Thread: a Box for my HSC protege's Year 12 Major Assignment

Hi all, A young lad who plays bowls at our Bowling Club (very good bowler also), is in Year 12, and earlier this year asked me if I would help him with his Year 12 Major HSC practical Assignment, in woodwork. He always likes to look at my boxes online that I sell, so he thought he would like to make a "man's box", to put "man stuff in". Quite a bit larger than the ordinary jewellery boxes I make. After we designed his project, trying to get as many different type joints in it as we could, for marking purposes, he still seemed a bit confused so I decided to make a proto type smaller version of his box. Then I could email him pics as I progressed. He lives about 30kms from me. This is my box, his one is much larger with two drawers instead of my one. I was away for a couple of months in the middle of all of this and left him to cut out the drawers with dovetail joints etc.

So all in all, the box comprises dovetail joints, mitre joints, lid is a concealed mitre joint, and a sort of housing joint for his ledges for his sliding drawers. Plus the odd couple of butt joints.

He will hinge his lid, I cheated and just used 5mm barrel hinges. He has used some very old bloodwood and his lid insert is blackbutt (drawer pullers the same). Someone had given his Dad some bloodwood, so I scored what was left over. Earlier this week we sliced his lid off, left him to talk to his teacher about hinging it, then he can work out his finish. So about half a dozen days in my shed working on this.

Anyway I made my box out of American Hemlock (lighter timber) and some nice grained Australian Red Cedar.

This is the result of mine,

Paul