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I love making videos "in the field" so to speak, at others work shops and other special sites. The problem with doing this is I often need a few extra pieces of photographic gear ... which I have, but for some reason I always seem to leave back in the workshop. I purchased this gear to make my life easier and to make the videos better ... then I go and leave it at home. Time for me to get organized.
I have looked, for a few months, at a variety of camera bags. It's very irritating. Most of the ones shown on-line don't show you what they look like inside, nor to they even give dimensions. The ones I have seen in person have not been suitable for a number of reasons, poor quality, wrong sizes, insides don't work etc.
Time for me to solve my own frustrations and make my own storage and carry case. I started off with a small sheet of Baltic Birch Plywood. This is excellent plywood, even thought it is only 1/2" thick it's seven plys. Very strong, good quality wood and no voids, so that when I cut through it, I don't have to worry that somewhere in the middle will be a big soft spot, or a place where the wood doesn't come together which makes it very hard to join edges.
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I decided the best size ... at least for now, is 10" x 10" x 16". This will hold and store the gear I need, and it will also hold my 2 smaller soft carry cases. The bonus to this is I can easily find them and if I use them in the box they help protect the cameras and lenses from bumping together. I really liked this advantage ...
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Making simple wooden boxes is easy and fun and you can make them in no time. For someone starting off in woodworking it's a great way to get stated, and you end up with some cool little boxes to store things in, but don't forget to make plenty of them because when people see them they all want them because everyone has little items they need to store and keep together.
I happened to walk past a house construction a few weeks ago the they were just finishing up putting the roof on. In the driveway of the house was all the plywood off cuts from the roof, all sorts of different angles and sizes, but all construction grade 1/2 inch plywood. Not much anyone could do much with ... well, except a woodworker. I gathered up as much as I could carry with the idea in mind that these pieces would be perfect for making little wooden boxes.
Making Simple Wooden Storage Boxes
I used the same principal for making them that I used in making the One Piece Box video from a couple of years ago but this time using the table saw. The only real trick is to make sure all your pieces are square and accurately cut, I did that by ....
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Picture Frames are often used to display more than just pictures, and when the frame is thick enough, it can display 3 dimensional objects. In this project we are making a box to display a pair of First Nations beaded moccasins that were acquired somewhere by my father, then handed over to me when he passed away a few years ago. I do not know the age of them but I estimate they were made around 1940. I am also not sure who made them and I can only guess they are Assiniboine or Lakota as those would be in an area where he was during that time. I have always wanted to display them properly as they are both beautiful and a memory of my father.
These moccasins are about 2 inches (5 cm) high, so the frame will need to much deeper than most in order to accommodate them. In this case figured out the deepest frame I could make based on how high my table saw blade would rise above the table and that worked out to be 3 1/8 inches (8 cm) and so that's what it would be, a bit unconventional but we work with what we have.
Making a Picture Frame Display Box
Once I had the size, it was time to select the wood from my stash of bits and pieces. I expected I could find something without having to cut up some new stock and sure enough I found something ...
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I was asked to make a "quick and easy" presentation box. I'm not exactly sure what that means, so I simple set about, with the objects that I had, and made something suitable. I was give a bottle of spirits and a couple of Irish Coffee wine type glasses. Rather than simply make a box that these would be hidden in, I wanted to make something that would make them stand out, after all, it is a presentation of some sort so the box or case would should have some kind of a wow factor. After measuring the glasses, I knew the approximate size and I had an idea in my head that I wanted to try out. I wanted to make a small mini 2-door display box and lucky for me I had just received a box of veneers from Oak Wood Veneers.
Presentation Box for St Patrick's Day
This is the first time I have seen their veneers and the quality is simply outstanding. More on this later ... for now I needed to make a carcass or box that fit the spirit and glasses, and that when transported would not crash around and break.
Because this is a smaller box, I opted to us 1/2" maple material that I had on hand. The box would be approximately 14 inches square and 4 inches deep, and because there is a fair bit of weight I decided to use box joint corners to make sure the structure was good and solid.