# Basket Bench Toybox



## Tim G (May 10, 2012)

My nephew recently had a baby girl and asked if I would build a toy box. But not a traditional toy box. He wants a bench with three openings to keep baskets. The size is based on the baskets. It will be made of solid and plywood cherry. 









Started with the face frame









Then started cutting ply components to manageable size. The sheet is face down during this process because the circular saw cuts cleaner on the bottom









Notice the lighter stripe across the plywood. This is an example of how quickly cherry darkens. I leaned the ply against the bench then without thinking leans another board against it. It was that way four about three or four hours. Lucky it's the back because it won't sand out. 









Cutting components to final size. It pays to have a sharp blade and make sure to cut off the factory edges for a clean assembly. Small pieces cut using the rip fence. Larger ones cut on this cutoff sled. 









Components cut and stacked. 









Vibrate all interior pieces before assembly. 









Going together cleanly. 









It pays to take time to make sure interior is as clean looking as the exterior. 









Glue and clamps, lots of clamps, to attach the face frame. No fasteners. 









With a flush trim bit I trimmed the face frame flush to the ply components. Now you get an idea of how it will function. The basket placed in the middle opening. 









Glued the finished back in place. This is as far as I have gotten so far. Hoping this makes sense. 









This is a panoramic view of my garage while I'm working on this project.


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## Tim G (May 10, 2012)

Glued and clamped solid pieces on the ends of the ply back so the ply doesn't show on the finished end.


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## Travico (Dec 25, 2012)

You got a nice build going there! Thanks for the info!


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

Great build so far, and I really appreciate all the details! I had no idea just a few hours could change the color of the ply so much.


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## Firefighter4Cy (Apr 9, 2014)

This is looking good, can't wait to see the finished product.


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## Masterjer (Nov 6, 2012)

Looks awesome. I'm planning a bed build that will look surprisingly similar to your toy box. Think 2 toyboxes back to back with a be on top of them. 

Keep posting, the details are great. How are you going to finish it?


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## Tim G (May 10, 2012)

Masterjer said:


> Looks awesome. I'm planning a bed build that will look surprisingly similar to your toy box. Think 2 toyboxes back to back with a be on top of them. Keep posting, the details are great. How are you going to finish it?


My nephew wants a dark color. Normally I use a natural oil stain let dry then a water Bourne clear coat. So I'm going to have to ask questions on the finishing forum on how to darken cherry without it being blotchy.


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## Tim G (May 10, 2012)

Preparing to beltsand solid wood flush to finished back. When the pencil lines go away. It's flush. 









I know this belt sanding process is controversial but I've been doing it for 30 years. 









The belt sanding results









The finished ends. The solid piece gets flush trimmed using a flush trim bit and a router. 









The solid wood top is selected from two similar solid wood boards. 









The selected boards are to wide to make the top from. Wide boards would be prone to warpage or twisting. The max width for a board glued into a wood top is 5". So I ripped each wide board down the middle, flipped the growth rings on every other board and matched the grain as closely as possible. 

I forgot to take pics of the top glued up in clamps. Sorry. It's all I have for today.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Looks good.

I'm curious why you blurred out the sander and router brand. By the way, it still looks like a P&C logo, to me.


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## shadowjfaith (Mar 31, 2014)

frankp said:


> Looks good.
> 
> I'm curious why you blurred out the sander and router brand. By the way, it still looks like a P&C logo, to me.


Shh... you'll give away the secret :laughing:

Project is looking great BTW, nice work.


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

Maybe he's only sponsored by Bessey and Makita?


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## Tim G (May 10, 2012)

frankp said:


> Looks good. I'm curious why you blurred out the sander and router brand. By the way, it still looks like a P&C logo, to me.


I have an app on my phone that blurs faces. And I don't have any real reason to use it. So I thought it would be fun to see what the reaction wold be. I was wondering if anyone wold even notice it. If this is what I'm doing for fun maybe I need to get out a little. LOL.


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## gus1962 (Jan 9, 2013)

I guess you are really having fun. It is looking great. Keep us posted.


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## Tim G (May 10, 2012)

Ok. It's been awhile but I got a little more done. 
The wood top is glued up and ready to be sanded. I added biscuit about every foot to keep the pieces as flush as possible. I stayed in about 6inchs so when I cut the top to length the biscuits wouldn't show. Biscuits make belt sanding the top so much easier. 









When the top has been in the clamps long enough, a couple hours, remove the clamps and scrape the excess glue off right away. If the excess glue dries to long you will get tear out like in the picture. Luckily not to bad and I can belt sand it away. 









As always when I'm belt sanding a joint I put a pencil line to make it easy to see when the joint is flush. 









I start belt sanding across the grain. I get it sanded about half way then go with the grain. 









This way you get a more flat surface. 









Done belt sanding both sides. 









Top is done and ready to be cut to final size. I always leave the top big, belt sand it then cut it to final size. The pic shows the base cap. 3" stock routed with shallow 1/2" half round on both top and bottom. Then mitered to stick out 1" on the ends and face of the bottom. The top gets the same routed detailing on the face and ends. A moulding will go under the top and on top of the base cap. Bracket feet will attach to the bottom of the base cap. 

All I have for today. Hopefully I'll have some more to post tomorrow.


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## Masterjer (Nov 6, 2012)

Out if curiosity, why use a cap around the top when the top is solid hardwood? I only use a cap when hiding plywood edges.


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## Tim G (May 10, 2012)

Masterjer said:


> Out if curiosity, why use a cap around the top when the top is solid hardwood? I only use a cap when hiding plywood edges.


The cap is a base cap. It is attached to the bottom of the cabinet. A moulding goes on top of it and the feet are attached to the bottom of it. I'm not sure if base cap is an actual name but it's a name I've been using for it for many years. 









It is the piece between the moulding and the feet


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## Masterjer (Nov 6, 2012)

Ok. My bad. I thought the cap was going around the top. That makes total sense.


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## Tim G (May 10, 2012)

Ok I'm back at it. I haven't had much time in the garage lately . 

Anyhow. I'm building the base with bracket feet. 









I started by making this moulding. It's exactly twice the width. It will be cut down the middle and each piece shown will yield two sticks of ready two install moulding. I've already shown the cap. Next the bracket feet. 









I glued up three blanks like this one. 









I need to cut a cove in the blanks. I raise the blade the height I need. I used this parallelogram, the correct width between, to set the angle to run the blanks. Turn it until it touches the front and back of the blade where it comes up from the table and where it goes below the table. 



















Set an auxiliary fence at the correct angle determined by the parallelogram. 









Add the outer fence. These pictures are from the out feed side of the table saw. 









The cuts must be done progressively. Start at 1/16" and raise the blade 1/16" until you hit the depth you want. 



















Cut the flat part with a dado blade to match the angle needed. I just eyeballed the angle using the pencil line. The mistake I made was starting out cutting the flat part on the outer portion. I should have started inward at the cove. I ended cutting it to deep. Now I have some extra sanding to do. 









Knock the corner off. For easier finish shaping 









Pretty rough. Lots of sanding ahead. You can see the two lines created from having the dado blade set to deep. 









Some sanding. 









More sanding. 









Getting close. Still needs more sanding. 

That's all for now. I need to do another small project. So it's going to be a little time before my next post. Thanks for looking.


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## Travico (Dec 25, 2012)

Thanks for the info. You have got my head spinning, but I understand what you are doing.


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## Tim G (May 10, 2012)

Travico said:


> Thanks for the info. You have got my head spinning, but I understand what you are doing.


Thanks for following. I know this part of this project is a little "dry". And difficult to follow. I think it will be more interesting once you can see were it's going. I am commented to finishing this build thread. It's just going to be a little time before I can get back to it. Thanks again


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## Tim G (May 10, 2012)

Hello I'm back. Finished up other things and ready to focus on the toy box again. Sorry for the long break. 









Cut the blanks down the middle. Then miter them. 



















Cut a kerf in the miter to add a spline. 









On the bandsaw cut out the shape of the feet. Stay off the line buy a 1/16 th of an inch or so. 









Sand to the line. 









Dry fit is good. 









Completed feet. They're called bracket feet but I like to call them sexy feet. 









Because my saw blade wasn't as sharp as it should be. The miter didn't come together perfectly. So I use a cleaned up hardwood hammer handle and without to much pressure I work the miter together. You also could use a hardwood dowel. More or less push the miter together. 









I attached the feet to the base cap. 









Then attach the base to the cabinet. Finally you get an idea of how it will look. Still needs a couple of pieces of moulding. And the top needs sanding and mounting. 

I have to point out how much labor goes into shaping and sanding the sexy feet. They do not come easy. Hours and hours go into the feet alone. The finished product is very rewarding though.


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## Masterjer (Nov 6, 2012)

Gorgeous feet. Those really make the piece special. Thanks for sharing.


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