Quick, but not dirty

Because we’re woodworkers – and because people know it – we’re often asked to make things we don’t really have time for. But we all do these projects anyway. With…

Because we’re woodworkers – and because people know it – we’re often asked to make things we don’t really have time for. But we all do these projects anyway.

With another book deadline coming up I don’t have the time for extra projects. But my wife volunteered my services to make a wedding box for the nuptials of the daughter of one of her friends. Sally said it didn’t have to be fancy and I didn’t have to put a lot of work into it – just something out of wood that would be nicer than one you could buy.

She clipped a photo from some wedding magazine as an example and my jaw dropped, so I went online to research some more of them. These boxes, designed with a slot for wedding guests to drop envelopes into, are all made of cardboard covered with some sort of patterned cloth or paper, with a few frillies and ribbons glued or stapled on. They all look cheap and flimsy, and they’re all unbelievably expensive. The one Sally clipped for me was $85 and was, to be kind, junk.

I didn’t want to spend a lot of time on this, but phrases like “doesn’t have to be fancy” and “don’t put a lot of work into it” aren’t in most woodworkers’ vocabularies when it comes to projects that will be gifted to others. For temporary jigs or quick-and-dirty shop projects, yeah, but not something that is going to be used as a centerpiece at a wedding.

So I did some more research online and found a number of images, and have designed this wedding box to look like a miniature dowry chest. All solid oak, good joinery and brass hardware. I even made a filler piece that matches the chest that can be added to the top of the box later to cover the slot and add a handle, making it an attractive, useable piece long after the wedding.

Even though I didn’t have time to do this, the end results are all positive: I get brownie points with Sally, I impress one of her friends, and I get some good practice making this first wedding box – my own daughter’s wedding is coming up in October so I’ll be making one for her, too.

And you can bet I’ll make time for that one.

Till next time,

A.J.

 A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.