Some projects get no respect

Recently I finally bought a copy of “The Joiner & Cabinet Maker”, and have been slowly reading through it. I like to read before bed, but rarely get through more than one page per night.
Anyways I’d been ho humming on if I should bother building the packing box, like I think many others have. At first it was just because it just didn’t look very challenging, but then after looking at the dimensions, I really started to wonder. What am I going to do with such a big box. With outside dimensions of 19-1/2″ x 15″ it’s not something you can just leave around on the coffee table. If you are familiar Ledger paper (11 x 17), you could fit 3 bundles of that stuff in one of these boxes.

 

I ain’t building a crate just for the fun of it.

 

So what do I do? I also have enough small boxes kicking around with nothing in them. Do I need a smaller version of an empty crate as well?

 

While pondering my dilemma, I found my solution in the most obvious of places.

This was the result.

 

But what was the inspiration for my solution?

 

The graphics on the cover of the book.

 

I also threw on a couple of hinges to keep the two pieces together, and used a rare earth magnet to keep it closed.

 

In the end I think it’s a pretty fitting tribute to a really cool book.

 

So even if you don’t think it’s much of a challenge I think it’s a good little project to try. In the book the apprentice is given a time limit to get it done. I decided that it would be fun to time the build to see how I matched up. With the wood pre dimensioned to the thicknesses described in the book, I managed to get it done in 4 hours. I am not accustom to racing a clock so I was both surprised at how hard I was having to make myself work, and how quickly the hours seemed to pass.

It was fun, but I don’t think I want to be an apprentice any time soon.