# Offering Boxes



## rprice54 (Jan 1, 2006)

An old friend of mine is starting a new church this spring, and he asked me if I could make some offering boxes for him.I wanted to give the boxes a bit of a more modern feel- so I decided to go with some contrasting woods (maple and walnut) and get away from a simple box- so I went with a trapezoid- both from above and from the side- which introduced some new challenges.

This will be a work in progress thread.

So far I have the basic boxes made. I mitered the corners, but they aren't 90 degree corners, so I had to get creative. The top joints are 84 degrees, and the bottom joints are 96- which means cuts at 42 and 48 degrees respectively. But my saw doesn't go to 48 degrees. The good thing is that with the blade set to 42 degrees relative to the table, it's 48 on a vertical axis, so I had to run the wood through vertically for those cuts. I built a quick sled that rides across my fence to keep the wood from binding on the blade.

There's also a 15 degree slope from back to front when looking from the side. 

I also attached my google sketchup model to get a feel for the final product. The "E" is the church logo, that will be inlayed with walnut (my first inlay as well).

Tomorrow is the tops. Wish me well.


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## rprice54 (Jan 1, 2006)

Inlays are done and the walnut trim is on. I need to put a gentle curve on the outside edges to touch it up a bit.

The inlay went well I think. I built a jig that outlined the "C" part of the shape and routed it out with a 1/2" bit and a bushing guide. 

The center was cut with my stacked dado set.

I cut the inlay strips from 3/4 walnut stock. They are 1/4 thick. I really like the riving knife on my new saw, comes in handy. First I put a scoring mark 1" on the face (the width of the inlay) and then ripped off 1/4 of material, the blade high enough to cut the 1" but not all the way through the stock.

Final touches will be hardware and a lock for the doors on the back, and then mounting the top to the box, which I haven't quite figured out yet.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Dowel pins and glue would be a simple solution for attaching the top.


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

Good work and good post, gotta love walnut and maple or white oak, just gotta love it.


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## rprice54 (Jan 1, 2006)

Everything's done, I just need to assemble and add the hardware. The open area in the back is for a door that will have a simple lock.

I'm thinking about the dowel pins. I have the freud doweling joiner which should make it easy. I also have the cutoffs from when I cut the slope, so I can clamp it up square. I just need the dowel pins to keep it from slipping off while the glue sets.

I may be able to slip my pocket hole jig in there as well.


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## rprice54 (Jan 1, 2006)

Okay, hardware done, although I had to remove it all for finishing.

Finishing is simple- polyurethane. I want the natural colors to show, and these need to be durable.

Throughout the process, my test piece was a scrap of walnut and I trimmed it with maple (a negative of the final project). That way it was easy to tell which piece was my test piece. It turned out so well, I finished it too. I also made a plaque that can be hung on a wall that matches the boxes.

These pics show the first coat of poly drying on them.


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## Hamlin (Dec 25, 2005)

Hi rp,

WOW, it's turning out quite nicely.  

How do you like those painters pyramids? Been thinking of getting some myself.


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## rprice54 (Jan 1, 2006)

I like them a lot. Simple but effective. Easy to finish both sides at once. I need some more.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Rob, you did not mention how you ended up attaching the tops. Just curious.


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## rprice54 (Jan 1, 2006)

I went with pocket holes. I decided I wanted a) the top to have room to move a bit, would have been cross grain sitation with the top glued to the box. b) this will make the box a bit more servicable down the road if the hardware needs changing/adjusting, or just for maintenance/refinishing. Plus it was easier than trying to line up the dowels on all the angled pieces (horizontally and vertically).


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## rprice54 (Jan 1, 2006)

They're done. I finished with gloss poly, and rubbed out the gloss with 0000 steel wool. There's a little fuzz left from the steel wool in the pics that I didn't catch before I took the pictures.

Overall I am very pleased with how they turned out. The inlay was a fun process, as well as the different angles. I posted more details and photos at Picasaweb, see my sig.


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## Bob N (Oct 12, 2004)

Those turned out extremely nice.

Great job!


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Thats a very nice project. I really like Walnut and maple and by using them both they distungusih themselves equally in your box.

Neat design to what prompted you do use that? Did you ever consider reversing the C so the face one another?


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

A great addition to your church.


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## rprice54 (Jan 1, 2006)

TRN_Diesel said:


> Thats a very nice project. I really like Walnut and maple and by using them both they distungusih themselves equally in your box.
> 
> Neat design to what prompted you do use that? Did you ever consider reversing the C so the face one another?


The church logo is an "E" with a box around it, so I just made the box to match the logo. If they had a more complex shape I would probably have stuck with a cross. Just starting to learn the inlay stuff. I need an inlay kit so I can do some more complex stuff.


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## RobW (Apr 12, 2008)

Looks very smart to me, good work
Rob


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