Next comes the shooting board to square up the ends, trims the pieces to the same lengths and polish the end-grain, which will make my dove-tailing easier going. After many years of putting it off, I finally made a purpose-built shooting board plane a little while ago and I’m glad I did. The shape is comfortable for side oriented planing and the sole of the plane is squared to the down side:
So it’s on to laying out the dovetails. Done free-hand we can approach the craft with a little more freedom and intuition and leave the squares and rulers and layout aids aside for awhile. In this instance I begin with the pin halves of the joint and then use them as the templates for the mating tails. I sketched out my layout on the stock and then made my cuts.:
Because of the curved, irregular and somewhat delicate outer surface of the end pieces, I removed most of the waste by routing free-hand and then followed up with a guide block to do the final trimming, rather than chopping out all the waste with a chisel and mallet:
After getting the pins all squared up and the way I want them I trace around the pins to transfer the marks to the mating sides. Then I add the parallel square lines and mark the waste side of the lines:
Saw to the line. If there’s wood on the waste side of the line I’ll have to pare that away, if I take any of the line that’s a gap.
After removing the waste, these little chamfering details help the joint self-register and go together much easier during glue-up. 
Here’s the first corner dry-fit:
Onto the rest of the corners and then box is completely dry fi
t:
I band-sawed the curve of the lid then planed it to smooth and fare the curve:
I fit the lid to the box before the box is glued, as often it is better to adjust the box sides if there is a problem with the how the box and lid mate. I used the shooting board to get a tight fit at the ends at this point:
All is now shaped and final smoothed, the bottom was fit and rabbets cut in the sides to capture it. I am finishing the cherry with garnet shellac wiped on. Just a wash coat will go on the interior surfaces prior to glue-up. 
The box has been glued up. I favor old fashioned white (PVA) glue for dovetails as it is slippery, helping the joints go together easier, and has a longer open time than most yellow glues. The joints are tapped together with the aid of a padded block and a wedge :
I cleaned up the joints with a hand plane and finished the exterior of the box. After final sizing the lid I glue on battens which are located with pins (bamboo skewers). The battens stabilize the lid and act as locators properly aligning the lid to the box:
Next I routed mortices in the lid and the handle blank. I used a rhododendron branch that I found as driftwood in the river near by, shaping it with small spokeshaves:
After smoothing the handle and finishing with shellac, I attached it to the box with a slip tenon and the box was complete:
Now, two more boxes to make for another client who ordered one for herself and one for a friend. Once those are done I’ll get back to that guitar and more posts.
Until next time.
df
I received the box and it is exquisite. I cannot wait to present it to my wife for Christmas!
Wonderful work there, David, and thank you for describing the process so well.
I just looked up the movie but the reviews are not encouraging! I’d like to see the woodworking sequences, though.
Best wishes for 2012.
Hey, thanks Rob — there is actually pretty much woodworking and some nice shots of both boxes in the movie, considering my involvement was uncredited. New Oscar category(?): best performance by an inanimate object.
Really nice David…
What a lovely box! The combination of the natural sides with the precision of the dovetails works very well.
I am making one of these now using some cuttings from a tiger maple tree that I had. Thank you for publishing how to make this box. I will be using mine to store lone matches that I use to start my wood stove fires at night. I have a question. You mention using white glue as it has a longer set up time. But I have not been able to identify a specific brand. Can you share the brand name of the glue? Lastly, I have been using on this box the hand planes I made using your irons and made using directions from your book. I love them. Thanks again for all that you share!! John Rankin
Hi John — good for you! As far as I know, all white glues are created equal, but rather than trust your project to some anonymous “school glue” from K-Mart I would get some known quantity such as Elmer’s or Franklin.
David: I have made the battens but am puzzelled that you glued and pinned them to the lid. My lid is 5″ wide and I estimate in the humid New England summer that it will move by almost 1/8″ across its width. If the battens are glued on, why won’t this be a problem for the lid ie., risk splitting? Maybe the 1/8″ movement is not enough to be a concern? Thanks.
Hi John. That’s a good point. I felt comfortable with this approach as there is about 3″ between the pins and the glue is only applied between them on the battens. Many joints involve a cross-grain situation, Krenov counseled us to go no wider than 3″ in such situations to avoid problems, or find another approach. Just a rule of thumb. Of course, if the stock is well equilibrated to the environment and that level of humidity is maintained, then there will be no problems. Upon consideration, maybe this is not the best box design for a box that will be next to a wood-stove! That intense dryness could be a problem, but since you are building in winter, hopefully your material is already quite dry — shrinkage is generally the cause of cracking. On a final note, these are rather rustic boxes and the wood I use generally has all sorts of “defects” to begin with.
Your boxes on the movie were beautiful works of art. You deserved credit for them in the movie credits and its a shame you didnt receive that. The way they built the scenes around your boxes made me want them. They were tenderly rustically just wonderful. The scenes made me want to learn how to make them. Such a thoughtful craft. Do you sell or still commission them? Thanks. And know that you contributed a touching part to the movie, more than you realize. I saw it when it came out and am hooked on it again 11 years later!
Hi Debra — thanks for the lovely comments. I appreciate your thoughts. I am allergic to cypress, the wood used in the movie boxes. I have occasionally made reproductions for people over the years in alternative woods that capture the spirit of those in the movie. Since I live in the mountains and not in near the ocean, I’ve collected some locust fence posts, heavily weathered, but sound, that provide wonderful wood.