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White pine tops & bottoms

White pine tops & bottoms

a place to use "eye-measure"

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Peter Follansbee
Dec 07, 2023
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Follansbee's Substack
Follansbee's Substack
White pine tops & bottoms
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scribing the outline on the box bottom

I finished up two more boxes this week, they’ll be posted here for sale tomorrow. I didn’t shoot many photos of the work I did this week - but managed a few of working on the white pine bottom for one of the boxes. This wood is my favorite for this application. It’s not just me - it was regularly used in early New England boxes and chests. 

Once I’ve planed the board to the thickness I want, usually around 3/4”, I sit the box on it, lining up the back of the box flush with the back edge of the bottom. Then I scribe around the box inside and out - leaving plenty of wood for the overhanging sections on the ends and front. (photo above) Once I have that marked out - I prick the places where I want to bore pilot holes for the nails that I’ll use to fasten the bottom up to the bottom edge of the box. Then I bore these holes before I do anything else.

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