Just a plain plane box

My auto mechanic has become hooked on woodworking as well as Shopsmiths. As those who know me will surmise, he now has a special place in my heart as well as inside my engine compartment. (he actually bought 2 of my bebuilt Shopsmiths)
In keeping with my philosophy of “Always take care of the guy who takes care of your car,” I figured that, since every woodworker needs at least a bench plane and a block plane in his shop, this would make a good Christmas present to him. The block plane is a modified & tuned Stanley 220, and the bench plane is a tuned #4 Stanley.

I wanted to practice box joints, so I made a quick & easy jig to use on the 10er Shopsmith that I keep set up as a dedicated dado saw. I have 2 stacked dado sets, each on it’s own arbor. One is 3/4” and the other 3/8” wide. That way, it’s a quick swap to the sizes I get the most use out of. (I do make zero clearance table inserts out of plywood when I use the saw.)

The box is made of red oak. The bottom is inset with a rabbet joint that was made with the dado set. The finish is a couple of coats of boiled linseed oil rubbed on, let to soak in, then the excess rubbed off. I like BLO as a “color” coat on oak. I think it really brings out the warmth without obscuring the grain as pigmented stain sometimes does. After thorough curing, I like Zinsser’s seal coat (2lb cut de-waxed shellac) for anything not subjected to water, so this box got several coats with a brush, using 0000 steel wool to rub out the second to last coat. Then I rubbed on the last coat with a cotton pad to get a smooth gloss.

I put a piece of paper on the bottom of the box, set the 2 planes on top of it & traced the outline of them on the paper. I then made a block insert that cradles the two planes from the tracing, and I had a plane box.

-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you