Shaker Boxes

Last month our marquetry club had a Saturday workshop where we made Shaker boxes. This may sound strange for a marquetry club, but the idea was that we could add marquetry to the top of our boxes very nicely, and end up with a very different type of project. I had actually made a set of 3 of these boxes years ago at a Lee Valley seminar, but was anxious to get a refresher and learn new tips and tricks, so that I could make some at home. 

We started out with thin strips of Cherry, one narrow and one wide for the top and body of the box respectively. The first step is to cut the tabs to shape and predrill the holes as you can see here on the top band. You also have to sand the other end of the band to a thinner thickness so that it lays flat when you bend it. 

Next you soak the strips of thin wood in very hot-boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes. Here you can see someone's small band being soaked and the colour that the cherry changes the water! 

You bend the body of the box first. You have a plywood or foam form cut to shape, and you take the piece out of the water and bend it around as quick as you can, and then hold it for a few minutes to let it cool down. This is me holding my box body. 

When your body is done, you repeat the soaking and bending process, but instead of using the form to bend it, you use the body of the box so that the lid fits on perfectly. 

Next we use this cool pipe jig to nail in the tiny copper tacks. They have to be copper so that they bend back on themselves on the inside just like a staple. 

Here I am with the top band around the pipe getting ready to hammer in the last tack. 

And here is the last tack about halfway in. 

Here is my box body with the tabs nailed in place. It is still around the form so that as the wood dries it keeps its shape. 

The next thing to do is to cut a bottom insert to match your body. You then give it a slight angle so that it wedges in nice and tightly. You do the same thing for the top. Making sure to label the parts and how they fit in carefully. 

The final step is to attach the bottom. You carefully drill holes through the side and bottom pieces. You then take round toothpicks with a tiny dab of glue on them and tap them in place. Once the glue is dry you trim them off and sand a little bit. You do this to the top also, but the plan is to do some marquetry on the lid, so it can't be glued in place until that is done. 

Here it is all done except for the marquetry. I'm still working on a design for that so it will be included in an update later. I think I'm going to make some more of these as they are surprisingly quick to make, and a pretty impressive and useful way of giving something with some marquetry on it. As for the special supplies like the tacks, those can be ordered at http://shakerovalbox.com/ where there is also more detailed instructions. There is a whole numbering convention for these type of boxes; the bigger they are the higher the number. It's really cool to think that the shakers have made these types of boxes for 100's of years!