Sliding Lid Boxes

It's been since November that I posted about a project that wasn't about making planes, chisel handles or rehabbing something or other.  It's time I made a real woodworking project.

In his next issue of "The Lost Scrolls of Handwork" e-magazine, Salko Safic will present an article on how to build a sliding lid box for a set of dominoes.  Since I do some editing for him, I got an advance copy.  I thought I'd make a box or two to make sure the article accurately covers the build steps.

I won't give the build details here since you can read about them when the next issue comes out.  The first box is made from some 1/4" thick "manufactured" pine and sapele.

Pine and sapele sliding lid box

The lid slides in grooves plowed in the sides

The lid has a lip at the end and when the box is closed it is equal in height to the sides and the other end.  When the box is closed, it's not completely obvious how it opens.

Just as I was finishing up the box, my wife asked me to make one for her set of dominoes.  Her set was in an original cardboard box and came with instructions.

The domino set - a bit yellowed with age

The box in Salko's article is made for a set of 28 dominoes, arranged in one row, seven dominoes wide and four dominoes high.  But if I made the box in that configuration, I'd have had to bend or fold the instructions.  So I made a box with inside dimensions similar to the original cardboard box - two rows of seven dominoes, two dominoes high.  I made the box about 3/8" longer so that you can fit in a finger to pull out the dominoes.

The box is made from 1/4" thick quarter-sawn white oak for the sides and sapele for the ends, top and bottom.  The build went smoothly, but there are some details that I'll mention.  Gluing and clamping often involve some challenges, and this was no exception.  The corners are joined with a single dovetail.  When gluing up, I made a spacer that fit in between the sides so that they wouldn't bow in when clamps were applied to the dovetails.

Spacer kept the sides from bowing in during clamp-up

Gluing the lip to the lid also posed an interesting challenge - I needed to keep the bottoms of the two pieces flush with each other.  So I set them on the bench top and used wedges to clamp the lid tightly against the lip.

Wedges create the clamping pressure when gluing the lid to the lip.
I'm using my planing stop and a batten held with a holdfast as the fixed ends.

The boxes were finished with three coats of shellac and a coat of paste wax.  I'm very happy with how they look, but more importantly, my wife really likes her new domino box.

All shined up

The finished box, all loaded up

It felt good to make an actual project that wasn't for the shop.  Coming up soon, I'll be making a headboard for our bed.  Gotta get cracking on that.