How to Make a Storage Chest

Cut the top to size and the bottom about 1/2 inch oversize. Set these parts aside for now.

Drill countersunk holes into the front and back for screws to hold the case together. Note how the parts go together, remove the clamps, and drill 1/8-in pilot holes in the edges of the sides and bottom.

Glue and screw the front and back to the sides and bottom. After the glue dries, putty over the screw heads with wood filler. Let dry and sand smooth.

Using a hacksaw and file, cut the continuous hinge to fit the width of the chest. With the hinge barrel centered on and flush with the back edge of the lid, drill pilot holes for the hinge mounting screws.

Clamp a long piece of scrap wood to the back of the chest, flush with the top edge; rest the lid on the scrap centered along the chest. Mark and drill the hinge hole locations; then screw the hinge to the chest.

With the lid vertical, measure and mark the locations of the left and right lid supports. Drill pilot holes, attach the supports, and test the operation of the lid.

Download the Storage Chest template. Cut out the template. To create a square, mirror the to-scale pattern to create the four corners. Line up the template as you like on one side of the front of the chest. Note where the square's corners will line; mark these spots on the chest with a pencil. Apply 1-inch painter's tape to the chest connecting the pencil marks to create the interlocking square pattern; firmly press down the edges.

Move the template and connect the next square to the ends of the first square. Repeat until the pattern reaches the ends of the front and sides of the chest. (We repeated the squares four times for the front and one and a half for the sides of the chest.)

For the top of the chest, use the pattern on the front and the side as your guide. Aline the inside corner with the inside top line of the painter's tape pattern to create squares on each corner. Next measure 3 inches in on each side of the chest, and apply painter's tape to create a frame. The tape should form one edge of the square pattern at each of the four corners.