Stretch My Skills - Making the Paul Seller's Keepsake Box

 I like small dovetailed boxes.  They are handy for holding all kinds of things.  In 2017, Paul Sellers in his masterclass series had shown a keepsake box that I really liked but it was beyond my ability at the time (note:  I think since I have seen the class it has moved from the subscription side to the free video side if you are registered on his site).  I finally felt ready to push myself and make it.  As a woodworker, I want to increase my skills and capabilities.  Making duplicate items is one way.  The other way, is to try something a bit different.  This box had some differences I liked.  The bases of the dove tails were angled and the sides of the boxes were pillowed.  Just enough new to make it more challenging for me.  In a nutshell, thought I made it, it didn't come out very good; suitable for using a shop box.  I know why and will be making a few more to get better.

For the wood, I wanted to use Spanish cedar.  I had never really worked with it and was curious on this wood's properties.  Spanish cedar has a wonderful smell and is very soft and very easy to work with hand tools.  I would go so far as to say it is too soft as it dents very easily.  For my skill level, this was the wrong type of wood to use as we shall see in the next post.

There are a few things I really like about this box design.  To help positively register the dovetail, there is a 3/16" rebate on the back side.  I've used rebates before to help register dovetails (other Paul Seller's videos).  I find it really handy.  What I also like about this technique is that it sort of hides the inside joint of the dovetail (similar to how a piece of wood with a tenon hides the mortise hole).  Not that I want to be sloppy on a dovetail but the rebate gives you a bit more leeway on the inside joint.  The other thing I really like about this approach that is not obvious is that you can run up to a 3/16" through groove with a plough plane and not have a gap in the dovetails ends for the box bottom or top.  This kind of blew my mind when I realized this.  Maybe it's obvious to most folks but it was a light bulb moment to me.  Since I don't have a machine router, I use a plough plane.  Running a through groove is always faster (and a bit easier) than doing a stopped groove.  I will definitely be keeping this in mind as I make the future boxes.

It was pretty easy to set the angled bases of the dovetails.  What gets a bit interesting and fun is that the rebate in the back is slightly different than the dovetail base.  Just need to pay a bit more attention removing the waste from the wanted.  Then again, I wanted something a bit more of a challenge so this was "fun" rather than annoying.  A fair question might be why bother with angled bases.  Since from top to bottom, the box will be curved (or is it called pillowed) having the angled bases of the dovetails makes them align nicely with the curves on the box.

The transfer of pins to tails also have a bit of interest to it.  There is some additional was that needs to be removed.  Hard to describe but obvious when doing the layout.  This additional was is from the angled baselines (if I recall correctly).

The dovetails came out ok.  Not my best but not my worse either.  One of the mistakes I made was not being super focused on keeping the cut out baselines at 90 degrees. Paul Sellers doesn't like when folks purposely undercut their dovetail baselines.  Many folks often talk about undercutting as only the surface shows and by undercutting you are ensuring nothing deeper in the joint is holding off the joint fully seating.  However in this joint you will be curving the outside of the wood and essentially going deeper into the dovetail joints.  Any undercutting will then show as a gap.  Had I realized this, I would have been more careful.  No worries, as I plan to make a few more of these boxes as there was much to learn already and more to come but that will be in the next blog as this one is already long.