Marc - So today I wanna show you
how I built this jewelry box. ♪ Hit it ♪ - [Announcer] The Wood
Whisperer is sponsored by Powermatic and Titebond. - The box is made out of
mahogany and figured walnut. And you can see we've got a bunch of nice little drawers here. Each one of the drawers is
flocked with a suede material. The top drawer is actually faux. So when we open up the top we've got this subdivided storage area. And if you swing out these side doors you see we've got additional
storage on the sides. The drawers are all dovetailed and they feature wooden drawer guides. And the entire front
features a curved profile that carries through
the side compartments, the drawers, the top and the bottom. One of my favorite features of
the box is the hidden drawer. So I've got a key here. You lift up the back panel
and then there's a drawer which we pull out with the same key. Don't tell anybody. Now this video's gonna
give you a quick overview but if you really wanna build this and you need all the details head to thewoodwhispererguild.com and we've got plans, sketch up drawing, and hours of video content. So let's get to it. This project began like most of them do: with a pencil and paper
at the kitchen table. With the basic structure
and dimensions worked out, I moved a sketch up to
iron out the specifics. I've got some beautiful
mahogany and figured walnut for this project so let's
start with a layout. I use the chop saw and the band saw to get the parts to rough dimension. Some of my stock is really thick, so I re-saw it at the band saw. I generally mill my
parts to final dimension just before I need them. I'll start with the bottom and the sides which are held together
with a sliding dovetail. I use a dovetail bit in the
router table to make the joint. The fit should be snug but not so tight that you need a hammer to put it together. We'll need to notch the front slightly so that it covers the
round end of the slot. The upper parts of the case
are now cut to size and dadoed. For the upper back piece to drop in, we'll cut notches in the sides. Now let's work on the drawers. The fronts are cut to
the width of the case. Each front then gets a rabbet on the ends. The top drawer front is
faux and needs a rabbet so that it sits nicely
on top of the divider. To get my drawer spacing just right, I'll use some thin shims
between each drawer front and trim as needed. Now, let's make some dovetails. I like to use a hybrid approach combining hand tools and power tools. The tails are cut at the band saw. The tail outline is then
transferred to the drawer front. Now I can saw just inside my lines. To make life easier I'm using a Ron Bontz Half Blind Dovetail
Tool that helps me extend the cut further and saves
me some chiseling work. I use a router to remove
most of the waste. Now I just need to do that same process a buttload more times. For the drawer back, we'll do a simple single through dovetail. The drawers need some grooves
for the drawer bottoms as well as grooves for the drawer guides. The drawer bottoms will come
from a chunk of mahogany. Now we can glue the drawers together. I like to use a corner to corner clamp to fix any squareness issues. The drawers can now be stacked in the box and I can transfer the center point of each groove to the case side. I can then cut the corresponding
grooves in the case. Each side now needs a groove
for the moveable back panel. Because the sides could
expand and contract, I'm only gluing the front
half of each drawer guide. The guide fits snug in the groove which means it also fits
snug in the drawer groove, so after it's glued in
place I'll give the guides a light pass with a shoulder plane so that the drawers ride smoothly. I'll take some time to work
each drawer to make sure that the gap between them
is perfectly consistent. Now we can focus on the side doors which are like small projects
in and of themselves. The joinery I'll employ
is, once again, dovetails. Now I'll cut the grooves
for the side panel. To make the side panel a
little bit more interesting, I'll give it a raised profile
using a large Core Box bit. At the bottom of the side compartments I'll add a small pocket. And now we can glue them together. We can also glue the main case together with the upper divider
and the upper back panel. Each door is attached to the case with some sweet Brusso hinges. I pre-drill with a self-centering bit and then drive some steel
screws to thread the holes. The brass screws will be installed later. To transfer the location
of the hinges to the case, I'll put the side door on
shims and clamp it in place. Then I can use a marking knife to mark the start and stop points of each hinge. Now let's work on the curved front. The curve is cut into
the bottom and the lid, and that's then used to transfer the curve to the drawers and the side doors. To establish the curves in the sides I'll use a hand plane and a rasp. To further refine the front, I'll tip the whole box on its back and sand everything at the same time. Now for lid hinges. These are installed just
like our side hinges only these are a special
95 degree stop hinges. The faux drawer front can
now be glued into place. The jewelry box features four little feet that follow the shape of the base. To make them I'll need templates that match the shape of the bottom. The template is then attached to the blank and a small flush trim bit
is used to remove the stalk. The rear feet are a lot easier because the recess is square. The drawer pulls also require a template as they'll be inlaid into
the top of each drawer front. This can be a risky cut so
exercise caution if you try it, but it's a quick way
to make a small notch. At this point I decided
to add a slight angle to the sides of the pulls
to get them a wedge shape thanks to the prodding of a few people on Instagram and Facebook. So I quickly modify the template. Now I can use a chisel to do the cleanup and sharpen those corners. The pulls, themselves, can be cut to size, glued in place, and flushed
to the top of the drawer. The pull is then finessed to
match the curve of the front. I like using magnets to keep doors closed and they're pretty easy to install using a drill and some epoxy. I'm also gonna use magnets to
help me make the back panel and the secret drawer a
little more functional. Now let's add some dividers. The side doors will have some pegs for things like necklaces and bracelets. I'll make the hourglass-shaped
pegs from dalstock using my drill, a rasp,
and some sandpaper. Now I can route all of the
edges and attach the feet. Everything is then sanded to 220 grit. I plan to do some flocking
on the drawers and the top so to prep for that I have to
seal the surface with lacker. Once the lacker dries I'll
use compressed air to blow the dust out of all of the
grain in the various parts. And now for the finish. I'm using Osmo TopOil. The finish is applied using
a white Scotch-Brite pad. Once the piece is coated a fresh pad is used to buff
the heck outta the surface. I only applied two coats
since the jewelry box really isn't a heavy-use item. Now we can do the final assembly. With the flocked areas taped off, I paint on the flocking adhesive. Using a little pump, I blow the suede fibers onto the surface. It's best to apply more
than you think you need just to avoid any bare spots. The next day I tap the box to
knock out the loose fibers. And finally, the box comes together. The only thing left to
do is hand-write a letter to my now two-year-old daughter, Ava, and some day she'll find that
letter in the secret drawer. Look. This is yours. It's for you. Whoa. (farting) She just farted. (laughing)
