Storage Boxes, Part II

I love scratch stock.

There are things at which it excels, such as getting into places that a router can't reach. Scratch stock also enables you to create your own profiles and saves you from having to buy expensive router bits.




In some instances, however, scratch stock falls short. If you need a really large profile, for example, scratch stock is not going to work as well as moulding planes or router bits.

And endgrain. Scratch stock and endgrain do not play nicely together.

When I first started making this storage box, I made a scratch stock for the bead because my moulding plane was being fussy. The scratch stock worked great until I glued up the box and tried to finish the profile on the short pieces of endgrain. It was like trying to push a St. Bernard through a cat door. Backwards.

Endgrain moulding shaped by hand.

That's when I glanced at the box's lid which required the same profile and is a solid piece of wood.

Meaning, two long edges are endgrain.

Back to the moulding plane. I spent more time sharpening the blade and was finally able to unfussy it. It performed splendidly on the endgrain of the lid.

However, I wasn't able to use it on the small bits of endgrain on the boxes because the scratch stock profile was a bit smaller than the moulding plane—they didn't match. That meant the endgrain needed to be shaped by hand.

The lid's moulding profile is a bit
larger than the box's profile.

A few moments with a gent's saw, chisel, and file, and the profiles matched up pretty well.

Next is planing the box's sides and adding a finish.

Then building two more boxes.

Without making the same mistakes.