An Expanding Workbox

You will see from the two illustrations that this handsome expanding workbox is well worth making. It is both practical and artistic and will certainly make a handsome piece of decorative furniture for the dining room table. It is sufficiently large to contain all cottons, needles, materials, wools, knitting needles, etc. in fact, everything that has to do with sewing in any form.

The workbox is made from 3/8 in. wood and some plywood and this is the procedure. Make the base first. This measures I2 in. long by 6 in. wide and 2 ¼ in. in depth. Cut the four sides to these measurements and gum the ends. This is a simple form of joining and is quite strong. Should you prefer to join with screws and not dovetail the edges, by all means do so.

Sandpaper the surface and bevel the edges of each corner as shown in the illustration. Cut out a piece of plywood for the bottom and gum this into position. Put four corner pieces as legs, measuring I in. square, using the 3/8 in. wood. Gum these corners, and also gum cut pieces of green baize over the ends of each leg. Now make two matching boxes or trays, each 6 in. square by I 3/4 in. deep. Dovetail these and finish up similar to the bottom tray, putting a piece of plywood in position on the base of each one.

These are now two lids to be made, with handles attached, as shown in the diagram. The lids are made from 3/8 in. wood and each should measure 6 in. square, rounded at the corners. Shape the two handles from plywood and gum these and secure with three small screws to the lid. Cut a hole as shown and bevel off the edges with sandpaper.

You will now need I2 pieces of 3/8 in. wide wood, about 3/16 in. thick, bevelled to shape as shown. Cut 8 pieces to 3 ¼ in. long and 4 pieces to 6 in. These pieces will be screwed to the trays and lid as shown, using 2 screws to each of the smaller pieces of wood, and 3 screws for the larger. The workbox is now complete and should be varnished over the natural wood or painted with gay enamel paints.