Craftsman Mailbox - Step 6 - Completed!

Finally. After three coats of Minwax Helsman Spar Urethane (applied with a throw-away foam brush) the mailbox was done. Well, almost.

This was the first time I've used the Spar Urethane. It went on just like the polyurethane I usually use. I had a few runs from applying it too thickly but for the most part they sanded out in between coats - a few I left for character :)

I added added two hinges and two rubber pads that came with the hinges to prevent the top from making a racket when dropped shut.

I secured it to the house with two 2" decking screws through countersunk holes inside the mailbox and am now waiting for the mailman to drop off our first mail in the new mailbox :)

Before


After

Craftsman Mailbox - Step 5

I've been too busy to post updates here, but I have been working some woodworking and house projects.

The mailbox had to wait for a week or two, but it's finally got two coats of stain and now is just waiting for two coats of finish before being mounted. I put on one coat of Minwax Provincial oil stain, let it dry overnight then rub it out a bit with a synthetic steel wool pad before putting on the next coat.


I've had another project waiting to be stained as well, probably for about 3 months, so I put two coats of stain on it as well. It's a chair that will be hinged in the seat to fold over and become a small step-stool.



All the finish was applied in my new finishing room - the loft above my workshop which has been cleaned up enough to be used as a finish area. I need to add a fan to increase ventilation when I am using oil-based stains.

Craftsman Mailbox - Step 4.5

The top of the mailbox came back from my engraver today. I supplied him with a Corel file of the artwork and he used a laser engraver to cut the art in the picture above. The letters are cut about 3/32" deep.

The masking tape is on for the engraving process and he leaves it on in case I want to stain / paint the letters a different colour. In this case I'll be staining the whole piece the same colour so I'll remove the tape before starting. Since the laser leaves the letters a bit dark they should be nicely defined in the end result.

I also picked up a set of hinges from the local hardware store. Next I'll chisel out mortises for the hinges then stain the piece.

Craftsman Mailbox - Step 4

The mailbox is shaping up nicely. After a quick coat of stain (Minwax Provincial) on the bottom panel which will be floating, I glued up the mailbox.




I cut 1.5" off the solid top and glued it on top of the mailbox. This way when the mailbox is opened there will be sufficient angle in the top to lean against the house while the mailbox is filled or emptied.

I dropped the top off at a local engraver who will laser engrave 'Post' into the top. Once I get it back I'll stain and finish the piece. I still haven't picked out the hinges yet - I'll get some the next time I hit a hardware store.

Here's the image that I gave him to engrave :

Craftsman Mailbox - Step 3

This project is moving a bit slowly as any time the sun is shining I am out painting the house. In any case, I've got the front glued up.

I did a two part glue up, on the first operation I left out the two middle horizontal rails, I did put them in place to help align the pieces.

In regards to joinery, there are many good ways to join the vertical styles to the horizontal rails. Mortise and tenon, dowels or dominos are a few. I had every intention of using dowels. I even drilled a few holes. I used dowel centers to mark the matching holes but try as I might was unable to get the parts to line up. After several tries I gave up. Maybe next time I'll have a dowel jig. For now I just butted them up and glued them. I used good glue (Titebond III) so hopefully it'll stay together.



After the first glue-up had dried, I sanded the piece flush, cut the dado for the bottom then glued in the middle rails.

For the rest of the mailbox I cut the dado in the back and sides, trimmed the sides at a 13 degree angle, then planed down the bottom shelf to fit in the dado. Last I sanded everything to 120 with a random orbit sander.

Craftsman Mailbox - Step 2

After rough cutting all the sides, top bottom and gluing up the blank for the back, it was time to move on to the front of the mailbox. The front is an open web design allowing you to see if there is any mail before you open the box.

First I cut out the top and bottom rails, and the vertical stiles.


The horizontal middle rails were up next. I had some 6/4 stock that to cut the 1 1/8" thick pieces out of. I started with a 2 1/4" x 10 3/4" piece and used a stacked dado head cutter to cut the 1 1/4" dadoes. I then ripped the 2 1/4" into two 1" horizontal rails.



That's all I had time for. Next I'll glue up the front, without the middle rails so I can easily the joints smooth.

Craftsman Mailbox

I still haven't finished the Railroad Clock. It's still waiting for it's finish and assembly. Maybe soon...

In the meantime I've picked up a new project. As I was staining the front of the house on the weekend, I removed the mailbox and decided not to put it back up. Instead I searched around and found a nice mailbox to build to replace it. Above you can see what the final product should look like.

I'm building this out of Red Oak because that's what I've got laying around. It should be built out of Quartersawn White Oak but I don't have any of that laying around. Maybe next mailbox.

To start with I made up a design plan in Google Sketchup 7. I'll use 3/4 material for the box, and 3/8 for a floating bottom. I'll likely get the hinges at Home Depot and we've got a friend that does laser engraving to cut the letters in the top for me.


I found a 9 1/2" x 8' 4/4 board on the shelf and planed it down to 3/4". Next I cut it in half and ran both halves through the jointer to get one square edge. Lastly, over to the tablesaw to square up the opposite side at about 9". A bit of time spent squaring up the lumber results in this :


Now with the tablesaw and mitre saw I cut out the pieces for the top, sides, bottom and back. I'll add the angled cuts to the top and sides later and plane down the bottom to 3/8" after I cut the mortises. Here's what I ended up with after 45 minutes. I found a piece of scrap to add to the back to get it to the 9 1/2" required.


Next up will be the front.