# Super Quick, Easy to Make Gift Idea



## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

This is a project that literally took about an hour from concept to completion which included at least 15 minutes trying to decide what to make and how to do it. It requires minimal setup and minimal measuring. If you like the idea you’ll be able to make one in about a half an hour or less. It will be even faster if you are making more than one. I shared the project with my friend Jim (Chessnut2) and he thought it was a great gift idea so I’m passing it on to you also.

I have a bunch of pens and pencils in a jumble on the end table next to my chair and thought it was time to get more organized and neater so I headed to the shop with a vague idea for a box that would hold the pens vertically and take very little table top real estate.

First I used a circle template to determine what size hole I needed for the various pens and pencils and it seemed like a 1/2” worked for the majority of them. I considered just drilling 1/2” holes in a top to drop the pens into but then they would still get jumbled inside the box. I really wanted dividers between each pen or pencil but didn’t want to futz around making a bunch of thin dividers that would be time consuming to make and difficult to assemble.

Finally I realized the answer was blazingly simple. Cut equally spaced grooves on a long piece of stock, then cut the stock up in shorter pieces and sandwich them together. I toyed with the idea of using a core box bit on the router table to cut the grooves but decided that would be too slow and difficult to line everything up easily.

So it was on to the table saw. I don’t have a dado set where I could cut a 1/2” groove in one pass so I used my Freud Box Joint blade and made two passes cutting a 1/4” flat-bottom kerf 1/2” deep. I marked the groove layout on the end grain of my stock (3/4” MDF) and then drew a line on my saw table along each edge of the blade. Then I simply lined up the lines on the end grain with the one of the lines on the saw table, set the fence and made the cut. Then I moved the stock over so the next line was on the opposite side of the blade, reset the fence and made the next cut. I very quickly had four 1/2” x 1/2” grooves in my stock.

At the miter saw I cut my long piece into 3 1/2” lengths, cut a bottom and end side out of 1/4” mdf and I was ready to glue it all up.

I was trying to come up with a good way to finish the MDF when I remembered that I had picked up some self-stick veneer from the craft section at the Target store to play with. It was a quick job to add the veneer to the exterior of the box and add a square of thin cork to the bottom. 

The photos tell the story much better than all this text.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

That is really cool. Simple and attractive.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

excellent...


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Thanks Oliver you've done it again.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

That's pretty cool.
Thanks for sharing.
I'm sure I can make that a two day project without much effort! :surprise::grin:


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

Great job OLLIE

Quote:
I was trying to come up with a good way to finish the MDF when I remembered that I had picked up some self-stick veneer from the craft section at the Target store to play with. It was a quick job to add the veneer to the exterior of the box and add a square of thin cork to the bottom.

Often this is a source of inspiration----"what do I have on hand" I buy "junk" off the clearance tables just because it looks handy. Then when I ask "how can I?" I open the appropriate junk drawer amd look for ideas.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Neat idea Oliver . I think it looks great


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Well, that's sure slicker than my old butter tub. But on the other hand, I have a LOT more pens and pencils. And I'm too lazy to do it your way.


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## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

Super idea. Quick, easy and eye pleasing.


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## Wood Chip (Apr 10, 2011)

Thanks, Oliver! That's exactly what my Dad needs for Christmas. I may include a wider slot(s) for the remote(s). Thanks for the detailed explanation.


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## ThomL (Oct 1, 2012)

Wow, that's nice. It sure beats my abandoned coffee cup storage method.

Tom


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

Gaffboat said:


> This is a project that literally took about an hour from concept to completion which included at least 15 minutes trying to decide what to make and how to do it. It requires minimal setup and minimal measuring. If you like the idea you’ll be able to make one in about a half an hour or less. It will be even faster if you are making more than one. I shared the project with my friend Jim (Chessnut2) and he thought it was a great gift idea so I’m passing it on to you also.
> 
> I have a bunch of pens and pencils in a jumble on the end table next to my chair and thought it was time to get more organized and neater so I headed to the shop with a vague idea for a box that would hold the pens vertically and take very little table top real estate.
> 
> ...


There you go again Oliver. Making something really neat out of nothing.


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## IC31 (Nov 16, 2012)

I was looking for a small project for some chunks of 3/4" black walnut and cherry bought a couple years ago and this appears to be a good one though will do a 'test run' with a piece of pine first. As another said, a two day project is more like it (though for me, 2 weeks is probably closer to the real truth)


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Nice and very creative.


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## riderguy57 (Apr 14, 2011)

Very nice!


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