At a glance
Finished dimensions
Overall sizes
- Overall
- 8 × 5 × 3-1/4 in with the lid
- Box
- 8 × 5 × 2-3/4 in
- Inside
- 7 × 4 in
- Lid
- 1/2 × 5 × 8 in with a 1/4 in deep boss
Materials
| Item | Quantity | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Hardwood, surfaced to 1/2 in | About 27 in of 2-3/4 in wide stock for the sides, plus 5 × 8 in for the lid | Under half a board foot; buy extra for test cuts |
| 1/4 in plywood | One piece 7-7/16 × 4-7/16 in | Measure its real thickness before cutting the groove |
| Wood glue | A small bottle | For the corners only |
Cut list
| Part | Qty | Dimensions | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front and back | 2 | 1/2 × 2-3/4 × 8 in | Hardwood; rabbet 1/2 wide × 1/4 deep at each end |
| End | 2 | 1/2 × 2-3/4 × 4-1/2 in | Hardwood |
| Bottom | 1 | 1/4 × 4-7/16 × 7-7/16 in | Plywood; floats in the groove |
| Lid | 1 | 1/2 × 5 × 8 in | Hardwood, grain running the 8 in way |
Tools
- Table saw with a dado set its manual allows, or a router table
- Miter saw or crosscut sled
- Clamps
- Block plane or sanding block
The design
The front and back run the full 8 in length. Each has a rabbet 1/2 in wide and 1/4 in deep across both ends, and the 4-1/2 in ends sit in those rabbets, so the outside width is 4-1/2 + 2 × 1/4 = 5 in and the inside is 7 × 4 in. The rabbet locates each end as it is glued; joints are compared in choosing a wood joint. The lid is a solid board with a boss cut on its underside that drops into the opening and keeps it in place. A dovetailed version of a small box is built in dovetail projects; this one needs only straight cuts.
Fits and movement
- The bottom floats. A 1/4 × 1/4 in groove runs round the inside of all four sides, 1/4 in up from the bottom edge. The plywood bottom, 7-7/16 × 4-7/16 in, sits 1/4 in into it all round less 1/32 in of clearance, and is not glued. Plywood is cross-laminated and stays far more stable than solid wood, so the close fit is safe; see the plywood guide.
- Groove width from real plywood. Sheet sold as 1/4 in is often thinner; measure it and cut the groove to fit, as the plywood thickness chart explains.
- The lid moves. A solid board shrinks and swells across its grain with the seasons, so the boss is 1/8 in smaller than the opening across the grain (3-7/8 in in a 4 in opening) and 1/16 in smaller along it (6-15/16 in in 7 in). For your species and climate, estimate the movement with the wood movement calculator and adjust.
- Boss rabbets. To leave that boss, cut a rabbet 1/4 in deep round the lid's underside: 17/32 in wide at the ends and 9/16 in wide along the sides.
Building it
From board to box
Prepare the stock
Surface the hardwood to 1/2 in and rip a 2-3/4 in strip about 27 in long, plus a 5 × 8 in piece for the lid with its grain running the long way. Choosing boards is covered in how to choose lumber.
Cut the sides to length
Cut the front and back to 8 in and the ends to 4-1/2 in, using a stop so each pair is identical. Mark the inside face and bottom edge of every part.
Cut the rabbets
On the inside face of the front and back, cut a rabbet 1/2 in wide and 1/4 in deep across each end, on a router table or with a dado set your saw's manual allows. Test on scrap until an end piece fits flush.
Cut the grooves
Cut a groove 1/4 in deep, as wide as your measured plywood, along the inside face of all four parts, 1/4 in up from the bottom edge.
Dry-fit and cut the bottom
Assemble dry with a clamp and check the inside is 7 × 4 in. Cut the bottom to 7-7/16 × 4-7/16 in and check it drops into the grooves without forcing.
Glue up
Glue the rabbets only, slide the bottom in unglued, clamp, and measure both diagonals; adjust the clamps until they match. Glue and clamping are covered in how to use wood glue and clamps.
Make the lid
Cut the lid's underside rabbets — 17/32 in at the ends, 9/16 in along the sides, 1/4 in deep — and check the boss drops into the opening with the stated clearance. Ease the lid's top edges.
Finish
Sand inside and out — see how to sand wood — and finish the lid on both faces so it takes up moisture evenly. Finishing choices are in the wood finish guide.
Safety— Small parts at the saw and router table
Cut rabbets and grooves in longer pieces where you can, and use a fence, stop and push block rather than fingers near the cutter. Follow table saw safety, the router table guide and woodworking safety rules. The box is for small keepsakes; no load rating is claimed.
Before glue-up
- Rabbets cut so the ends sit flush
- Groove width matched to the measured plywood
- Bottom 7-7/16 × 4-7/16 in and unglued
- Inside measured at 7 × 4 in on the dry fit
- Diagonals equal after clamping
- Lid boss cleared 1/8 in across the grain, 1/16 in along it
Other small builds — boards, toys, gifts and pieces to sell — are mapped in wood craft ideas.
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Sources
A BenchRoot design; every dimension is on the drawing and in the cut list, given as final sizes. The clearances are design choices sized for seasonal movement, not figures from a standard. The design was drawn and its arithmetic checked; it was not built for this page, and no downloadable plan is offered. A dovetailed box is in BenchRoot's dovetail projects; bread boxes, puzzle boxes and toy boxes are not built here.
- 1.
Chapter 4: Moisture Relations and Physical Properties of Wood. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory — Wood Handbook, FPL-GTR-282, 2021.
Used for: Wood shrinking and swelling across the grain, much more than along it, as its moisture changes — why the solid lid's boss is given more clearance across the grain than along it.
- 2.
Chapter 11: Wood-Based Composite Materials: Panel Products, Glued Laminated Timber, Structural Composite Lumber, and Wood–Nonwood Composites. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory — Wood Handbook, FPL-GTR-282, 2021.
Used for: Plywood as a cross-laminated panel, far more stable in its own plane than solid wood — why the bottom can be a close fit in its groove.
- 3.
NIST Handbook 130 (2026), IV.B Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale of Commodities. National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2026.
Used for: The board foot as 144 cubic inches, for working out how much hardwood to buy.
About this project
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