Post Box

Picture the scene - It’s a business lunch in the City of London between two long standing

friends, one of whom has been trying to sell the other insurance software for over a decade

– with limited success I might add.

“Hey Justin, the last time we met you said that you had taken up woodwork. Are you still

doing it?”

“Yes (where was this going I wondered), I do occasionally find myself making a few bit and

pieces, mostly as unwanted gifts for family and friends now that I’ve filled up our house with

wooden clutter.”

“Well, we have an old free standing post box which has just about given up the ghost and

the Mrs asked me the other day if I knew anyone who might be able to make us a

replacement?"

I said no, except for one chap in the city who might, or he might know someone who might know someone etc.”

“Interesting. Do you have any pictures so I can have a ponder?”

And so started my latest project - my first commission! And the amusing thing was that the

gentlemen in question had spent a lifetime trying to sell me stuff, and here I was about to

sell him something – not that I had any intention of charging him for my time.

I studied the pictures with interest and it was obvious that his old post box was indeed well

past its best, but it had a certain charm to it so I could see why he wanted to replace it with

something handmade. I was sure that even with my rather basic woodworking skills I could

copy the basic design and raise the bar a couple of notches. So that is what I offered to do.

He was delighted.

First step – to make a prototype as a template to be sure that I had the dimensions and roof

angle right. That done with some thin plywood, the next job was to decide on and source the

right wood. Being an outside top-heavy piece, it was going to need to be sturdy and as I had

made most of my previous pieces out of Oak, that had become my ‘go to’ choice. The post

itself needed to be long enough (1.5m) to be buried deep in the ground, and also about 3’

square. I select 19mm thick European Oak for the box itself with Cedar shingles for the roof.

The basic build was simple enough, but there were one or two interesting challenges. First,

cutting the letter slot. I’d learnt a technique from one of my previous projects (a Paul Sellers

Console table), which involved cutting out the drawer front from the same piece of wood so

the grain carried on through the draw. I used the same technique here meaning that cutting

out the letter slot meant cutting right across the whole piece, then gluing it all carefully back

together again. That seemed the best way to achieve really crisp lines for the letter slot,

rather than running around it with a wobbly coping saw.

The next challenge was deciding how to join the sides to the front and back. It felt as though

the joints should be Half-lap Dovetails which would only be seen from the sides. That would

work well for the front, but how would that work for the back which needed to open?

Hmm, back to the drawing board.

What about a simple Routed joint I wondered? (not sure the proper name), which would

allow all four pieces to be slotted and glued strongly together, but would also allow the

lower part of the back to be left unglued so it would open? That could work, and so it did.

Roofing and attaching the whole thing to the post posed no major challenges after that. I

finished it with sanding sealer and Garden Furniture Oil and some wooden lettering painted

black.

My city friend is absolutely thrilled with his new post box. He can’t believe how good it looks

compared to the old one, and how much effort was put into making it. But isn’t that the

whole point of a traditional craft? Of course he could easily have spent the same money on a

mass-produced item, but hand crafting is not about getting a job done quickly and cheaply,

its about the process, its about putting in the effort to make something as well as you

possibly can so you can sit back and say that you did your very best.

It’s the same feeling as playing a great round of golf, or scoring a goal in football. That’s why we do it and where the payback comes from.