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I love making wooden boxes and I am intrigued by how many different kinds and designs there are from bandsaw boxes to all forms of wood boxes. I have had this idea in my head for some time which is a combination of a few different designs all rolled into one and I wanted to see how easy or hard it would be to make.

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/KnBhp94-U0o

The basic box starts with the sides only, made from simple rabbet joinery, which even with plywood is quite strong. For this build I was using what I thought was "Baltic Birch" plywood, then halfway through I realized it was not Baltic, but some other wood that was somewhat similar. As you look at the pictures you will see quite a bit of veneer blow-out or tear-out... 

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Making boxes and woodworking go hand in hand. I can't imagine how many boxes I have made over the years in every conceivable size and configuration and it's interesting how many different ways there are to make a box that basically has 6 sides. Some are very simple while others are elaborate. I am always fascinated when I visit antique stores and swap meets to see all the different kinds of wooden boxes that show up and look at how they were built ... 

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/XF7_n3DenrE

I many ways this build is somewhat like those antique boxes I often look at ... nothing fancy, just a storage box that requires a specific size to fit in a specific location and that means a bit of custom woodworking ... 

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Some time ago, Fred and I arrange a trade for some audio/visual equipment I had for some art work of Fred's. It has taken me some time to get around to making a picture frame for Fred's art, but I recently found some rustic boards that I thought would help to augment the beautiful painting of Freds'.  The boards were a beautiful aged grey and were rough cut, which meant that getting straight edges would be a bit of a challenge, but I purchased enough material that I was confident I would get the right lenghts from. Some of the boards were partially live edge on one side and not on the other so I really had to pick and choose which parts of which boards would be suitable.  I did not want to change the outside of the boards, so the face side and the outside edges needed to be natural, as I found them.

Watch this and other similar videos on YouTube - https://youtu.be/M-XkuYJmPKo

The first order of business was to cut the boards to a rough lenght, then then needed to be cut to width ...

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I can't image how many unique and custom woodworking projects there must be in this world, millions probably, and now I am going to add one more to that list. I made this because I have never seen anything like this ever displayed or listed for sale anywhere, which mean it's a new design (at least for me).

We seem to spend a lot of our time making storage and organizational things and this is yet another item to add to that list. This particular box is what I am calling a drop box because to put anything into it you have to drop it in from the top and it also includes an upper tray for easy access to things you want quicker and easier access to. Other items for more long term storage are underneath the upper tray that just lifts out. The whole concept of this box is that if fits in any file drawer that also accommodates one of the standard metal or plastic hanging file folder stands. Often these can be purchased as single units or "half" units which leaves the other half of the file drawer empty, which of course means the single is free to slide and move around, plus there a big waste of space that could be otherwise better utilized.

There are no particular features of this box that need further explanation that the video does not already explain. For this unit I used 1/8" plywood for the sides and bottoms, then 1/2" natural wood for the ends. The only word or caution I need to pass along, some file drawers have more room in height than others so you may need to watch the height of your handle, it is possible to make it to high so that the drawer does not close ... otherwise it's another fun, easy to make and super useful little storage box you will use for many, many years.
Copyright Colin Knecht
Woodworkweb.com

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I seem to go through phases where I have this need to re-organize my stuff and it's often triggered by an event. Recently I lost the little mounting foot that goes in the head of my small Gorilla Tripod. Oh sure you can buy new ones, and have them shipped to you but most of the ones I saw, with shipping, are about the same price a buying a whole new tripod! Eventually (2 months later) I have found the missing foot and all is well again, but it made me realize I have camera and video gear in at least 3 different places and it's time to get it all in one place ... the workshop where it is being used.

The real problem with all these bits and pieces is that they are currently being stored in little plastic rectangular trays, which work ok, but they take up a lot of shelf space because you can't store something above them like you can with a little cabinet with drawers. And that was my motivation.

I had some other ideas along the way, like having something with a Dutch Door or half door so that if you had something lying in front of the little cabinet, you could still open the door without knocking something on to the floor. I also liked ....