Field Notes Storage Box

Top down view of box front angle View of box front and side

This is a simple plywood box I built to store pocket notebooks like Field Notes and Word Notebooks. It was mostly an excuse to practice cutting grooves and dados on my router table, which I hadn't done yet. I made it from scrap plywood which was a little rough (screw holes, paint. etc.) but despite that it turned out fairly nicely.

Top down view

The sides and lid are all 1/2" plywood, and the base is 1/4". The sides are joined with glued rabbet joints reinforced with a few brad nails. The base sits in grooves cut into the sides.

Box with lid sitting on a shelf

The bottom of the lid has a groove cut around the perimeter so it drops down a little into the box to keep it in place. I had planned to do a sliding top like the Archival Wooden Box made by Field Notes, but given the time and material constraints I had, this made more sense. It doesn't show up in the photo, but the lid is made from two pieces of plywood joined together, because I didn't have a single piece left that was big enough to make the lid from.

For the "Field Notes" lettering on the front, I made a template using the font Boston Traffic by Vic Fieger. I then used black and red spray paint to mark the box.

The finished box ended up well built, but with the feeling it was made from what was available, which it was. There's some old paint here there, a few scrap holes, and the lettering isn't perfect. But hey, it's a storage box, not a centerpiece! It was a fun weekend project and I good education on routing.

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Posted 1/17/2019