Making a Playing Card Box

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On a recent trip to a discount lumber store, I picked up some small "hobby size" pieces of walnut & maple. The maple strips were cutoffs that were already milled down smooth and square, which works great for me since I don't have a planer. I figured they would be great for small boxes. When I was asked if I could contribute something handmade to a silent auction fundraiser, I thought a small box might be a fun skill-building exercise. So I set out to build a box to hold some playing cards.

I had an idea for a variation of a locking rabbet joint that would make the bottom easy to attach to the sides, and let the base protrude out from the box. The finish was also a first-time experiment. I used spray lacquer (which I've used before), but this time I gave it a final smoothing with grade 0000 steel wool. I really like how this one turned out, and I hope you do too. Thanks for watching.

Special thanks to Bill Van Loo, as his lift-lid box provided the inspiration for the design of the lid of my box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt_k9nb0qFs


TOOLS AND SUPPLIES:
Playing Cards (2-pack): http://amzn.to/1MvN7t7
5x8 Writing Pad: http://amzn.to/262PH01
Tape Measure: http://amzn.to/1p0vG8J
Handi Clamp: http://amzn.to/1p0weLG
Table Saw: http://amzn.to/262R6Ui
Band Saw: http://amzn.to/1ShuImg
GRR-Ripper Push Block: http://amzn.to/1ShuSKc
Glu-Bot Glue Bottle: http://amzn.to/1XxgJqF
Babe-Bot, Mini Glue Bottle: http://amzn.to/262UHSu
Router: http://amzn.to/1MvMQqd
Spray Lacquer: http://amzn.to/23HwcIj
Steel Wool (0000 Super Fine): http://amzn.to/1p0xkqL

Video Tether: Wifi-Controlled Camera Slider Prototype

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Earlier this year I applied to the "World's Largest Arduino Maker Challenge," a contest organized by Arduino and Microsoft to launch Arduino's new MKR1000 board. It's a small form factor Arduino with built-in WiFi. I was fortunate enough to be chosen to receive one of the the boards, and used it to build myself a device for operating a camera slider. For entry into the contest, the project had to be documented on Hackster.io. You can see the completed project (and video) here:

https://www.hackster.io/benbrandt22/wifi-controlled-precision-camera-slider-b6062f

Checkerboard Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Sometimes creativity strikes in the kitchen. Some time ago, I set out to make a checkerboard cookie. I had seen this done before with basic butter cookies, but I wanted to take it a step further and see if I could apply the concept to two of my favorite cookies: chocolate chip cookies and white chocolate chip cookies. 

This video shows the process for taking two batches of cookies and combining them into a checkerboard cookie design. The recipe itself is not as important as the process here. In fact, these were made from the recipes printed on the bags of chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. They both used one bag of chips and thus yielded about the same amount of dough.

Not only are they delicious, but they look good, too.

MUSIC: "Django" by little dark one
https://soundcloud.com/littledark1/django
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Unported License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Live on Think Woodworks

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I was fortunate to be invited into a live Hangout show on Friday night (March 11th). The broadcast was hosted by Izzy Swan, and I was joined by Laney Shaughnessy, Tim Sway, and Nick Ferry. It was a fun night with some good stories and discussion, both from the guys on camera and those in the chat room. After the broadcast we stayed on the chat and talked shop for another hour.

UPDATE 3/18/2016 -  The video has since been taken down. Anyway, it was a fun event for those who were able to watch and I hope to do more stuff like this in the future.

If you haven't already, go check out all the guys' channels:

Izzy Swan: https://www.youtube.com/user/rusticman1973

Laney Shaughnessy: https://www.youtube.com/user/flatiger4u

Tim Sway: https://www.youtube.com/user/timsway

Nick Ferry: https://www.youtube.com/user/ferrynick

 

March 2016 Channel Update

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Thank you to all my 3000+ subscribers. I'd like to drive some more interaction with all of you and see if there's anything else I can bring you on this channel outside of the mostly project-based videos. I'm trying a quick shop update here, recapping some recent videos, sharing some recent events, showing off the new channel sticker, and asking for your feedback and ideas.

Thanks for checking in.

Walnut Box

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I recently got some nice hardwood scraps off craigslist, and decided to try my hand at some fancy box-making with my relatively limited tools. This was also a fun excuse to experiment with mixing wood and aluminum as well.


The main box structure is made from walnut and hard maple, accented with aluminum splines on each corner. The interior liner is made with maple sides and a thin sheet of aluminum at the bottom. I'm aware that wood movement may cause problems with my aluminum splines in the future, but for now I think it looks cool, and it made for a fun build experience/experiment.

I don't claim any expertise in making boxes. I would consider this more of an experimental art project and a skill-building exercise. However, if you want to see some really impressive box-making videos, check out Marty Backe's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/MartyBacke/search?query=box
He goes into more detail on process and technique, and is more qualified to teach the material than I am.

Thanks for taking the time to watch (and to read this).

MUSIC:

"Metanoia (Instrumental)" by Razbaque Dirge
https://soundcloud.com/razbaque-dirge/metanoia
Used with permission from the composer