# Tote Boxes



## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

I make a lot of small decorative items in the later half of each year with my scroll saws.
I have used small cardboard boxes to hold the batches of small pieces of wood and the items in various stages of completion. These boxes never stacked very well and frequently fell over, dumping everything on the floor. So I tried small plastic tubs, and wasn't happy with them either. For the past two weeks, in between several other projects, I have been making some stackable tote bins to hold all of these small parts.
I made 12 of them, all from 10mm Baltic Birch. Each has a beveled 1 1/2" square piece of 10mm BB attached to the bottom as feet, and these double as a way to keep the stacked bins from sliding apart. Each has two coats of wipe on poly inside and out.
Now I'm thinking that I want to number all 4 sides to make finding the one that I want in the stack faster, but haven't decided how I want to do this yet. For a while, small Post-It notes will likely be attached to show what is in each.

The compound cut mailbox is one of my latest scroll saw projects. It is cut from one piece of wood, with only one glue joint. The flag shaft was cut from the same block of wood and then glued to the side of the mail box. This mailbox is 3 1/4" tall and made from poplar. I've made 4 of them so far and each time have tried different cutting methods. in an effort to improve both the quality and speed of cutting them out. So far, they are taking close to an hour to cut each one. The flag and the leaves on the vine were colored with marking pens, as another experiment. No finish has been applied yet either. I'm using a #1R Flying Dutchman blade for these. 

Charley


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Nifty boxes. Except you have to move them to get to the box you want, and that boils down to work. Years ago I made a puzzle book case, sorta. Sides, back, bottom, and they all slid together, no fastening. The sides were slightly slanted, so they would fit on the outside of the side of the section below. Best not to go more than four tall tho, or they will likely topple. And, cut a piece to fit between two stacks, and viola, you turn two into three, or three into five. I also made a piece that will fit on top making an open face stand, that one is at the end of my couch holding magazines. Some in the laundry room, my shop, and the rest line the wall of the hallway. Not near as nice looking as those tote boxes tho.

One of these days I'll try to dig out the masters, take photos, and post. Should be great for a college student.


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## Multiwood (Feb 24, 2013)

Very nicely done Charley.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Nice box joints. Are you using a commercial or a shop made jig?


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## Roy Drake (Feb 10, 2014)

I like this, Charley. I need to try it.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

DesertRatTom said:


> Nice box joints. Are you using a commercial or a shop made jig?


Tom,

They were made with an Incra I-Box jig on my Unisaw, using a Freud SBOX8 box joint blade set. I highly recommend this combination if you want an easy to set box joint jig and perfectly flat bottomed 1/4 & 3/8" wide kerfs. Several other saw blade manufacturers are now offering the same design blade set, but I only have experience with the Freud set. It's two blades with off set teeth. Put them together with the printed labels facing outward and they cut a 1/4" kerf. Put them together with the labels facing each other and they cut a 3/8" kerf. These box joints are 3/8"

I thought that you had bought an I-Box jig last year. Is my memory failing me?


Charley


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

JOAT said:


> Nifty boxes. Except you have to move them to get to the box you want, and that boils down to work. Years ago I made a puzzle book case, sorta. Sides, back, bottom, and they all slid together, no fastening. The sides were slightly slanted, so they would fit on the outside of the side of the section below. Best not to go more than four tall tho, or they will likely topple. And, cut a piece to fit between two stacks, and viola, you turn two into three, or three into five. I also made a piece that will fit on top making an open face stand, that one is at the end of my couch holding magazines. Some in the laundry room, my shop, and the rest line the wall of the hallway. Not near as nice looking as those tote boxes tho.
> 
> One of these days I'll try to dig out the masters, take photos, and post. Should be great for a college student.


Theo,

These are tote boxes, not a filing cabinet. I keep batches of parts in these so I can move them around the shop to perform the next machining step on each piece. I might work out of one and into a second one as I repeat the step on each piece. The boxes not in use will be stacked somewhere in the shop or may be stacked high enough next to the machine that I'm using to make the top one at the right height to be convenient for use at that machine. On toward Christmas when I ramp up production I will likely have all of the pieces for one pattern all in one tote box and pattern pieces for other patterns in other boxes. I'll likely attach small Post-It notes on the end of the boxes in use to make it easier to find the box containing the work that I want, but will then move it around the shop as I do the work to each piece. I was doing this with small cardboard boxes, but they didn't stack well and frequently got spilled, so rarely got stacked. These are designed so they stack together and shouldn't spill as easily.

Charley


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

Very nice boxes, Charley. Your little mailboxes are nice too. Don't recall seeing the seahorses though.


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

TenGees said:


> Very nice boxes, Charley. Your little mailboxes are nice too. Don't recall seeing the seahorses though.


He makes some nice reindeer also. Charley makes a lot of nice stuff.


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## whimsofchaz (Jun 6, 2013)

Nice stuff Charley. Wish I was that industrious.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

TenGees said:


> Very nice boxes, Charley. Your little mailboxes are nice too. Don't recall seeing the seahorses though.


I guess maybe I haven't posted any photos of the sea horses. OK, new photo coming soon.

They're a pain to make. Too many zig zag turns, but they seem to be in high demand. I've probably made about 100 of them in the last 5 years. I can't stand making more than 3 or 4 at a time though.

Very few men seem to appreciate my small wooden creations, like these sea horses and reindeer, unless they are also woodworkers, but the women seem to love and collect them. One nurse that sees me often is always asking if I've made anything new. She has a whole herd of different sized reindeer, sea horses, a prototype mailbox, etc and I got a hug in return for each one, which is one of the reasons why I make them. Old guys like me need all the hugs that they can get. 

Charley


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Charley,

Time to start thinking of adding a CNC to your tool arsenal. Then you can satisfy even more women!!!!


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

VERY nice boxes Charlie.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

CharleyL said:


> Theo,
> 
> These are tote boxes, not a filing cabinet. I keep batches of parts in these so I can move them around the shop to perform the next machining step on each piece. I might work out of one and into a second one as I repeat the step on each piece. The boxes not in use will be stacked somewhere in the shop or may be stacked high enough next to the machine that I'm using to make the top one at the right height to be convenient for use at that machine. On toward Christmas when I ramp up production I will likely have all of the pieces for one pattern all in one tote box and pattern pieces for other patterns in other boxes. I'll likely attach small Post-It notes on the end of the boxes in use to make it easier to find the box containing the work that I want, but will then move it around the shop as I do the work to each piece. I was doing this with small cardboard boxes, but they didn't stack well and frequently got spilled, so rarely got stacked. These are designed so they stack together and shouldn't spill as easily.
> 
> Charley


Ah. Had an entirely different thought when I first saw them. Yep, that makes sense. My thingies are storage. Tote box weight would kill my back anymore, tho. I think I got this idea from someone here - drill holes in my masters, run a loop of para-cord thru the holes, and hang the complete set from the rafters, or wall. That, my back can stand, for now anyway.


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

hawkeye10 said:


> He makes some nice reindeer also. Charley makes a lot of nice stuff.


Yes, I've seen the reindeer, Don. Not the seahorses though.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

CharleyL said:


> Tom ...I thought that you had bought an I-Box jig last year. Is my memory failing me?
> Charley


That's correct. I just haven't used it yet. Your memory is pretty darn good. My plan is to use the jig and same blade you're using to make shallow drawers like your boxes to store my DVD collection inside living room cabinets. Just got busy with business stuff. Tom.


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