A box was planned to store the Dungeons & Dragons dice. The plan is to make a wooden box using finger joints to put the sides together. The top will be inset, while the bottom will sit in a dado cut into all four sides. The box will be cut in two to make the lid. It will have hinges and a clasp. The dice will sit in an insert glued to the bottom of the box. The dice will sit in sculpted holes, first drilled and then chiseled to fit each shape. The inside of the box will be felted. The top will have foam padding under the felt to press against the dice holding them in place.
The box will be 3 1/2" X6" and 2 1/2" high. Using 1/4" thick wood the 1" thick insert will be 3" X5 1/2" or cut to fit. Some extra sides will be cut to provide practice with the old table saw finger joint jig. First, the table saw needs to be cleaned off. The finger joint jig was located and dusted off. After reading a few old articles in Woodsmith magazine (issues 110 & 183), some scraps were located and fingers cut. The first set were too loose. The jig was moved slightly away from the blade, making the joints too tight to assemble. A few tries later the setup was perfect. The first photo below shows the jig in place with the Simonds Si-Clone blade using the Warren dado washers on setting three. The second photo shows the first loose joints.
A story stick was made for the settings 1-8 on the Warren dado washers with the Si-Clone blade installed. There is a lot of tearout so the interchangeable backing block in the jig will be changed for one with a smaller opening. This was easily accomplished by unscrewing the current backer (seen above), rotating it 180°, and reinstalling it.
With the jig properly adjusted the sides were prepared. Two 6" lengths of 1/4" X 2 1/2" aspen were cut followed by two 3 1/2" lengths. The fingers were cut taking care to mark the appropriate corner to be cut out of the second half of a mated pair. One corner did not come out quite right (seen in the back left corner below) but a little sanding evened it out. The first photo shows the parts put together. A 6" X 3 1/2" piece of cherry was cut for the top. A 1/4" X 1/4" rabbet was cut on all four sides to sit in the box. The second photo shows the box glued and clamped with the lid glued in place.
The bottom is planned to fill about the bottom 1" of the box. A scrap of walnut was cut to 3 1/2" X 6" followed by cutting a scrap of 3/4" Baltic birch plywood to the same dimensions. The two were glued face-to-face as shown in the photo below. (Should have cut them oversize and cut to size after glue-up as the two halves slide all around during clamping.)
As the glued up bottom/insert was dry the sides were cut. The dado blade was used and raised to about 1". 1/16" cuts on both sides were taken as the fencer was moved in. The cutting stopped at 1/4" depth and the fit was checked. Small amounts were removed from both sides until the fit was easy, but not loose, a sliding fit. The short ends were cut similarly, but using the miter gauge. Some thought was then given to cutting the holes for the dice. The photo below shows the completed bottom and the assembled box, whereas the table holds the hole dimensions for the dice.
| Die | # of Sides | Hole Diam | Drill Size | Hole Depth | Side Ln |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cube | 3 | 0.396" | X | 3/8" | 11/16" |
| Tetrahedron | 3 | 0.216" | 7/32" | 1/4" | 3/8" |
| Dodecahedron | 5 | 0.688" | 11/16" | 1/4" | 1/2" |
| Icosahedron | 3 | 0.506" | 1/2" | 1/4" | 7/8" |
| Octahedron | 4 | 0.625" | 5/8" | 3/8" | 5/8" |
| Pent Trap | 5 | 0.614" | 5/8" | 5/16" | 7/16" |
An attempt was made to conform to the dimensions listed in the table and then the appropriate regular n-gon was drawn around the resulting circular hole. These n-gons were chiseled out. A few of the pieces fit well and some pretty badly. I might try to find some modeling clay to put in the holes, shape with the die, and bake the clay in the oven.
When browsing modeling clay at Michaels I found some air drying clay. This was pressed into five of the holes. The appropriate die was pressed into the clay and carefully removed. The excess clay above the edges of the holes was cut off with the utility knife. The clay in the holes was left to dry. The website indicates it should be dry in a few hours, assuming the wood surrounding it has no impact. The clay was stored in a sealed plastic bag. The photo shows the wet clay in the holes.
The box was cut in two this morning. The height was chosen so that the insert was about 3/8"-1/2" below the new cut. The cut was made in two passes and left 3/8" uncut between the two passes, so the box wouldn't collapse during the second cut. The excess was sanded off and the edges lightly sanded. A little work with a chisel on one end helped the box to seat better on the insert. The insert was glued in place as seen in the photo below. The second photo shows the complete box after the clamps were removed.
The box was sanded first with 150 grit sandpaper on an orbital sander. This was followed by hand sanding with 220 grit sandpaper. Before staining the hinges were put in place. 3/4" X 1" brass hinges were found and set 1" in from the ends. They were carefully marked, punched and drilled. A dark stain was used, the 4::7 mix of orange and brown stains used on the G&G side table. This was applied with a rag and wiped off with a shop towel. The stain needs to dry for two hours before applying the top coat.
The bottom of the box was signed with a silver marker. The next morning lacquer was applied to a test piece with the same marker, which ran. Wipe-on poly was used for the finish coat, though I have had trouble with a lack of build-up on previous uses. It did not smear the marker. Two coats every three hours with light sanding for the remainder of the day.
After three coats the poly dried overnight. The flocking instructions direct one to seal the wood prior to applying the glue. The first step of sealing was to fill the gaps between the wood and the clay. This was done with a mixture of sawdust from the ash and glue. After drying the insert face was sanded with 80 grit sandpaper. The inside was sealed with lacquer. While doing this the outside was also painted with lacquer over the poly. The lacquer soaked right into the box! Wipe-on poly is worthless! Two coats of the lacquer were brushed onto the box. The picture below shows the glue/sawdust applied around the clay filled depressions.
After allowing the lacquer to dry the inside of the box bottom was painted with blue (definitely stir before use) glue, after the box edges were covered with painter's tape. The box was placed in a large leaf bag and propped up at an angle. Blue flocking was placed into the tube, the tube tipped hole side down and it was pulled and pushed multiple times coating the glued surface in flocking as shown in the picture below. A little flocking dust was brushed off of the outside of the box. The flocking glue must dry for 15 to 16 hours.
After eighteen hours the excess flocking was shaken and lightly blown off. The dice fit nicely in the provided holes as shown below. A rectangle, 1/2" X 3" X 5 1/2", of foam was glued into the top using 3M spray adhesive. After sitting with a weight on it for fifteen minutes a similarly sized rectangle of maroon felt was glued over the foam also using spray adhesive. The photos below document the process.
Just two remaining tasks and the box will be complete. The four hinge screws in the bottom need to be shortened as seen in the photo below. Four different clasps were ordered. One will be selected and installed. When the box is closed none of the dice rattle around, though as can also be seen in the photo, two stick up farther than the rest, pressing deep into the felt and foam.
The screws holding the hinges to the box top were removed individually. Each was driven through a scrap of 1/4" thick wood with a 1/16" drilled hole. The wood was held in the vise and the protruding tip of the screw was filed flat. The screw was then returned to the box.
The latch arrived yesterday, so today the box was completed. The top hinge screws were removed. The latch top was centered on the front of the box lid with the straight side down using a center rule. The holes were marked with a Sharpie. 1/16" holes were drilled through the box top and the top half of the latch was screwed into place. The box was held together, the bottom latch aligned flat edge up and the holes marked. After drilling the bottom latch was screwed into place. (These screws are shorter and don't need their tips filed off.) The latch fits nicely and with the pieces in place there is sufficient tension to hold the latch tight. The two photos below show off the completed box.
