Making a Mini Japanese Toolbox (out of 2x4s)

I was in the mood to get out in the shop and build something simple. For a while I'd been thinking it would be fun to dust off the handtools and I happened to have some resawed 2x4s on hand. 2x4s obviously aren't fancy, however there is something appealing about the cleanness of the wood and the straightness of the grain.

In terms of the project, there's been one type of box I've been wanting to make lately, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity - a mini Japanese toolbox.

A couple of years ago I made a larger Japanese style toolbox. I made it out of pine and painted some parts of it a light grey. It's a bit chunky, and I kept tools in it for a while, and lately it's been holding my Moonlander Lego (another project I need to get to and reassemble.)

But! Ever since I built that box, I've been playing with the idea of exploring the concept some more, and particularly to bring it down in size.

At the heart of a Japanese toolbox, we have a fascinating lid construction which ties directly in with the main box design, as it goes underneath the "brackets" attached to the sides of the top. In essense we have a wedge for a closing mechanism, but this box isn't just about a wedge, it's about how it all comes together.

The wood I was working with certainly had imperfections in it, and I really didn’t mind. Actually I think this type of wood lends itself very well to the Japanese, almost Scandinavian style where you use a lot of pine and a lot of fir. Since the wood is resawed 2x4s which feature a width of 3.5 inches, that's the size I had at my disposal. And with that as my starting point I built the design and took the measurements from that point.

Traditionally, the sides sit inset on a Japanese toolbox. You attach a handle on each side which comes flush with the long sides and that in turn creates an indention where your hands can go to hold the box. It's a rather simple detail, but I always liked it a lot and how it ties in with the lid design.

Now this wood is quite thin, about 3/8 of an inch. I was debating about the construction: in the past I used screws which I capped with dowels for my larger japanese tool box. I was thinking for a moment if I should do real joinery with through tenons, but in the end I decided to go with glue and nails, because I think simple is fitting here. It fits this box somehow. Now since the wood is so thin, I was a little concerned about splitting it, however predrilling will take care of that.

The tricky part about this project is definitely the lid. It's a precise fit, the lid is going to fit underneath the side brackets and it needs to be long enough to cover the opening, yet short enough to actually fit.

Then we need three more pieces of wood related to the lid. Two which will glue on and one, the wedge, which will be loose.

The wedge piece will fit perfectly into the opening, if everything is assembled correctly and lock the lid in place.

Now, the only negative about this design, I think, is you're left with an odd wedge piece of wood when the box is open. That's not really a problem, unless you keep the box open for some time and you forget where that odd piece of wood should go (it has happened to me once or twice)! It almost looks like a piece of scrap, right. So I was thinking, it wouldn't be a bad idea to differentiate the wedge somehow. You could certainly paint it or use a piece of contrasting wood, however I rather like the simpleness of the pine here.

So, instead I decided to sew on a little leather flap which you could pull on if you wanted, and it also just adds a nice little visual clue.

Basically, I think it's really refreshing that you can make something that has this aesthetic appeal, without using any fancy wood whatsoever.

And there we go. A very simple box, yet intriguing at the same time. Watch the video for more detail on the build.