Comments on: Some Things Never Change

By: Robert W. Lang

Robert W. Lang — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:49:16 +0000

Most of the readers guessed correctly (and a lot faster than it took me to get it) that the original maker made one of the classic flubs in woodworking. Below the till are two grooves at a right angle to each other, and a hole for a dowel that acts as a hinge for the lid of the till.

Somewhere along the line, likely in laying out the grooves, the maker neglected to realize that while the layout for the front and the back inside are essentially the same, they are mirror images of each other. The back was cut the same as the front, and if the piece we see were flipped end for end the grooves for the till would be in the upper right of the picture instead of the lower left.

My guess is that the dovetails were cut first, then the grooves for the till let in. If that’s the case, the original maker was having a really bad day when he laid out the grooves as he was not only backwards but upside down as well.

The back of this little box is plain-no inlays and the molding stops at the end of the sides. Replacing the back would have meant preparing a new piece and re-cutting the dovetails. The extra set of grooves and hole probably aren’t as visible in real life as the photo suggests, and who would have thought of being subjected to scrutiny like this far off in the future?

The gains for the hinges need to be there for the straps to clear.

Bob Lang

By: Dean

Dean — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:46:16 +0000

Perhaps Mr. Lang will return someday and let us know if any of our assumptions were correct.

By: anote2chris

anote2chris — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 19:31:59 +0000

simple case of getting turned around. Thought the back was the front, or vice versa. I can, does, and will happen to us all. No big deal for me. I’d leave it (unless I was going to give it to the Queen of England, or something). The best woodworkers I know aren’t any better at building than I am. They’re better at covering up their mistakes than I am. ;-p

By: Pedro Lanhas

Pedro Lanhas — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 21:38:32 +0000

I didn’t want to read the other posts. It takes the fun off this game, so forgive me if this has been written lots of times already:
I think the maker built a front piece first, and then, by mistake, he built the back with the grooves for the small inside box, exactly in the same place… he forgot to mirror the placement for the grooves and the hole for the hinge. It is hard to say what I would have done, because I don’t know how much work had been done on the back already… is it dovetailed to the sides? does it have inlay work on the outside, on the back piece?
I could have either made a new piece, or cover the inside of the back with a 1/8 to 1/16 thick veneer to hide the mistake.
Pedro L. in Portugal

By: Ron 1

Ron 1 — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:36:13 +0000

Yeah, I gotta agree with Dean, he just had his layout reversed, been there-done that. Probably figuired no one will see it when the box is full of whatever they stored in it. I’m sure Mark is right, had he known this many people were going to see it, he’d of thrown it away, and made another piece. Which is what I’ve normally done, however after seeing this…will definitely always do!

By: artwkrp

artwkrp — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:28:35 +0000

Who hasn’t done this before! Ooops I just used the back as the front and cut in the wrong grooves… Oh well, fill it in with a glue/sawdust combo and cover it with a piece of veneer then match it all with a nice finish or line it with leather! Not only done nicely but now it’s a deluxe box with a till!

By: nojim

nojim — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:19:41 +0000

The craftsman made two identical parts and had to adjust when they realized the mistake. I would guess they did the inlays first and that is why they made the adjustment and not start over.

By: nojim

nojim — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:18:11 +0000

The craftsman made two identical parts and had to adjust when they realized the mistake. I would guess they did the inlays first and that is why they made the adjustment and not start over.

By: Stiles7

Stiles7 — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:45:52 +0000

He cut his dovetails wrong for the bottom panel and had to turn the piece over.

By: tpobrienjr

tpobrienjr — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:32:35 +0000

The grooves for the till are cut in the wrong part of the back panel. Oops.