Magazine Camouflage Boxes

This was another 'use up the scrap' project and one that grew into quite a production and before it was over I had made 43 of them. Most were of the styles pictured along with a few narrow single wide and one double-wide. This sufficed to use up a considerable collection of scrap solid wood and much sheetgoods.

The first style, as shown on the left, had a long run until I realized that, while functional, they looked boring and unnatural on the shelf. That lead me to the second style, on the right, which is quite freeform and natural appearing on the shelf. As an added benefit it was now possible to use varied thicknesses and shorter lengths of wood.

Common to all the styles is a solid wood bottom and and sheetgood sides which might be anything from fiberboard to thin plywood. The type on the left uses a solid board, often a glue-up, for the entire front with a 'V'-groove routed to define the 'volumes'. This latter fact is the reason it requires more desirable scrap. There is a rabbet down each side to accept the sheetgood sides which are glued and bradded there and to the sides of the bottom. Having a single-board front means that painting was a chore and required masking.

The style on the right uses separate boards of random widths and thickness and lengths which means that they can be painted without masking. They have their long edges rounded over. These boards are glued and bradded to thin sheetgoods to keep them together. The rabbeting is the same as in the other style as is the fastening to the solid wood components.

All of the boxes have ¾-inch felt feet. Paint was what was at hand which, in this case, was dry milk paint which, after a lick of steel wool, was covered with water-based poly to give some shine. Size of the left style is approximately 6 X 12 X 9 and accomodates magazines standing vertically. Size of the right style is approximately (they vary) 7 X 11 X 12 and accomodate magazine standing binding-up. By way of comparison, this is what the two styles look like on the bookshelf.

© 1999-2024 by John McGaw — Page last modified: Sat Sep 8 11:25:07 2018
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