Jewelry Box

Marc Spagnuolo

Small in stature but big on elegance! This jewelry box features plenty of storage for your valuables.

The box measures 12” W, 7 3/4” deep, 13 3/4” tall.

  • 19 lessons
  • 258 min
  • $79.00

Here's what we'll cover:

  1. Introduction

    A look at the design and features of the Jewelry Box.

  2. Wood & Rough Milling

    Tasteful wood choices, laying out parts, and milling to rough dimension.

  3. Plan of Attack

    What to do first? Something you should always work out ahead of time.

  4. Sliding Dovetails

    The basic case begins by making snug sliding dovetail joinery.

  5. Upper Back & Top Divider

    The main case comes together with the addition of the Upper Back and Top Divider.

  6. Drawers: Sizing & Spacing

    Milling the drawer parts to size and working out drawer spacing with our fronts.

  7. Drawers: Recessed Half-Blind Dovetails

    The most complicated joint in this project is the joint between our drawer fronts and sides.

  8. Drawers: Through Dovetails

    The back of the drawers receive a single large dovetail.

  9. Drawers: Grooves, Bottoms & Assembly

    We cut a bunch of grooves and do the final assembly of the drawers.

  10. Drawer Runners & Back Panel

    The drawer runners are installed along with the back panel.

  11. Side Compartments

    The side compartments are like a small project in and of themselves!

  12. Side Hinges

    Some careful layout and a simple series of steps will result in a perfect hinge installation.

  13. Curved Front

    The continuous curve of the front presents a few challenges.

  14. Lid Hinges

    The lid hinges are installed and we’ll fix up some gap issues and install the faux front.

  15. The Feet

    Adding feet to the jewelry box gives it extra support and visual weight.

  16. The Pulls

    The drawer pulls add an elegant, subtle, and fun detail to the jewelry box.

  17. Magnetic Catches

    Magnets work great for doors as well as assisting with the function of the hidden drawer.

  18. Dividers, Pins & Finish Prep

    The Jewelry Box becomes more functional with the additions of grids and pins.

  19. Flocking & Finish

    The interiors are flocked and the finish is applied.

What will I receive?

  • Detailed cut list and plans including a PDF and a SketchUp file (Metric and Imperial).
  • Hours of detailed video instruction (19 videos in total) showing every step of the build.
  • All videos and plans are digital and will be available for download upon purchase. 

What will I learn?

  • Build strategy
  • Material layout
  • Sliding dovetails
  • Half-blind dovetails
  • Through dovetails
  • Drawer Construction
  • Wood Drawer Guides
  • Hinge installation
  • Raised Panels
  • Cutting curves
  • Routing inlaid feet
  • Gridwork
  • Inlaid Drawer Pulls
  • Magnetic Catches
  • Flocking
  • Hardwax Oil Finishing

What will I need?

Lumber Estimate

  • 10 BF 4/4 Hardwood Species 1
  • 3 BF 4/4 Hardwood Species 2
  • 1/4″ Dowel Stock (6 pc, 1 1/2″ long)
  • Bell Forest Kits available here (Guild members get 10% off with code).

Tools

  • Planer/Jointer (alternatives: purchase pre-milled lumber kits or use hand planes)
  • Tablesaw with a Miter Gauge
  • Dado Stack
  • Router
  • Bandsaw
  • Drill
  • Miter Saw (for rough-cutting lumber)
  • Random Orbit Sander
  • Hand Tools – Chisels, Razor Saw, Shoulder Plane, Card Scraper, Dovetail Saw, Rasp

Router/Drill Bits

Other Stuff

Reviews:

Made this as a 5th anniversary present for my wife (since the 5th is wood, it just made sense). It was my first guild project and my first real fine woodworking project as well. Made a lot of mistakes along the way but I had a great time learning all the techniques that Marc uses in the videos, particularly the alternatives for joinery. The plans and instructional videos from Marc were excellent and really helped me to stay on track with the project. I used the Bell Forest kit for the box since I don’t have a jointer or planer, and it was a lifesaver for me to able to get this finished.

Overall, a great project and a great start for someone looking to delve into fine woodworking. I will definitely move on to some other guild projects now.

Andrew Lee
Guild Member

I made this as a birthday present for my wife. My biggest regret was not making a second for my daughter! I made mine with birds eye maple fronts/panels and cherry frame. It turned out very nicely and was a great exercise in details. I was most concerned about curving the front doors by hand and that turned out to be my favorite part of the project!

The plans and video instruction were great. It was the first time doing a few of this project’s techniques and the videos did a great job breaking down the tasks and demonstrating the approach.

Mike Flaminio
Guild Member

I just finished this jewelry box, I used maple and sapele. Everyone who sees it, loves it, especially my daughter, who was the recipient. Don’t be fooled by the “small size” of this project, there is a lot of woodworking packed into it. This was the first time I did hand cut dovetails, and couldn’t do the double recessed half blinds at the front of the drawers, so I ended up just doing matching single dovetails front and back.

I have built a lot of big furniture, but this little guy was the most complex project I have ever done. The difference is, I am used to doing one or two operations on each piece, and then moving on. On this project you do many operations on most of the parts, which can get scary because you don’t want to make a mistake on a part you have worked on for days. Marc’s videos are great, this was my first guild project, and I watched the whole series start to finish a few times before I started. That was very helpful because Marc actually made a mistake on one operation, and later made a small change to the drawer pulls. Watching all the videos first allowed me to avoid those situations, and also use his idea to inlay a mirror in the lid which was not in the original design.

This project was a lot of work, but when you finish it, the sense of accomplishment is great, as is the reaction from people who see it.

EricLew
Guild Member
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About Your Instructor:

Marc is a podcaster, video producer, woodworking enthusiast, and author of Hybrid Woodworking and Essential Joinery. He has contributed articles and video content to FineWoodworking.com, Popular Woodworking Magazine, WOOD Magazine, and Woodcraft Magazine. He is also the host of The Wood Whisperer, an instructional woodworking video series that’s been going strong since 2006. He is also one of the hosts of the Wood Talk podcast. He has taught classes at the William Ng School, Marc Adams School, Weekend with Wood, Fine Woodworking Live, as well as at various Rockler and Woodcraft stores. He also speaks periodically at woodworking events like AWFS and IWF.