I was recently commissioned to make three spaghetti boxes. These were designed and built by me. They are tall and narrow – perfect for storing spaghetti in! They are 31cm tall, and 11cm wide and deep.

Wood

These boxes are made from 18mm birch plywood. This is a high quality plywood, made of many layers of Scandinavian birch.

The lids are more interesting though. The first was a birch plywood lid with a Sapele handle. Sapele is a red coloured, Mahogany like, hard wood. Years ago, Mahogany became illegal to export out of South America. So, joiners and woodworkers started using Sapele. This box can be seen in the first picture.

The second lid was made from African Padauk, with a Walnut handle. African Padauk, when freshly cut, is a reddish-orange colour. Over time, turning much darker to a reddish brown. It grows in central and tropical west Africa, growing to 30-40m tall. American Walnut is brown in colour and, in my experience, nice to work with. The trees grow 30-37m tall.

Last but definitely not least, the third lid which I made from American Walnut and African Ebony. African Ebony is a jet black, rock hard, African, exotic hardwood. It grows to only 15-18m tall. During the making of the small Ebony handle, I had to do quite a bit of sanding, and this wood stank! I was wearing a dust mask but I could still smell it, and it did not smell nice. I sanded it to 600 grit and it looked really smart after I had applied some wax.

Joints

I used rebate joints for the corners of these boxes. Using a 9.5mm rebate router bit, I routed all the way around the sides. When that was done, they all fitted together nicely, and could be glued.

When it came to attaching the handles to the lids, I used glue with a small piece of 4mm dowel.

Tools

First of all, I used a Festool track saw to cut out all the sides. I then used a Bosch router to cut out all the rebates. When all the sides were ready, I glued and clamped the sides together. I used a jigsaw to cut out the lid and base. I then went back to the router to rout a rebate around the lid so that it would fit into the box. The base could then be glued into the bottom of the box and the handle could be glued to the lid.