Make a simple box with hand tools.
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Tools used in this build (affiliate):
Ryoba Pull Saw: amzn.to/2WoIzLP
Dewalt Handsaw: amzn.to/2IAHX1Z
Stanley Marking Knife: amzn.to/2Ewrxo3
Grizzly Handplane: Grizzly Model: amzn.to/2Z2NMcr
Bar clamps: amzn.to/2LfukUW
Glue Bottle: amzn.to/2L2if6I
Power Sander: amzn.to/2ZqVo8Q
Stanley 12-404 Handplane: amzn.to/2TjW5mo
Honing Guide: amzn.to/2TaJEZM
Green buffing compound: amzn.to/2XuUBE2
Cheap metal/plastic hammer for plane adjusting: amzn.to/2XyE7Ln
Spade Bits: amzn.to/2U5kvML
Metal File: amzn.to/2CM985y (I don't own this one, but it looks good and gets good reviews. DOESN'T NEED A HANDLE)
My favorite file handles: amzn.to/2TPNPpr
Block Plane Iron (if you can't find a used one): amzn.to/2I6V1vh
Stanley Marking Knife: amzn.to/2Ewrxo3
Mini-Hacksaw: amzn.to/2QlJR85
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Only person I’ve seen on KZhead so far who doesn’t go ‘here’s how to make a box with SIMPLE tools. Ok let’s go over to the 12 foot industrial rip saw with full extraction machine’ 😂 thanks man 😊
Phil Richards Truth. “Here’s a simple way to make to a box. First I run them through my planer, then it’s off to the joiner, now for my dove tails I use my router with this fancy sleek attachment made by overpriced tool works, it’s not cheap but I really like it check them out link in description, use my coupon code for half a percent off”
@@James_T_Kirk_1701 lmfao exactly
@@James_T_Kirk_1701 so acute lol
I’ve seen a bunch of videos recently: “Here’s an easy . . . “ And out comes the drill press, router table, jointer, table saw, miter saw, planer or pneumatic nailer. It is EASY, but it’s also expensive and kinda dangerous. The “easiest” builds almost always at least have a table saw and miter saw in them.
So true :(
Searched for a box tutorial, of course Rex comes up and he seems to be the only guy who understand that not everyone has a table saw/router
The difference between a skilled woodworker and a unskilled one is the skilled one knows how to cover up his mistakes.
Finally. A box made with JUST HAND TOOLS
I do my best.
@@RexKrueger You've recently started using finishing nails to help hold joints together, so I've had to revise my opinion of you. You're the love child of Roy Underhill and Norm Abram! :) Love the channel, you're doing great work.
Simple keepsake box all you need is a high end table saw, Chop saw, band saw, jointer, planer, shop vac, circular saw, 16 clamps, bottle of glue, 36 Brad nails, 13 5 inch deck screws, 2 drills a drill press a festool sander a hydraulic jack, 3 saw horses and safety glasses 😂
@@garrettjones8017 easy peasy lemon squeezy. Everybody has those in their garage hahahahaha
@@garrettjones8017 lol. That’s the truth. It is simple if you had all those tools. Lol
Thanks for talking to your camera in your basement!
I honestly love it...although I do have a wierd job.
Shhhh! He doesn't know about the camera.
@@guhhhhh9032 Actually lol'd
The beautiful thing about your videos is they don't go for perfection. Makes it that much easirt to get working. Awesome job.
With each video, this series is making it increasingly difficult for me to make excuses to not make something.
No excuses, bro! Go make something. You'll never be the same.
Hey Rex. I don't do wood working but I still very much enjoy watching your videos. I love the charisma, humility, and general positivity you demonstrate as you work through the projects. Your videos are a must watch for any homeowners out there because odds are that you'll eventually have to do some repair work and the techniques you teach will save people lots of money. I know I've certainly learned a thing or two I wish I would have known when I was repairing a fence a few years ago... Keep up the good work! I look forward to the follow up video for this box.
Thanks! Those comments keep me going. I might do a few videos on home repairs you can do with hand tools. Seems like fun.
The internet needs more videos like this: honest, and showing everything that did and can and WILL go wrong and how to fix it. Because let's face it: any of us looking for DIY videos on youtube is going to screw up. A lot! Thanks, man! Alone the look of this box - one simple, long dovetail, instead of 4-5 that are way too much for a beginner - is a massive jump forward on the project I have in mind.
Hey, thank you. I'm just getting into working with wood and watched all your Woodwork for Humans videos. You're really good at explaining and defining everything. Not a lot of the maker channels explain the "why" along with the "how". I'm buying my first tools in the new year and starting in on some projects. Thank you for making this trade feel more accessible to me.
That's totally what I'm going for! Glad I could help!
How're the projects going Claire my dude?
I made his workbench, mallet, boxes, and bench so far. Lol! And finally my planes actually work!
thanks, do you have an onlyfans account by any chance?
"Be smarter than me" is what I tell everybody that I ever give any type of instruction. It's also what I tell myself every day.
you will never know less than you know today. Go get 'em.
Remember, there was a day when you were learning just to not shit your pants. That day will come again, but before then make a nice box or two.
It made me smile when you chuckled while admitting you were "a guy, in his basement, talking to a camera". Great video. That was just the extra cherry
I quit TV for the internet about 10 yrs ago. These last few weeks, I have found myself looking forward to Wednesday afternoon for a show for the first time in a decade.
You're very kind. I enjoy Wednesdays, too!
I am so glad you are making woodworking with hand tools as we have so much Loadsheading here in South Africa. I brought a lot of tools with when I moved from Minnesota to Cape Town.
I like the way you always show the mistakes too. at one point I thought ...uh oh! its screwed up holy cow ! and then I feel better when I do the same thing myself.
I really like this series because after I moved I don't even have the little stairwell to do woodworking in; and noise is a bigger issue now too. Everything possible has to be done by hand if I want to continue woodworking. But on a positive note, I'm actually really enjoying working with hand tools and am greatful and appreciative of the skills I have developed! A year ago I couldn't picture myself being able to rip cut a piece of lumber following the line, then hand planing to perfection at an efficient speed...now it's routine for me! I've also adapted to hand sanding and built many types of creative sanding blocks to suit all kinds of jobs.
It's kind of crazy how fast you adapt.
I am glad to see that there is other people that have trouble with joinery
EVERYONE has trouble with joinery. Its just a question of whether or not they show it.
Awesome video love all your videos. I am a cabinet maker by trade. And you are the only person on KZhead to actually admits the common mistakes. That even well skilled woodworker can make. Keep up the great videos. I look forward to all your future work.
Thanks a lot! I did custom work for a while, so I know how had the pro game is. I hope you're doing great!
Finger joints are my go to because I am a beekeeper and I have a jig set up all the time for my bee hives. A simple 45 degree frame with a contrasing "biscuit" also works.
Could you show off some of them?
This channel is a blessing for beginner woodworkers, thanks Rex
I'm watching both your woodworking for humans series and Matt Estleas teaching series, and I like them both! You have a relaxed "any problems can be fixed" approach, while he has the perfectionist approach. Thank you for sharing great content Rex
I keep hearing about Matt. Maybe we should do a video together.
I, too love both channels
Dovetails all the way! While they may not be the simplest of joinerys, they are, in my opinion, the most beautiful display of skills.
Most of the boxes I have made were rabbits foot joint, mostly because that is what I was first shown in cabinet making class.
You're a really good wood worker but you're an exceptional teacher!
I learned the basics growing up on the family farm. But these videos are so useful for the tips and tricks i didnt manage to pick up. Keep up the amazing work, your bringing classic knowledge to the everyday joe, and this will help the world more than any 1 fund raiser.
Good gift for your daughter. Girls love little boxes for some reason.
She really loves it.
Great job on the all hand tool box instruction. I like the profiling with planes. I find myself getting more to hand tools these days for the simplicity and accuracy they can produce. Dovetails are a great skill to learn, but I usually reserve them for drawer boxes. On simple boxes you can miter, but I prefer box joints for the look and strength. I also like to dado cut the bottom into the front, back and sides for strength because the bottom takes all the weight. This is a great way to do a beginners series on all different kinds of joints to use for boxes and future furniture. I like your back to basics approach.
I did it too. This is what I used Woodglut designs for
I tend to make boxes to match what they'll need to do. If they need to look nice then I'll go with mitres & diagonal bamboo through-pins every time because they're by far my favourite when cut with continuous grain from a darker wood (the bamboo contrast really works well). For a balance of strength & beauty I'd probably go with butt joints with straight through-pins or finger joints, & for pure strength you can't go wrong with dovetails but I find them a real pain (and never found the aesthetics pleasing). My preferred method for doing the tops & bottoms is cutting something to size for the inside of the box & then pinning it through from the sides (because it complements the pinned mitres or butt joints) but for more strength I'd cut rebates into the side stock before even slicing it up for the sides & then use a stepped piece for the top so it lies flush with the edges once it's assembled. It helps to hold everything square (which can otherwise be a pain with mitres) and works especially well for boxes that are polygonal rather than just rectangular, since clamping them is a bit of a nightmare if they're hollow. My preferred methods would probably make many joiners balk, but wood glues these days are more than strong enough to make up for the shortfall in joint strength & I think you end up with a nicer looking product afterwards. I have been able to stand on my mitre & pin boxes without them collapsing, & for something meant to hold jewellery I think that's good enough.
Well done and thank you for showing. One remark on planing the lid board to thickness. I would recommend to plane the board flat and true on one side after glueing. And THEN use the marking gauge to scribe off the thickness.
Thank you for sharing an easy way to make box we can all do 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
The feelings for things, which you have made by hand, are much deeper, then for other things. It's a kind of connection, what you have to the things.
Yeah, I felt that with this piece.
I'd be lost without my bench-hook.
My life is full of boxes. Mind blown.
I make floating shelf every weekend whenever I have free weekend. I don't know what those shelves are for. Still, I love shaving and sawing and making stuff. It is just calming Love hand tools you're using. Not very noisy and you actually can feel the things you're making Awesome videos in woodworking for humans
It is very calming.
There 's a strong influence by an English woodworker here 😉 but I am very happy you spread the same message, encouraging people to use handtools. Since you position yourself as a beginner you lower that threshold even further. I admire your honesty, being a 'custom' builder and never having built something with dovetails is, well... remarkable. But I am sure you will have 'figured it out' by now there is much more joy in working with hand tools. Well done. Love the channel.
So, I appreciate your comment very much, but I never said beginner. You can be a really experienced woodworker and never cut a dovetail, which is pretty specific to cabinet work.
I'm an old guy who's new to woodworking and have scoured KZhead for resources to help me learn. I stumbled on your channel by accident through reddit and I feel like I've struck gold! Fantastic videos, great content, and concise, articulate presentation. 'Subbed! Thank you for your videos.
You make such great videos Rex. You make everything so simple and approachable for the beginner.
Keep up the good work dude, simple, informative and straight to the point. No BS
mitered edges & glue are strong enough for decorative boxes and hide all end grain, which looks best to me. I built a “donkeys ear” for my shooting board to get the 45 degree angle exactly right. thanks for all your videos, rex!
That's a good approach!
I watched this series in 2 days and I'm really hoping there is more coming!!Your honesty and bluntness is great. But more then that you understand the working class "human" lol that can't afford a saw stop table saw, a CNC machine and thousands of dollars of other equipment. Keep up these great videos and me and my kids will keep following along!
To be totally fair, I do own a SawStop, but I just don't use it in this series. Thanks for watching!
Very nice. I like the trick of matching the reveal (?) of the bottom and top to the out-of-square of the box. You're right, that would be harder to detect than having the perfectly squared bottom on the slightly out-of-square box. Thanks.
You gotta just push through and finish. It's the only way to learn.
I love the concept of skill builders. I am in the process of making this box and while it is not perfect there has been great growth in my work. Thank you for encouraging us be human in what we do by your own humility. It’s refreshing.
Thank you Rex for explaining every single detail of the making, some channels just take for granted some skills even when they explain things for beginners. You are the first person I've seen explaining how to install the hinges without a hand router. Keep it up! Happy new year from Mexico 🇲🇽🎉🎊
This is great. I've been thinking about how to make a portable handmade gift for my cousin's wedding next spring. I will do some practice runs and dial things up with your guidance. Thank you!
Bentwood boxes are the quickest for me, thanks for the vid
From a teaching perspective- using your own statement of boxes around your house.... build 12 boxes- start with simple to complex (#1- Butt joint, #2- simple rabbet, #3 Finger joint, etc...) and build each as a showcase of specific strengths/weaknesses. Make the "Bakers Dozen" #13 box with Mitered Dovetails or complex pin/stile with a custom lid. Make these "boxes" as drawers- and house them all in a "Joinery Cabinet" jewelry stand or some larger cabinet where now your designs can be showcased as well as pulled out to re-visit or learn from... Heck- have the folks "write notes" int he boxes and then clear-coat them for posterity... nothing like a wood working "Diary" of learning to fall back on! ALWAYS KEEP YOUR FIRST PROJECT- warts and all!
Wow. That's a really good suggestion. Wow.
@@RexKrueger Thank you. "little" boxes make a useful box/drawers for storing chisels, gouges, hand tools and other bits and bobs. And what better way to keep your work history than by using little things to make a big thing. Most workbenches have a sandpaper file or a shallow drawer cabinet- if not- they need one! Start with Pine- end with Cherry/Walnut/Ebony.
I honestly think the next thing you should do is a video on how as soon as you have the skills to do a box like this one, you should level up your wood. I've met too many people who keep doing stuff like this in pine, not knowing that doing the same thing in hard maple ends up being less work, because you can finish plane it before you start dovetailing and it just stays looking pristine. Your time is worth more than the price difference between pine and every other wood you're likely to get your hands on.
The only issue with that is that most people don't have easy access to fancy woods. Locally I can buy pine, treated(?), plywood, chipboard and superwood(mdf). The only place I can get anything fancier is 600km away. The prices are considerably higher too.
I always liked the look of mitered boxes with little dark hardwood splines! Gonna try my first dovetail one now though! :)
That IS a classy look.
The timing for these videos couldn't have been better. Thanks, Rex! Giving this a try first thing tomorrow morning.
I hope I get to see it!
For the last 6-12 months, I've been pretty focused on sawing square, and planing things flat, smooth and square. I started my box last night with reclaimed redwood. I appreciate your efforts to make this project simple, with easily acquired and cheap hand tools. Thanks again Rex for the series!
Rex I am so happy I found your Channel I love that you dont claim to be an expert at everything and try things unknown to you on your channel. Very Brave man lol I have learned so much from you by not putting limitations on the tools i dont have and using the ones I do. Awesome job Keep doing what you do. No Rex T Shirts ? Id buy one. Thanks again
I love using box joints!
Love the simple idea to make just one big dovetail I will build my own soon Thnx for the woodwork for human serie it let me starts craft with handtools much more and all my powertools gets a dusty coat 😅
Just discovered you recently. Loving your Woodworking for Humans
Had to build a similar box for 7th grade wood shop. It looked like crap. Great video maybe I can try again now that I’m an Adult. Thanks for the memories
I bet the adult you would do a great job!
You inspired me to make an music box by hand for my significant other for our 1 year anniversary
Thank you Rex
Definitely better than expected...👌 Easiest way for me to build a box is .....screw it...😆
Love the videos. Rex, you are the reason I started looking at hand tools with a different view. One thing to add and I don’t know if this was addressed. But end grain glue joints are just as strong if not stronger then long grain. And there are plenty of examples on KZhead to show as much.
Great video, and GREAT project for beginners, Rex! Demystifying the legendary dovetail for those of us already half-traumatized by the horror stories of the old-timers is a big BIG service. AND it's worth admitting that I've never done a single dovetail for a joint before. The minimum (in my casual experience) has been three. That said, dovetails aren't my go-to for boxes most of the time. It's more a matter of convenience than anything, but I tend toward rebates (rabbits) and dado-joints... BUT it's also worth a note somewhere around here, that my call for boxes tends toward multiple compartments involved... so there's that. It's easiest (for me anyway) to start from a well fabricated miter-box, just to get all the cuts reliable and reproducible, so you might consider covering that sort of build. NOT that it's particularly difficult to get a good precision-made miter box out of what you have... ONLY that it's a useful tool to be able to build consistently on one's own. With the miter box, I can consistently cut straight borders and reliable "relief cuts" for the dado's and then it's just a matter of keeping all the measurements and lines (Layout is of TIP TOP importance) similarly consistent and precise. Once fitted together snug, the glue requirements and clamping difficulties can be minimal. It takes practice to get remarkable, but dado-joints can practically hold themselves together if you bother with the "sneaking up" and test fitting... and every internal compartment actually ADDS to the box's integrity. I like that you brought up the consistency with which boxes show up in other furnishings, and it's worth adding to your points there that even those furnishings that aren't exactly "just bigger boxes" are mostly "bigger crates or cages" (most of the time). It might be worth exploring the famous "mortise and tenon" variety in joinery, particularly since those also hold the heads on hammers and other tools (so carpenters and wood workers should probably be familiar with several derivatives)... ;o)
Thanks for the knowledge Rex !!!!!!
Keyed miter joint. Most will use veneer but I use 1/8-1/16 keys for aesthetics.
I don't know about the best way, but this video has inspired me to give dovetails a try. Thanks for the great content.
You need to know that the use of dovetail joints are always a good choice. Finger joints are best to use in reloading and explosive enclosure sp they fall apart and reduce explosive damage. Less resistance gives less damages.
My preferred finish for this kind of box is a few coats of paste wax.
To keep it simple I’d just suggest a mitered joint
I really want to start building an apothecary dresser with a variety of joint types both for sorting my tools and hardware and as an exercise.
Nice been doing this a long time. Most box are made simple. Good way to teach. Good video
I've always liked the look of box joints when the two sides have contrasting colors. For simplicity I'd probably do a butt joint reinforced with a few dowels. Sorta like a mock mortise and tenon.
I have made box joints using mortise and tenons, screw joints, Lap joints, domino, biscuit joints but I also find that the dovetail is the best joint to use for a box.
I made this white oak box (first box since woodshop in middle school) and i did mitered joints that were glued and pinned nailed. I don't recommend it because your miters have to be perfect and its on the weaker side. I also used a compression fit lid for it, a good option for people who don't have hardware laying around and want to get the project done. Just used scrap pieces that were glued to the lid, and fit snugly into the inside.
Miters do look good, though.
Great content sir! I will be sending the link to my students for them to watch during the COVID shutdown. I appreciate the fantastic content.
Much appreciated!
Okay I gotta say I will likely never make a box completely by hand (I simple don’t have the time) that said I still learned from this video. There are times that machines or design flaws cause a project to veer off course. The skills you are teaching could potentially save a project from abject failure. By learning things like planing a curve on to the edge of a board I can succeed when my router fails. Great instruction! Thx for talking to that camera!
You CAN succeed where your router fails!
It looks great! Thanks for sharing this.
My pleasure!
I just finished my first box. Because I'm lucky enough to have acquired a lot of major tools at insane prices (tablesaw, bandsaw, lathe, bench mount belt sander, less than $200 in to it), I used resawn 2x4 cutoffs from my $30 bench project and kerf width box joints cut on the table saw. Because I'm not that good yet, the box is a bit off square, but for a first effort, I think it's pretty good.
I'm sure it's great. Mine isn't perfectly square, either.
Great video Rex. That looks quite nice for being big box store pine. I have only made a few boxes but have used either what I think is called a lock rabbet joint and plain rabbet joints. A couple of the boxes that I’ve made that were pretty much just for utility purposes I used a glued butt joints with brad nails; kind of down and dirty but gets the job done for what it’s going to be used for.
The lock-rabbet is an under-used joint.
Solid, basic info. Thanks.
I haven't done any woodworking since I was at school decades ago and at the time I had no passion or patience and the results were shameful. I love the simple stuff like this as I have half a chance of putting something together with the tools I've got or could easily purchase cheaply. Right now I've no idea where this is going but I hope to be able to make simple boxes that end up looking ok and if that works out I may invest more time and effort into doing some more advanced stuff.
Thanks Rex you are awesome!
Finally gonna get at this project. Well same same only different. Great video.
I really like a shaker style candle box.
There is a guy in Michigan that teaches a great Shaker Oval box class
I would love to take that class.
Rex Krueger Check out shakerovalbox.com
Finger joints are fast to cut, and easy to make a simple jig for repeatable results.
Getting them even when using hand tools is a twitch more difficult...I think.
Tell me more about this jig for handsawing finger joints, please!!!
I think Joe means MACHINE cut finger joints. An excellent option for good boxes.
You guys bring up a fair point. Perhaps I should look into making a jig for cutting accurate hand cut finger joints. Might be interesting to do. Edit: I said finger joint. What I actually had in mind was a box joint.
Man great job and very encouraging for me.
good job , more boxes to build up our know how
The best way to make a simple box? Well, I've made plenty for storage around the shop only using butt joints. It works well for things you don't need to look super fancy. Plus, a butt joint can always be fancied up later and reinforced if you're not happy with it. If I wanted to make something that looks *extra fancy* I would do something like an arcing sunrise dovetail joint where the pins gradually increase in length towards the center.
Excellent video! I'll have to do one of these. Right now, I am trying my hand at Matt Estlea's online school, but not doing all that well. Apparently, my saw skills are rubbish! I should probably take a step back and try it later when my skills are better. Keep up the great work, Rex!
I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on Matt's online school. Hit me up on the Patreon if you'd like to share some impressions.
@@RexKrueger it looks pretty good so far,and having his complete novice of a woodworking camera man buddy attempting the projects after following the videos is pretty cool
6 boxes down, 94 to go. By the time I'm done, maybe my joints won't be so gappy. Thanks for making projects that I can actually make with tools I actually have. I figure by the time I make 100 boxes I'll have them mastered. So far....well boxes, even bad, flawed boxes can still hold stuff. LOL.
Hmm. I'd definitely want to do some trim to disguise the dove tail, luckily you've made a video for that.
🔥 vid, a true handy worker.
You are great enkouridrerr.Thank You again, thank
Love this, thank you!
I made a box joint jig a while ago and since then I have been doing a lot of box joints. They take a while to cut but they are easy and strong. I have a router dove tail jig that I have done a few tests with but I am pretty slow at it and haven't made a finished product yet.
I'm a little suspicious of dovetail jigs. They seem to take a lot to set up. You're in VT? I used to go to Bennington every year for the car show there. Good times.
@@RexKrueger I think a dovetail jig might be good if you needed to do a whole batch of dove tails and have them match. Like doing a set of drawers and having them all the same. I got my jig when I bought my grandfather-inlaw's woodworking tools and machines after he passed. So it isn't something I sought out. I am just over the Hill from Bennington. I haven't been to one of the shows at hemmings. I did work as a machinist for a guy who restored antique cars, mostly pre-1920 american stuff. That was a fun job.
Very nice and thanks
Thanks for sharing that
I was a bit concerned when you said that you were going to crosscut your waist. Luckily, you can't even tell. Thanks for your very interesting videos. Im new to your channel but I feel that a trip to Patreon is in my near future.
Personally, I like to miter the sides of the box, rabbet a board and insert it into the bottom, but leave a lip so it sits flush to the outside. Do the same for the top, then cut it open. I find that inserted boards support and square up the box enough. I've probably made about 10 boxes that way and none have failed so far.
You are the man awesome and very nicely done later :)
Here is an idea for gaps -> do a route to even out the gaps and put an inlay in the gap (even if just on the surface for beauty.)
Thanks!
You're welcome!