Thread: Roll-top / tambour fountain pen storage box

I have been thinking of making a similar box but always get stuck on making the groove, it has to be perfect or it just won't look good, and what is the minimum radius that can be used.

Originally Posted by double.d

I have been thinking of making a similar box but always get stuck on making the groove, it has to be perfect or it just won't look good, and what is the minimum radius that can be used.

Exactly where I’m stuck. The CNC will make the grooves perfect, as for the radius of the corners to the width of the slats for the top ratio I assume that will be trial and error.


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Love the spa deck, Jacques. Just the place for relaxing and thinking out the challenges of a tambour top

The pen display box looks like an interesting challenge. Presumably the CNC will blitz it, but if you didn't have one you could make up a ply or mdf template of the inside path of the cutter, stick it to the workpiece with double-sided tape then use a trim router with a template guide to run around the template.

Looking forward to the build!

Regards,


Brian

I made a little progress today. I managed to draw the grooves in the cad software and cut it on the CNC. The lid seems to make it around the corners so it might just work after all.

Looking good now.

That looks good.

Excellent work.

Getting there. Just need to resize the drawer, get the sizing of the lid sorted based on the drawer size, fit the drawer front and then apply a finish.

I used contact adhesive to glue the lid backing. It’s a bit of trial and error and I was concerned the fabric won’t hold the slats so I left 3 pieces of masking tape under the fabric. It seems to be holding.



The contact adhesive bled through in places. It will all be concealed though so shouldn’t be an issue.



I came back after 15mins or so to make sure the slats are not glued together. I pried the odd ones apart and cleaned them all with some white spirits to ensure they don’t stick together whilst drying.



Left the lid to dry properly over night.



And finally today’s progress. Glued the top shelf, the bottom and back.



Needs a little bit of sanding to clean it up.



This is supposed to be a video clip, not sure if it will show up though. I just love the way the lid slides open.

Video doesn’t seem to work but you can check it out on Instagram.

Jacques Botes on Instagram

Coming along. I can't see why contact adhesive wouldn't work. What sort of backing fabric did you use?

Bit late now, but I always use cotton duck fabric with Titebond II. Put the glue on both surfaces, let it dry for at least an hour, then iron the backing on with a hot iron. Not as easy to make a mistake as contact adhesive I find.

Originally Posted by AlexS

Coming along. I can't see why contact adhesive wouldn't work. What sort of backing fabric did you use?

Bit late now, but I always use cotton duck fabric with Titebond II. Put the glue on both surfaces, let it dry for at least an hour, then iron the backing on with a hot iron. Not as easy to make a mistake as contact adhesive I find.

I should’ve asked before I jumped in head first [emoji16]. Thanks for the information Alex, I will remember that for next time.

This box is a bit of a trial and error for me. I figured a fabric that doesn’t stretch will work and found some faux sued in my stash which seems to do the trick. I believe a strong cotton as you suggest would have been better, but alas, it’s done.

I like the idea of ironing on some cloth with TB2.

Forging ahead…..

I had to resort to some innovative clamping to get the “adaptor” glued to the folding lid. I believe every woodworker needs to own a set of 12.5kg dumbbells as part of their clamping setup [emoji4].



Once the glue dried I screwed it onto the drawer to enable the lid to be taken off in future if needed (when I need to replace that suede [emoji16]).



There you go, folding lid sliding open nicely when the drawer is opened.



Now for the next challenge, fine tuning the fit. See that sliver of green tape when the lid is all the way closed. Well, the plan was for the drawer to be flush with the front so that I can put a drawer face onto the drawer.



Like this



But then the lid is not closing properly [emoji19]





My options are recess the drawer front slightly or alternatively put spacer between the adapter and the drawer to move the drawer forward.

Drawer front roughed out. I will figure it out next time. I also need to work on the drawer front design, it doesn’t fit the box. Perhaps I will put a curve in it [emoji57]?

It’s done, not perfect but done [emoji4]. I think I need to put more thought into the drawer front next time I do it since it doesn’t close all the way. It does close properly if I push it tight but the natural spring action of the sliding lid pushes it that little bit open. It’s not bad thought and I’m pleased how it turned out.

I used the same drawer handle and feet as I used on my other pen box to Keep the look consistent between the two.

The finish is Osmo Polyx satin with a some beeswax once it dried.

I will throw a video on Instagram to show the opening action, it’s pretty cool [emoji3]

Nice!
Well thought out, very well executed.