New EDC Knife Storage Box

Ellis Wyatt

Ellis Wyatt

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Joined
May 17, 2009
Messages
3,663
After many years, the "valet" box that I had been storing my EDC rotation knives in fell apart. I tried a few different boxes I had around the house, but ultimately decided I would just build a new box to store my most frequently used knives.

I started by finding a piece of wood and doing some rough math to see what size box I wanted to build. I settled on a nice piece of figured maple, and decided to build the box 11"x18"x6". I could get all of the sides and top out of my board, and would need to glue up a couple other pieces for the box bottom.
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After getting the board cut down to smaller pieces, I planed them to thickness and cut the joints in for the top and bottom to ride in. You want the top to "float" so that it doesn't blow out the corners of your box as the seasons change and humidity causes expansion in the wood. This is especially true with a large single piece of wood like I am using here.

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After everything was fit up, I did a preliminary sanding and then glued it up and put it in the clamps. This was last weekend..

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Part 2 to follow.
 
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Part 2:

I had a little more time today to continue working on the box, so I decided to start with the trays for the inside.

Made up a couple 1" deep trays, and tried to learn how to line them with leather. This was a learning experience for sure. They turned out functional, but not particularly good looking.

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The Phillip Patton scalpel turned out to be the tool for cutting leather. Worked very well.

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After the trays were finished, I sanded the box, routed a bevel on the lid, and applied the first coat of a hand rubbed tung oil finish.

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Somehow the grain on the corner matched up like I had planned, and wraps around the corner on the front of the box.

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Part 3:

I will add the hinges when they arrive, and have some brass Brusso Stop hinges that I like to use for this size box on the way.

Went ahead and started loading trays to see how they worked. The full grain leather is thick enough for some good padding, and looks good enough for what I was wanting.


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1911bphil said:
That looks awesome. Do you pick one knife from each drawer to EDC? Thanks for sharing.
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I do typically carry 1 traditional and 1 modern folder every day, but I just put the knives I am most likely to use in these trays and sorted them with similar knives. So far this year, my traditional knife has been a smooth bone GEC 36 every day, and the 2nd knife gets chosen at random.
 
Teddy1985 said:
Great work! I’ve been on the hunt for a reasonably priced Ivory 36 this year because of your posts!
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Thanks! Hope you find one to try out. I have really enjoyed carrying mine this year. It is a big knife, but I find the blade shape to work really well for my daily cutting tasks. The beautiful smooth bone is just a bonus. Going on 22 straight days carrying it this year so far, including 8 flights in my checked bag so I could carry it while I am out of town for work.
 
Ellis Wyatt said:
Thanks! Hope you find one to try out. I have really enjoyed carrying mine this year. It is a big knife, but I find the blade shape to work really well for my daily cutting tasks. The beautiful smooth bone is just a bonus. Going on 22 straight days carrying it this year so far, including 8 flights in my checked bag so I could carry it while I am out of town for work.
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That’s great. I like larger knives in general. I carry a modern folder and a traditional everyday, usually an SAK.

All the ivory 36s I’ve come across are $250ish on the secondary. May have to bite the bullet eventually, but I’m holding out for now.

Sorry to clutter up your thread! Back to regularly scheduled programming.
 
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