Sunday, September 10, 2017

Magazine File Box


I will show you how to build these strong and large file boxes. They are seven inches wide and can hold a lot of magazines. I will use my kerfmaker to make some of the dado cuts and snap it all together. Easy to build and very handy boxes for your files or magazines.





Here are some of my wood magazines in their file boxes, as you can see they are not holding up very well so I thought it is time to make some new ones and they will be made of wood. 


I used my dowel stop gauge and got some measurements from an old cardboard file box for making the new wooden box. I will use the same measurements for everything except the width. My new box will have a width of seven inches. This will hold more and it will not tip over which I found the problem with many other file boxes.




To make the box I will use the mini kerfmaker to help make some dado cuts. When the pieces are cut they will all snap together very nicely, but it will still require glue, this will make it very strong. 






The kerfmaker is put on the 3/8th plywood and the brass nut is tightened.





A stop block was clamped on my miter gauge, it was set along with the kerfmaker to the right distance to make 2 cuts on each of the sides. It is always a good idea to make a test cut and make sure everything works out.  


After the 2 cuts are made on each side  it is easy enough to use the table saw fence and cut away the center to make a clean slot.




The first 2 cuts are for the front and back of the file box. Now a bottom slot  can be cut. I put some tape on the ends to keep it from splintering or losing the small corner pieces.


Now that all the dado cuts are made, the curves can be cut. I used an old file box and traced it onto my pieces. It can be cut with a jigsaw or bandsaw. 


For the back I wanted a handle, so I used a 1 1/8" Forstner bit and drilled four holes. This will help when carrying since these boxes will be heavy when they are full. I also like the way this looks.






All the pieces are laid out. It is a good idea to test fit the box before glueing. Some sanding may be required for a good fit. When the box is finished you can do some fine sanding to take off any sharp edges.                                                   


I liked the box so much I built 4 of them, I filled one up and put it in my office right away and it looked great. I know I will get a lot of use from these and may have to build more. 

See also:   


     

              Box with decorative splines                                             Wood tray-birds mouth joinery