A member asked me about doing a write up on box making, so here is a tid bit of info concerning the making of a simple box.

Lets first talk about the type of box and type of woods you have to choose from.

Normally, a box is rectangular shaped more than square shaped. Boxes are usually made from either solid wood or a plywood usually with a veneer on one or both sides.

You can also use particle board to make your box or a combination of these woods, I recommend using a solid wood such as cedar, pine, fir, oak, poplar, alder, walnut, etc.

Some of these are "hard" woods and some are "soft" woods.

Some woodworkers say to use softwoods when you are new to working with woods because of a variety of reasons including soft wood is easier to work with, is cheaper to purchase, is easier on blades, etc. I don't agree completely with all these reasons but they have their merit.

Besides having a good sense of safety practices, to me the most important thing is to have good quality tools, and good quality blades on your cutting tools such as your table saw, skil saw, mitre saw, scroll saw, router, planer, drill, etc.

One method of making a box is to construct it from 6 pieces of wood basically making a sealed or enclosed box then cutting it in 1/2 at a point usually offset from center to make the lid. this is a good method too. Another method is to use 5 pieces of wood and construct a bottom section and then using 5 more pieces constrict a lid or use 1or 3 pieces and construct a slide in lid or a lid that just drops into place and then is hinged.

Lets start with a completely enclosed box, first you will need enough wood for the sides, ends, top and bottom.