Popular Woodworking 2001-08 № 123, страница 38

You can taper the drawer pulls to add depth if you choose, or you might decide to leave them flat and just round the edges a little. Experimenting with these little shapes not only gives you an idea of what you can do on a larger scale with your box, but comes with the added benefit of a manicure, too.

It's easiest to handle the small drawers on a router table, while...

...a hand-held router lets you see what you're doing as you rout the inner edges of the drawer cavities on the box body.

the pattern as a guide, then apply hand pressure for a couple minutes to clamp and set the glue.

While you're waiting for the drawer pulls to dry, do a final touch-up sanding with 180-grit by hand over the entire box, especially around the edges and in the cavities of the box. Use a sharp chisel to chip off any glue squeeze-out on the inside of the drawer cavities where the back was clamped onto the box. When the drawer pulls dry, lightly chisel and/or sand any squeeze-out there also.

Band-sawn boxes lend themselves well to an oil finish. Oil is much easier than trying to spray or brush a varnish inside those box cavities, but that's just my humbly

biased opinion. Whichever type or brand of oil you decide to use, make sure you wet sand with 600-grit wet or dry paper between the first and second coats. Wipe off any excess oil with a dry cloth. And make sure each successive coat is thoroughly cured before applying the next one. This will ensure a smooth, even, luxurious finish for those curves — a treat for the fingertips as well as the eye.

Thought you were done? You still need to flock those drawers yet. A flocking kit is simple to use and comes with basic instructions. Seal the insides of the drawers with a coat of shellac or other varnish so the flocking adhesive won't soak in too much. Using a cardboard box turned on

its side as a mini spray booth to catch the excess flocking material, pump a heavy coat of flocking into the drawers until all the wet spots are gone. Tap out the excess and pump more flocking material in if any wet spots reappear. Then, collect the over-spray of flocking and let the drawers dry overnight. When dry, vacuum out the loose fibers and dust off the drawers. A light coat of paste wax, well-buffed, will make the drawers glide smoothly.

Once you see how easy and liberating the less-structured process to make a band-sawn box can be, you may just decide to give up squinting at those ¹/16" lines on your ruler. And maybe your unusual woodworking technique will catch the eye of a

38 Popular Woodworking August 2001