Which wood?

Question

i am making a toy box for my design technology final GCSE project....what wood should I use? also, what joints would be best?? thanks

Answer 1

Is this to be an open or closed toy box?

You should really ask your teacher for advice. You'll be advised on what wood is available.

Natural woods like pine are nice but over time the wood can cup and split. Hard woods are an alternative but can be costly.

Manufactured boards like ply or MDF can work as well and MDF can be shaped or carved and takes paint well. Seal ply with two coats of PVA before painting.

If it is an open box, dove tails are nice but you can also use mitred corners with biscuits or butt joints with dowels or screws with s***w cups.

If it is a closed box, you build a sealed box and then cut through the whole box to make the lid. Cutting two parts for a box, the base and the lid is time consuming unless you are very, very accurate. At least if you build the sealed box, you know that trimming off a piece at the top, it will fit the base perfectly.

Good Luck. We've just had our GCSE moderated and so far we are looking at 19 A*'s, 4 A's and 2 B's for project work alone.

Answer 2

i made one using hardwood rails and stiles and then plywood for the panels...you can assemble the panels ahead of time and then use biscuits to join them together...use a good oak or birch plywood...

Answer 3

Some kind of hardwood would be best but it's quite expensive if you need a lot. If you can't get hardwood try to get some high quality pine that's been dried properly and hasn't warped. Go to your local timber merchant and they should advise.

Personally, I like dovetail joints but they have to be well done to look nice. Practice on some cheap wood before you start the real thing

Answer 4

Toy box- use a hardwood.

Dove tail is a strong joint or  you can miter and use bisquits.

Answer 5

you have a couple options. first if you are looking for something that is strong birch veneer-core plywood with a dove tail joint is the way to go, but it can look rather unsightly to use a dove tail for a finished piece. another thing you could do is maple MDF with dowels, but you no matter which joint you choice or what wood you use, make sure that you use enough yellow wood glue. this will hold everything tightly together because to some extent, the joint is just for aesthetics.

Answer 6

Use either pine or mahogany, most schools should have these woods and use a lap joint, mitre it and put dowels in, finger joint or if you feel up to it a dovetail joint.  Do not use a but joint. Half or quarter inch ply should be fine for the ****.

Answer 7

Using my limited knowledge, I think plywood.

You use nails to create a box first. Then, use the relevant hinges to hold the box cover to the box. Use relevant screws to attach the hinges to both the box and the box cover.