Making a Bandsaw Box – the Process

Bandsaw boxes are fun to make and if done properly, the final product can be a beautiful jewelry/keepsake box for storage of your treasures. However, the process requires a specific sequence of events and it is easy to ruin a box without realizing that a step was skipped until it’s too late to repair the damage. At that point, you have a fancy piece of firewood!

After selecting the various woods for the box, the boards are laminated together into a solid block. The block is left in the clamps overnight while the glue dries. (I use Titebond II wood glue, which has been approved for indirect food contact and it is recommended for cutting boards)

When the clamps are removed and any glue “squeeze-out” has been removed, the block is squared up on the table saw. The pattern is then applied to the blank. I often use a square and a circle template to sketch the design directly on the blank, but the pattern can be drawn on paper or copied from a printed pattern. Now, it’s time to cut the general shape of the box on the bandsaw, and then sand to the finished shape.

Step 2 is to remove a ¼” thick slab from the back of the box.

Put this piece aside and cut the shape of the drawer from the blank. Remove a ¼” slab from the front and the back of the drawer plug. Set these aside and sketch the cavity on the remaining plug. Be sure to identify the top of the drawer because it will go into the case only one way. If the cavity opening is on the wrong side, the drawer will be upside down in the case. The photo below shows the parts of a simple “wave” box in the order in which they were cut from the laminated block.

The inside of the case may be rough after sawing, but refrain from sanding the inside surfaces if possible. The more you sand, the larger the gap between the drawer and the case will be. I try to sand any sharp edges for a comfortable “feel”, but I leave the internal surfaces alone. However, all the surfaces that can be seen in the finished product should be sanded smooth. The entire drawer cavity, front and back and the back of the case.

This is a basic box. More complicated boxes require more steps in specific order to successfully produce them. Note that in this case, there is no entry cut in the case that must be glued back together. The drawer plug is cut beginning at the bottom right and ending at the top right. To produce a box with a traditional case, an entry cut to remove the drawer plug from the case must be glued back together. Note that some wood is lost in the kerf of the blade and the case will be slightly smaller than it was before the cut was made. If the block is too stiff to clamp the kerf closed, a spline will need to be cut, shaped, and glued to replace the lost wood.

To add a hidden drawer at the bottom of a main drawer, the front of the main drawer is removed first, and then the hidden drawer is cut from the drawer plug. The entry cut for this smaller drawer is closed, usually with a spline. When the glue dries, the back is removed from the main drawer plug. The hidden drawer is completed like any other drawer – remove front and back, remove the waste to produce the cavity and sand before assembly. One must be careful to cut the waste from the main drawer plug leaving a thin partition between the main cavity and the hidden drawer. Sand and assemble the main drawer.

Other components like trays and hidden drawers in the case require more steps in specific sequence to complete, all of which are time consuming. The more parts, the more sanding that is required – more drawers require more finish application, but the final product is worth the work. Don't attempt a bandsaw box if you don't like sanding wood!