Books for small box projects

[billw]

One of the most useful things you can do is to abandon numbers as early in a project as possible. A book that I found very useful in this context is “By Hand And Eye” (Walker & Tolpin) published by the Lost Art Press. I think Classic Hand Tools stock it.

This has been my standard approach, just get approx ratios and then decide your own dimensions.

 

[recipio]

I was inspired by Andrew Crawford's books - he has three in all. I think he has inherited a fine tradition going back to Georgian tea caddies which are worth a lot of money today. American books on the other hand are full of rather clunky and over decorated designs,
Andrew's designs are not perfect - he is rather vague about milling internal slots to hold mitres and much of his hand planing techniques to form curved box sides are better done by laminating 6 mm MDF together IMO. His best advice is not to rely on shop bought materials which are mainly aimed at restoration and make your own inlay lines etc yourself.
However , at the end of the day I find it best to analyse how to approach a problem and solve it without copying everything from a book and that will come down to the tools available.

Treat yourself and buy an 'Expo mitre cutter shears' which allows miter trimming at 45 and 135 degrees so you can cut two mitres from the same edge. Even better if you can fit single bevel blades. It's the small things that make a difference !

 

[Bacms]

Last box I made in 2020, used for practising dovetails. English cherry for the carcass and dividers, panga panga for lid and plinth and ebony for the handle. Remind to neve use panga panga again as using handtools on solid rock isn't my definition of fun