Striped Wood Pencil Box

In this Instructable, I will show you how to make a pencil box with a striped lid. It's fun to make and makes a great gift.

Please vote for me in the Epilog Laser contest. I want to win the laser cuter to make custom items to sell on my Etsy shop I am starting in November.

Materials:

1/4" oak
1/4" walnut
poplar
2 finishing nails

Tools:

Bandsaw
Drill Press
Mitre Saw
Belt/Disc Sander

To make most of the box, you will need about 15" of 1/4" thick oak. For the ends, use some thicker wood that contrasts the oak. I used some live-edge burl scraps to add some character. The stripes are made of thin walnut and poplar. Since this is a pencil box, it needs to accommodate pencils. Pencils are about seven inches long, so cut two pieces of 1/4" oak that are 7 1/4" long.

Cut one strip 1 3/4" wide and 7" long(bottom) and two 1 1/2" wide and 7" long(sides). Glue them together so that you can't see the seem.

Cut a peice of 1/4" oak to 7" by 2 1/4". Cut it in half diagonally. Take a thin peice of walnut (at least 1/4") and cut a wavy line through it. Cut a slice of 3/4" poplar about 1/32" thick. Glue the poplar in between the wavy pieces of walnut. Make sure the curves align. Glue the walnut between the diagonally cut oak slices. Once the glue is dry, sand the whole thing so it's flat on both sides. Trim both ends square and rip it to the exact width of your box.

Measure the length of the lid and cut the box to that length. Trace the box end (with the lid) on the end piece. Cut the shapes out and glue them onto each end.

Round over the back edge of the lid on a sander or router. Hold the lid in place and with a drill press drill a small hole through each end of the box into the end of the lid. If the holes aren't deep enough, drill them deeper with a cordless drill. Find some finishing nails that fit snugly in the holes and tap them in until they are flush.

Sand the box on a belt sander until everything is smooth. Round over all the edges except the bottom edges. Sand it more with an orbital sander going from 80 to 320 grit.

Now you are done! You can store your pens and pencils in style. If you make one, post a pic. in the comments.