How to Make a Wooden Case for Collectors Knives

Making the Case Pieces

• 1

  Lay out your knives on a piece of 1/2-inch thick plywood. Draw a rectangle around the knives with a straight edge. Cut out two pieces of the plywood to the size of the rectangle, using a table saw with a fine tooth blade. Sand the edges of the plywood with 100-grit sandpaper.

• 2

  Measure the edges of the plywood and cut two pieces of 1-by-4 hardwood lumber 1/2-inch longer than the long edge of the rectangle. Cut two pieces 1/2-inch longer than the short edge. Stand the pieces on a miter saw, with one wide face against the fence and one narrow edge on the table. Cut the ends at a 45-degree miter, one right and one left, so that the long ends of the miters line up with the corners of the board.

• 3

  Open the collet on your router with two wrenches. Turn the outside nut counterclockwise and the inside nut clockwise to loosen it. Install a 1/2-inch rabbet bit with a bearing. Tighten the collet turning the nuts opposite of opening. Set the depth of the router, so that the corner, or shoulder of the rabbet is 1/2-inch below the base plate.

• 4

  Clamp the hardwood pieces to your work table with a C clamp. Run the router down each long edge of each piece, repositioning the clamp as needed, to create a 1/2-by-1/2-inch groove along the edges of the board.

Building the Case

• 5

  Apply glue to the mitered ends of the hardwood pieces and nail them together to form a rectangular frame. Use four 1 1/4-inch pin nails in each corner joint, avoiding the 1/2-inch in the center of the width of each board, which you will be cutting through. Fit the two plywood panels into the grooves on both faces of this frame and glue and nail them in place.

• 6

  Set the depth of the table saw to 1 inch and adjust the fence to 1 3/4 from the blade. Start the saw and cut along one long edge. Position two 1-inch utility hinges bridging this cut, one inch in from each end. Use 3/4-inch wood screws through each hole in each hinge to attach them. Cut through the two short ends of the case in the same way, then the remaining long edge. Attach a 1-inch padlock hasp bridging the cut on the long edge opposite the hinges with 3/4-inch wood screws, bridging the cut to lock the box shut.

• 7

  Cut three pieces of 1-inch thick foam the size of the inside of your case. Lay the knives on one of these and trace the outlines. Cut the outlines out with a utility knife. Fit the foam into the case with the cutout piece in the middle of the other two.