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* Youth Project - Box Without Measuring

Make a Box Without Measuring
By Richie Starr
From Fine Woodworking/Taunton Press

When kids think about woodworking, they often imagine boxes or boxlike objects, such as birdhouses, benches and cabinets.  Here’s an easy way for young children to make boxes using only a square, pencil, saw and hammer.  Pine is a good wood to use; it cuts easily, is inexpensive, and easy to find.

The trick is to build the box from the bottom up. The bottom determines the size of the first side, the bottom and first side determine the size of the second side, and so on; this method is forgiving of the inaccuracies likely to occur when young kids use a saw.  It’s also a good way to help children understand right angles and rectangles, without having to resort to geometry.

Although young kids are concerned with shape and function, they are apt to be somewhat arbitrary about size. If the box is intended to hold something specific (you should always ask about this), size becomes a practical concern; even if it is not, go through the decision-making process to emphasize its importance: how high, how wide, how deep?  Though older kids should be able to specify measurements in advance, young kids can decide on each dimension as they’re making the box.  They can be working with wood while learning to think in three dimensions.

Start by asking the child how big he wants the bottom to be. Working at one corner, have the child move his or her fingers around the surface to describe the size of the bottom.  Let the child know the box can be just the way he or she imagines it.

When the size looks right,  mark the final position of the child’s fingers on the edge and end of the board. Then have him draw a rectangle by placing a square along the marks.  Make sure the child pushes the square tight against the edge of the board.           

Cut along the lines with a handsaw. (Depending on the age of the child, a bandsaw may be used with adult supervision.) After sawing the bottom, make the ends of the box.  Hold the bottom against a corner of the board and mark its width, then decide how deep the box will be.  Label the joint and makr where the nails will go.  Lay out the rectangle with the square and saw out the first end. 

Next glue and nail one end to the bottom.  Hold the bottom of the box in a vise, spread a bead of white or yellow glue on the end and nail it on with three or four finish nails.  Some children will be able to hold the piece in place while the nail is driven; others may require an extra hand to stabilize the parts while nails are driven.

Next, mark the width of the other end of the box as before.  Then mark the height of the second end using the first end as a template.  Label the joint, square up the rectangle, cut out the end and nail it on. 

Next, mark out the sides. Place one end of the box against the end of the board and line up the tops of the ends with the adjacent edge. After tracing, saw out the sides.

Glue and nail the sides. The box can be set on its side while being nailed, but if it bounces, hold it in a vise.  If, because of inaccurate sawing, the side of the box doesn’t fit snugly against all three surfaces, the child (or adult) can remove high spots by filing, planing or sawing.  With young children, I’ve found it’s best to emphasize accomplishment rather than perfection; kids are usually happy to nail the side on and ignore the spaces.

If the child wants a lid for the box, follow the same procedures of tracing, then cutting. Hinges can be store bought or a piece of leather can be used instead.

 
Variations on the basic box

The ends and sides of a box don’t have to be the same height.  Birdhouses, toolboxes and stools, for example, are objects whose ends project above their sides.   These projecting parts make the birdhouse gables, or hold the handle of a toolbox or  form the legs of a stool.  For these projects, the grain of the ends should run vertically.  Make a pattern for the ends of the stool and toolbox and saw them to shape before nailing them to the bottom and adding the sides. 

When making a birdhouse, however, fit the sides to the bottom first, then fit the ends.  This makes it easier to fit the roof pieces because the sides won’t form a ledge, which is difficult to roof over.  One roof piece should overlap the other at the peak.  Nailing one roof piece onto the birdhouse and hinging the other to it at the peak makes it easy to open the house for cleaning.

Tips on Making a Birdhouse

Fit the long sides to the bottom and set the house on a board.  Draw in the ends, adding a peak.

Cut out the ends together so the peaks will match and mark one side of each peak.

After boring an entrance hole, nail on the ends, lining up the marks on the same side of the house. 

Nail the first roof piece at the peak and the second at the top edge of the first.  Hinging the second piece to the first allows the house to be opened for cleaning. 

Richard Starr teaches woodworking at Richmond Middle School in Hanover, New Hampshire. This text was excerpted from “Woodworking With Your Kids”, Taunton Press, 1990. The book is out of print, but copies are sometimes available from Amazon or eBay.

Decide on the size of the box bottom by using two fingers, then pencil out a rectangle using a try square as a guide.	Use the bottom of the box as a guide to mark off the size of the end pieces.
Use the partially assembled box to mark off the dimensions of the two sides.	Nail the bottom in place.  If a top is needed, use the bottom as a template for making a top.