Keela's Urn Box #2: Getting Started

I made the box sides extra tall—the full height of the complete box, plus kerf allowance for cutting the lid free, and a bit more for matcing the box joints up and other fiddling.

Not shown: I made a bottom panel of ¼-inch Baltic birch and a lid panel of lacewood, ½-inch thick. I cut lid/bottom grooves in the box sides at the router table, and cut rabbets on the panels at the table saw.

Thinking ahead to finishing, I knew I didn’t want the maple to be too amber. But I thought some BLO might benefit the lacewood, so I applied it to the bottom or the lid prior to glue-up. No need to do the top of the lid yet, since it’s going to be cut away. After masking the inside surfaces to handle squeeze out, I glued up the sides, lid, and bottom and called it a day.

-- Brett — Peters Creek, Alaska