I wanted to do something extra special for my step-daughter’s baby shower so I did a little research in to baby toys, rattles and teethers that would be safe for little hands and mouths to explore.  They rattles and toys aren’t of my own design but I figured out what I wanted to do and figured out how to best go about that with the tools I have.  I know they look simplistic but I wanted them to be perfect.   I also wanted something special to contain them. I made this box with dovetail joinery I did on my Leigh jig from maple and walnut.  The carving is from maple also which I did with my bandsaw and drill press and a succession of files and hand sanding.  The rattles are made from hard maple, cherry, walnut and purple heart and contain dried kidney beans for a soft rattling noise.  The toys are from hard maple and cherry with walnut dowels.  They are hand sanded through 1000 grit, wet down to raise the grain and sanded again and finished with organic olive oil and beeswax.   The box was made to fit to the toys and rattles, I also made the hinges from 1/2″ walnut with my box joint jig on the router table, they are set in to the box about 1/8″ and are doweled in for strength.  The hinges allow the box to open just past 90 degrees.  The box is finished with 4 coats of satin wipe-on poly and 2 coats of paste wax.  I pre-finished the inside of the box and walnut rails before glue up for a smoother finish and so I could install the gray canvas lining (step-daughter’s favorite color).

Launch Gallery