The holidays are coming, woodworkers, and you don’t have as much time as you think you do to get your gifts ready! So let me help you with that. If you have a few scraps of nice lumber (the nicer the better) lying around, this is a project that you could knock out with some basic shop equipment.
The bandsaw can be used for all stages of this, from resawing stock to cutting out the shapes. I used a scroll saw to cut out the inner space of this box, but you could use the bandsaw, and just glue up the entry point for the blade. Truthfully, the scroll saw was kind of difficult on this piece anyway, so I’d likely use the bandsaw next time. And then some kind of sander would be extremely useful. Once all the layers are glued up, that sander gets everything nice and straight, flush, and square.
So, if you’re looking for a simple project that you can accomplish over a weekend, I say crank up that equipment and thin your woodpile a bit. These projects are great for some “production” runs, so why now make a few? Now top off your coffee and get to work!
There are lots of heart-shaped boxes and other wooden boxes out there, but this is my take on them. I do want to send a shout out to @weberwoodshop for the inspiration from Blake’s Leaf Box video.
Michael Crowl - Author 