Custom Dyed Wood Storage Box

In refurbishing the Boley Vise and Drill Press Angle Vise I knew I wanted storage boxes for them. I gave considerable consideration as to the design aspects of each, toying with ideas on mounting to stands, to the finishes and so on. And well, the first I chose to tackle was a storage box and stand for the Drill Press Angle vise I restored, the one you see above and the build this post is about.

I came to the decision I didn't want just a plain old box to stick it in. I wanted the following:

A external stand that fit snugly inside the box.
A simple yet cool looking pattern or design in the finish.
A color in the finish that complimented the Candy Metallic Green and polished steel of the vise.
Protection against corrosion.

As for the finish itself I had watched a video published by Keda Wood Dyes on dying wood Emerald Green. The video is below if you care to watch it.

I really liked how viberant the Emerald Green color and finish the dye produced. So I ordered some.

Before I continue I want to let you know upfront I have never attempted to dye wood or worked with wood dyes before. I've never tried to stain or dye a pattern into wood before. There's a lot of firsts in this project for me. I made mistakes, some pretty stupid for me in my opinion, while other mistakes are admittedly from the shear lack of experience and I am going to point them out rather than try to hide them. Perhaps you can offer up solutions to some of them, especially concerning the dye process in the comments if you know a better way. 

I'm also going to let you know upfront the photos I took with my cellphone suck. They don't do justice to how it looks in real life. In part due to the phones camera capability, in part do to the guy holding the phone. Note to self, engulfing the reflective surface with white... just washed all the color out. But you'll at least see how things went together. With that said, lets get into the project.

Keda Dyes...
Keda Dyes are a water or alcohol soluble wood dye. Though they offer liquid dyes, I ordered their 5 color powdered dye kit. That is what was used in the above video so that's what I ordered. In the video he mentions using a double digit scale, one that goes to 100's of a gram. I only had a single digit and I'll let you know right off, if you don't have an accurate scale that can measure 100ths of a gram, go get one. You really do need an accurate and sensitive scale that goes to 100ths of a gram to measure out quantities of the dye powder for how much you want to mix up. It doesn't take much to throw the mix off.

I don't have such a scale. The scale I used really wasn't sensitive enough either. So I ended up somewhat guessing when mixing the color up. And there inlies the first mistake. Not having a proper scale to mix up batches of dye. And it took more dye than I anticipated to achieve a good solid color depth for this particular color on the woods. The base or stand was different from the box. The top and sides of the box itself were also different.

So it's important to have an accurate scale to have consistent color mixes.

The Box...
I would have liked to have built the box from scratch but at the time I didn't have a table saw or the area to do so. Even given the table saw i traded for the fence absolutely useless so still can't build one from scratch. So I searched high and low for a box that had the right dimensions in thrift stores, department stores, hobby stores and the like. I got real lucky at Walmart of all places. They had one box left they no longer sell on the self that proved perfect dimension wise for this project and to house the vise and stand.

That said it's not the best crafters box, but with some slight modifications it will do nicely. And it cost only $8 or $9 bucks. Supposedly it comes ready for finishing or painting. What that meant I don't know but I suspect whatever it meant, it in part presented me with further issues. Namely in how the dye took to the wood. That and the top and the sides of the box were two different veneers.

So there in lies a lesson to be learned, when dying wood, make sure your woods are the same if you want to achieve the same color all round.

To quickly go over the plan, I chose a simple angle stripe in emerald green for the design on the box. Everything else I would leave natural wood. The stripe helps dictate the front and back when replacing the lid. Stainless Steel feet, Emerald Green Felt protective layer on the inside of the top of the lid. And the lid I wanted to simply slide on and off rather than be hinged. Some additional steps were added that I came up with during the build and I'll go over later.

The Vise Stand / Base...
For the vise stand or base, which ever you prefer to call it. I'll refer to it as the vise stand from here out. For the stand I used a piece of clear pine scrap I had lying around cut to length width. This took the dye the best I felt and as you'll see later on.

I chose to give it cork pad for the vise to sit on with leather covered posts to hold the vise in place. To keep everything looking the same I added stainless steel feet same as the box.

The Build...

I guess we can start with the box first however during the actual build I was going back and forth between the stand and box. I didn't have a way to build a box so I had to try and find one that would work. I got lucky and a unfinished keepsake box at Walmart. The last one of a discontinued item I felt would be the right size seen below.

Given the box was prebuilt I had to make sure everything fit within it's dimensional boundary internally. And I'll be honest, I got very lucky with what I wanted to do and how it all came together. I believe I'm with-in a 64th of an inch to a perfect fit. It's that close of a tolerance height wise.

I'm going to reiterate here though the box was prebuilt, the stand I wanted as well wasn't and I was working with limited tools. Just a hand miter saw in fact to make cuts and rip wood. And the box as I was to find out, was warped inward on the sides. and had other issues. And I did screw up... worse than need be. Not an excuse... just letting you know.

First of course was to remove all the hardware off the box and flip it. I wanted the top to be the bottom and the box itself to be the cover. Once that was done I added some rails to the bottom sides. I ripped a piece of wood that was a one time the bottom slats to I think a futon or kids bed or something... anyway, it was clear wood. Which worked out nicely. I used Stainless Steel hardware though out by the way.

I ended up sanding back the outer edge of those rail inserts to allow for the finish and chamfer the outer upper edge of them to make it easier for the lid to slide on.

Next screw up came in sanding box getting it ready for the dye... I ended up sanding through the veneer trying to take out some blemishes in the veneer glue up and along the edges with a palm sander. I didn't realize how soft a wood it was and the power sander was too aggressive. I should have stuck to hand sanding it - and I know better on plywood - lesson re-learned.

Dying the Wood

I didn't want just a plain old green dyed box. I wanted it to be different. Something simply artistically, nothing major. Especially since I've never dyed wood let alone dyed a design in wood. I went with the keep is simple approach. Since this was for an Angle Vise... As you've sen from the first image, I settled on an angled stripe front to back.

I did quite a bit of research on how to go about this. Some suggested taping it off, and scoring the wood. Others added to put a light clear coat on the part not being dyed. So I did both. First taping it off, then scoring the wood, lastly putting a light seal coat. And yes, that's the stand being prepped you see in the image, I dyed both at the same time. Though I built them on the fly as I went pretty much, I'll stick to the box build for now so I don't confuse you.

Note to self and others reading this... Yeah... they did mention to be careful when scoring the wood, and I wasn't careful enough. In using a straight edge, the straight edge slipped skewing off the cut. Aaaarrrh!

At this point, it didn't look that bad and I had really high hopes for the dying process.

See those three screw holes at the bottom edge... I pulled them for dying then changed my mind on having them at all. I put dowels in there stead which I left natural. You'll see later on.

I taped over the stripe. And it was suggested to wipe the dye away from the tape for the best results. Which is what I did. Here's an image of all three parts after dying. You an see the tape over the stripe. Which I think I did 3 or 4 coats. It doesn't look too bad, but there were issues I ran into during the dying process...

The first was, all sides didn't want to take the dye the same way. Some didn't want to take it at all. In looking closer I noticed not all the sides had the same side of the plywood to the outside. Ones with the A side took the dye well. Sides with the B side to the outside, didn't take it so well. or in spots want to take it at all. I also noticed on the paper that came with it, it mentions it has been prepped and precoated for paint. It's a keepsake box, they paint them... I take it some of the sealer they apply went deeper than I sanded it. Preventing the dye from taking all that well.

To top it off - despite the scoring and seal coat - it bled through the edges in places. I could only sand back so much or go through the veneer. So I had to live with it.

So my bubble was burst on how it would turn out. As mentioned, I would have to live with the flaws. Which to be honest. Once it was finished and others took a look at it, they don't see the flaws. They don't understand why I'm not thrilled at how it turned out. I know the mistakes and flaws are there, so I see them when I look at it. Anyway... on with the show... 

Clear Coating

I use Spar Varnish a lot on my woods, but opted to go with a different Minwax product this time. I chose to use their oil base clear flooring urethane finish. Which is not exactly clear. It does still have a amberish tint to it, its not like their water based urethane which goes on white and dries clear. This is not a product I've used before. I found I had to adjust my mix. This particular finish I found doesn't need anything to help with flow out. It's much thinner than their spar urethane and flows out nicely. It doesn't set up super quick like the spar varnish. Which obviously helps with the flow out.

My usual four coats and it came out sweet! That I was happy with. Here's a couple shots of it after final coat.

You can see it flowed out beautifully. A really nice gloss finish. As thin as it is, you have to go light with the coats. You can't go heavy with it, or it will run for sure.

Just a note here, I did end up wet sanding and buffing it out in the end going for that glass finish. It wet sanded and buffed out real nice. No issues.

I also should mention I used the same product to finish the interior as well. Same number of coats.

The Interior:

As mentioned this came together on the fly. The stand was pretty much done at this point and in fitting it I made changes to the interior as I saw fit.

One thing I added was to the bottom section. I wanted to protect the bottom of the storage box from the stand feet. So I decided to add a green felt strip where the feet would be. Which I inlayed on the rail edge cutting the inlay using a little carving set I picked up at a thrift store. Below is the inlay cut.

And here the felt is being glued in...

I signed the lid but decided to cover the inside of the lid with Hunter Green felt as well... so much for the signature. lol But it was worth it, it really finished the interior off and would protect the top of the vise and the finish of the box.

Interior finished!

More Work to the Exterior:

As mentioned and I'm going to mention it again, the design was on the fly. I had made feet for the stand. For the box itself I was going to use rubber ones, then changed my mind. I wanted all the feet to match. In order to use the same thing for the box, I couldn't have the screws in the side and that is how I ended up putting the dowels in the side which I left natural as mentioned earlier. And it does look good that way. 

The feet for the stand I made from 1/4 inch stainless steel carriage bolts. Put a high polish on them and they look great. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to show you the feet on the box at the moment. When I do, I'll add it. But you can see them on the stand, same thing. And see the dowels in the side on the finished box. As stated the picture doesn't do the box justice. The white is washing out the depth of color it has. It's truly a vibrant emerald green.

So that's pretty much it for the box itself. Now onto the vise stand...

Building the Vise Stand:

As mentioned I wanted a separate stand for the vise that would nest in the box. And I had a piece of scrap wood I was going to use... but I broke it putting in the posts. In fact I did a blog post on how not to put dowels in wood... It's that piece of wood I was going to use for this...

I still think it would have looked great dyed emerald green, but given the grain was going the wrong way for this purpose, the strength wasn't there. So I'm kinda glad it broke and I ended up not using it.

As far as dying and finish goes, it turned out the best. The dye took really well. The finish just brought it out. 

As mentioned, I used 1/4 carriage bolts polished to a high finish for the feet. Again that little carving set came in handy to cut the square hole starts for the carriage bolt heads. 

You can see I added a 5th foot in the center. My thinking was that the vise is so heavy, I wanted some extra support for the middle of the stand. I didn't want it to warp under the weight of the vise. And I still think it's a great idea, but what I didn't count on was the board had a slight cup to it. I don't have a planer, didn't have planes and honestly, didn't even check to see if the board was perfectly flat to begin with. It looked flat but once the feet were all in - it proved it wasn't quite as flat as it looked.

They're glued in and not coming out any time soon. If I get the notion or a belt sander big enough I'll make short work of leveling the feet. Had I left the center one out, all would have been fine. My mistake in not checking - so be it. I'll just have to fix it in the future when I get the proper tool.

For the rest I intended to do to the stand, I created a template out of cardboard of the vise base to use. Below you can see the cork bed being cut out using that template. And a test run prior to dying and finishing the stand...

Once it was dyed and finished I then masked it off before gluing it in place:

You'll notice I scuffed it up before gluing. I used contact cement thinned slightly if you're wondering. That's it there in the little cup. I used an acid brush to apply it to both the cork and stand.

I sealed the cork after the glue was cured. Added the wood posts. Then took some scrap leather, not exactly the color I would have prefered but it's what I had on hand and used. And glued it to the wood posts. 

The stand came together nice. And looked great!

A closer look at the leather covered posts...

And that's it the stand was done!

Here's some pics of everything all together...

The stand nests in the box perfectly!

Hope the vise fits!... lol Fits the stand like it was made for it! Oh yah, it was... lol

Perfect fit on the posts...

All in together...

And the lid on...

There is more to be done... and granted it's far from perfection given the errors and screw ups. But hey, I learned some things from the build. And still have questions on techniques for dying wood. All in all it will protect the vise. Perfect for storing it in, and the vise now has a stand to sit on. Either on a shelf or in a tool box while not in use.

For the FYI and a personal note, I actually made this over a year ago after I finished the restoration of the vises. In August or September, maybe October of 2019 I think. I don't know for sure. Anyway, I've had this post as a draft for far too long and am just now getting around to gathering up pics and finishing the writing till now. Despite my tardiness in posting, its something I thought you'd enjoy reading about. Or maybe get some ideas for your own build.

One thing I still need to do is figure out how to latch it closed and put a handle on it. The finish is so glossy and glass like you can hardly pick it up with the vise in it. You have to pick it up fully from the bottom as the sides are slicker than the scum on a stagnant pond. The finish is wet glass smooth!

I don't want a regular latch for it. I want the sides to be smooth without obstructions. No latches sticking out or getting in the way. Something cool. Hidden yet easy to open.

I can't put a handle attached to the top, the vise is too heavy and the box too weak to handle the weight. The plywood is thin and only glued together, it'll break with a handle attached to the top I know it. I'm thinking some sort of leather wrap under and around handle of some sort. Like you'd see on some vintage trunks or luggage. Maybe a pin at each corner to hold the lid on. I don't know yet, I haven't decided on anything firm.

So there you have it, my custom vise storage box and stand as far as I've taken it to date. It does make for a nice complete set all together. The concept is good at least... that I'm happy with for sure. lol

Till next time folks,

Stay Happy, Stay Creative!

cheers...