The Napkin Box

   Has anyone noticed how hot it has been this summer?    I have this list of projects that I want to try and tackle sometime, but I have noticed that it is real easy for me to say, "Man it is so hot out in the shop that I'll work on this project next winter".    (Of course last winter I was talking about it being so cold out in the shop that I will do this project next summer.)    I was telling the wife that if she would build me an air conditioned shop that would have a heating system for the winter time, I could build her a ton of stuff.   (I don't think that is going to happen - maybe she would do that for the cat, but no cigar for the hubby.)


   This week's project was a quick one.   One evening, Pam said that if I wanted to build her something she would like a box that would hold napkins.   Something that she could just leave on the dining room table.   I jumped on the computer and sifted through several napkin holder plans and came up with one that I thought was pretty neat and would be a little challenging to make.    I selected the wood that I planned to use.  It would have been a two tone colored holder made out of maple and walnut.   I was thinking I could really impress her with this.   That is when she walked into the room (and said "What is this thing") and kindly informed me that all she really wanted was a small box to hold napkins.  

     So, I set up the box joint jig that I had used before, but not with this table saw.  It took me a couple of settings to get everything lined up but once the jig was properly adjusted, it went quite well.  I used all walnut wood that I had planed down to 5/16ths of an inch.    A while back I had written a post where I talked about making table saw inserts and this project gave me a chance to use one of those inserts.    The inserts keep the space around the blade tight so thin pieces of wood do not slip away.


  The picture to the right shows the four sides and the bottom just prior to gluing everything together.   I used some left over melamine from the bunk bed project for the bottom.    I had read that a person should apply blue painters tape on the inside right next to the fingers before assembly.    This helps when applying glue to the fingers.   If you have any squeeze out, the tape protects the wood from becoming stained.   It is easy to sand off any dried glue on the outside, but it is tough to remove any excess glue on the inside corners.   Once assembled, you just remove the tape.     I had done this before, but this time I was really careful about applying and removing the tape and it worked great.

    To the left is the finished project.  I put on three coats of wipe on polyurethane.     For the picture, I dug around the cupboards looking for something other than the typical white napkins and these Christmas ones were all that I could find.  (Makes you think that it could be cold again someday.)    I guess the wife is happy.    (When the wife is happy, the cat and I are happy.)    Oh, by the way, if you are ever in need of a napkin holder, I have this nifty little plan that I would like to try out sometime.   It is on my project list with the other two thousand items that I think (In my mind) I will build someday.