembled, a tenoned knob is installed on the front,. To lock it in place. I used a wedged joint.

Slot. To make this joint, first cut a slot almost the length of the round tenon.

Wedge. The wedge that goes into the slot is whittled from a 1/4 - wide scrap. The measurements arent critical —just make sure the thickest part is just a little thicker than the slot.

Lock the joint. To lock the joint, press the tenon through the hole in the drawer front until the base of the knob is flush with the front. Next, put a dab of glue in the slot and drive in the wedge. Then cut the tenon flush, see Step 3.

Final assembly. To complete the assembly of the drawer, first cut a bottom from 1/8" Masonite. Then glue all the parts of the drawer together.

Finish. I used the same custom finish 1 developed for the pie safe.

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