Packing Box – Part 1…

I’m all about trying to incorporate traditional hand tool woodworking with new technology.  One of the ways I do that is by utilizing Blender during the design phase of my projects.  This helps me visualize how the piece will come together and also how it will look when completed.  This step was probably overkill with my current project, but so be it!

I decided to follow young Thomas’ journey in Lost Art Press’ “The Joiner and Cabinet Maker.”  This is a modern printing of an 1839 book that follows a young apprentice on his journey to become a woodworking journeyman.  Thomas builds three projects through the course of the book, each of which gets progressively more complex as he learns new skills.

The first project is a simple packing box/crate.  This is built for a customer who is looking to move some books (no running down to the local UPS store for a cardboard box in those days!) and has some fairly specific internal dimensions.  The book details the steps Thomas takes, including selecting his wood, rough cutting, preparing and sizing the stock, and nailing/gluing everything together for final assembly.

It’s obviously a simple project, but I need some practice hand sawing and hand squaring stock, so I decided to give it a shot.  Like most projects, I started with a Blender render:

Packing Box Render

Like I said, pretty simple!  It’s got a nice old school look to it though, so I may use it for storage in the baby’s room.  I grabbed a couple cheap 1×10’s this weekend and once we get a few warmer days I’ll start rough cutting everything.  And just like Thomas, everything by hand!