Its that time of year again: HOLIDAY PROJECT TIME! So this year, I decided to make a few little keepsake boxes, thanks to some advice from The Great WOODini. I also took inspiration from a box Nicole keeps on her nightstand and developed a new design that is much more practical for the average woodworker to make. The boxes feature a secret locking pin. Once removed, the lid slides off on a sliding dovetail. And as always with these holiday gift projects, you can modify them by trying different sizes, shapes, and wood species to make your own one-of-a-kind box. And since they are so easy to make, its no problem batching out a bunch of them in a single weekend. If you decide to make some, please send me pics of your variations.

Topics Covered:

• Creating sliding dovetails
• Using a dowel-centering pin to locate holes
• Cutting a recess with a pattern bit
• Sanding end-grain

Circle Templates – $32.99 This template set has been incredibly useful for numerous projects including these keepsake boxes and the Contemporary Clock Project from last year.

GRR-Ripper Adjustable Push Block – $59.99 The GRR-Ripper is the fancy push block you see me using in this video. Incredibly useful and gives you ultimate control of the workpiece!

The inspiration for this project came from two sources; my wife who loves Asian style furniture, artifacts and art, and a picture of a similar but taller plant stand done by Yeung Chan whom I met at a woodworking show. I had no plans, so, a la David Marks I built about 5 or 6 prototypes out of MDF until I got the proportions right. Believe it or not the hardest part was cutting the moulding around the top on my router table. I probably violated every safety rule in the book! The afzelia wanted to bow so the legs are all laminations of the solid wood. The top is plywood with radial veneer out of the afzelia which I said I cut under the tutelage of David. The legs are joined to the top with Domino loose tenons. The bottom stretchers are a tri lap which I had to teach myself how to do by reading Chan’s book over and over and then execute from poplar with my dado blade over and over until I got it right. They are joined to the legs with Dominoes also. Needless to say, I made a lot of jigs to get the Domino mortises in exactly the right places in the top and legs. The finish is good old Deft from a bunch of spray cans after sanding to 320 grit. I neglected to mention that the moulding miters are held tight by mini splines at the bottom.