Class description
A small mitered box is one of the most satisfying things you can build from wood. Done well, the corners close on themselves, the lid sits crisp on the opening, and the base floats in its trench, free to move with the seasons. Get those details right and you have the foundation for almost any cabinetry or fine woodworking project that follows.
This two-day workshop takes you through every step of building a mitered box with a floating base, a lift-off lid with a small dowel handle, and reinforced corners with veneer splines. The work is hand-tool led: shooting your miters true with a sharp plane, cutting a trench with a plow plane, planing a rebate, fitting splines with a chisel, and finishing the piece by hand.
The workshop suits beginners with no prior experience through to intermediate students looking to tidy up their fundamentals. By the end of the second day you’ll have completed a small mitered box to take home, along with a working knowledge of the hand tools that produced it.
Why You’ll Love This Workshop
Hand tools, the right way. Every joint is shot and trimmed by hand, so you finish the weekend with a real sense of how a plane, a saw, and a sharp chisel earn their place on the bench.
A box that asks for precision. Miters show every flaw. The work teaches you to mark accurately, plane to a line, and bring the corners square.
Skills that carry into everything you build next. Mitered joinery, captured panels, shop-made clamping, and decorative splines are foundations that come up again in drawers, cabinets, frames, and other small casework.
A finished piece to take home. You leave with a completed mitered box and lid, not just notes from a workshop.
Small group, hands-on instruction. Personalised feedback at every stage of the build, in a workshop set up for proper hand-tool work.
Accessible to true beginners. Students 14 and over are welcome with a parent or guardian on the premises, and no prior experience is required.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the weekend, you will be able to:
- Mark out and lay out stock for a small mitered box
- Cut box sides to length with a tenon saw or Japanese pull saw
- Shoot crisp 45-degree miters with a block or smoothing plane
- Cut a trench with a plow plane and a rebate with a rebate plane to capture a floating base
- Size a base to allow for wood movement
- Glue up a mitered box square, using a shop-made string-and-blocks clamping method
- Cut and fit veneer splines into the corners to reinforce the joint and add a decorative detail
- Pare splines flush with a chisel without tearing the surface grain
- Fit and chamfer a lift-off lid using a hand plane
- Fit a small dowel handle to the lid
- Sand and apply a finish to a small box
Course Content and Structure
Day one is about preparation and joinery. You’ll start with marking and laying out the stock, then cut the sides to length and plane the corners true to a 45-degree miter. From there you’ll cut the trench for the floating base with a plow plane and a matching rebate with a rebate plane. By the end of the day, the box parts are ready for glue-up, captured with a shop-made string-and-blocks clamping method you can replicate at home.
Day two focuses on reinforcement, lid making, and finishing. Once the box is dry, you’ll cut slots across the mitered corners with a tenon or dovetail saw and glue in veneer splines for both strength and a subtle decorative contrast. After paring the splines flush, you’ll size and chamfer a lift-off lid, fit a small dowel handle, and sand the whole piece ready for the finish of your choice.
Throughout the weekend the emphasis is on understanding the process, not just completing the box. The skills transfer directly to drawer making, small cabinetry, and any joinery work that calls for clean corners and a square assembly.
Tools You’ll Use
The workshop covers a working set of hand tools: block plane, smoothing plane, plow plane, rebate plane, and shooting board. You’ll also work with a tenon or Japanese pull saw, marking and measuring tools, sharp chisels, and a shop-made string-and-blocks clamping system. All tools are supplied. Students with their own planes, chisels, or marking tools are welcome to bring them along to get more comfortable using them.
Hands-On Experience
This is an active workshop. From the first cut to the final coat of finish, you’ll be working the wood yourself with direct instruction at the bench. You’ll get feedback on technique, help reading the grain, and a hand at the bench where a small adjustment makes a real difference. Nothing is demonstrated and then watched from the bench. You build the box.
Join Us and Refine Your Craft
A weekend at the bench is one of the better ways to build a real foundation in box making. You leave with a finished piece you can be proud of, and a set of skills that carries into everything you build next. Book your spot now.
