Fitting a lock to the box front

Got that lock fitted to the box front. Now I can make the box. First, a test piece - no sense going into the carved box front blindly. This is in pine -

test-excavation

Once I had that to go by, I took some measurements and transferred them to the box front. Then started in with a chisel, gouge & mallet.

onto the real thing

I’m not concerned about messing it up & losing the carving - it’s the board that’s the issue. It’s 8” high - and I don’t have any dry-enough riven stock to replace it. So if this goes badly, I have to wait another month probably before the next pieces this wide are ready to use. But it didn’t go badly. After chopping out the housing, I set the lock in there to see how much more I needed to excavate so the key could swing by.

now for the key

You can see that little bit of oak peeking out inside the keyhole. I have to cut out a swath for the key to ride by…like below. Doesn’t have to be neat & tidy - it has to let the key go by and not extend beyond the bottom of the lock plate.

done

Then I put the whole thing on, but not nailed in place yet. I won’t do that until I’m ready to assemble the box. The hasp gets notched into the underside of the lid.

it fits & works