Making a Log Box

[Andy]

I was wondering how I could go about making a box from a solid piece of wood without cutting all the way through. I may not be explaining it right, but what I want to make would be similar to The Stump Box found on this page,

[Andy Dingley]

You need a bandsaw and a large supply of cheap logs. You _will_ get failures, because it's near impossible to dry a log "in the round" without it cracking. Try googling for "bandsaw boxes"

For small work, or for extra neatness, use a powered fretsaw instead of a bandsaw. This is a lot of sawing though, so don't strain or overheat the motor on a cheap fretsaw. However with usable fretsaws at £30, it's hard not to give it a try. Cheap bandsaws OTOH are rubbish.

You have to do this by cutting all the way through. If it looks as if it didn't, it's a cheat where the solid back was saw off first, then glued back on. Work neatly and the join is invisible.

The problem with drying logs or disks is often discussed. Depending on species, you'll probably find about 4" your maximum viable diameter. If you remove the centre from a log, then you'll have much more success in drying them. It's a question of "rings" shrinking and no longer fitting around a solid centre - remove the centre and the rings can shrink freely. So if you rough-saw your boxes green, then they shouldn't crack, but you'll need to sand the inner drawer to make them fit well again.

[Dan Valleskey]

There is a book called "Band saw boxes" or something to that effect.

ah- here it is....

do cut all the way thru. You cut off the back, than cut out the drawers, then cut off the drawer fronts. Cut out the insides of the drawers, than start glueing it all back together.

Kinda fun to do a few times, I wouldn't want to make a habit out of it.

-Dan V.