No Products in Your Cart
Recipe Card Box[4/4 · 2ft · 5-Pack]
One pack. One build. All 5 boards used. • Makes 2 recipe boxes
Shop Black Walnut 4/4 · 2ft Pack Shop All Speciesselect 2' Lengths
How it goes together
Black Walnut
Hard Maple
Cherry
White Oak (QS)
Red Oak
Ash
Hickory
Ambrosia Maple
Sapele*
Padauk*
Purpleheart*
*Exotic — not available for shipment to US customers.
A solid hardwood box for 3 × 5 recipe cards, with rabbeted corners and a hinged lid. Cards stand on their long edge, so you can flip through them with one hand while you cook. One 2ft pack builds two — one for your counter and one to fill with family recipes and give away.
Quick Build — for experienced woodworkers
| Part | Qty | From | S4S size | S2S size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ends (rabbeted) | 4 | Boards 1–2, two each | 6¾" × 4" × ¾" | 7" × 3½" × ⅞" |
| Fronts and backs | 4 | Board 5 | 5½" × 4" × ¾" | 5⅝" × 3½" × ⅞" |
| Panel halves (bottoms and lids) | 8 | Boards 1–2 (1 each), boards 3–4 (3 each) | 6¼" × 4" × ¾" | 6½" × 3½" × ⅞" |
| Bottoms and lids, after glue-up | 4 | 2 halves each | 6¼" × 6¾" × ¾" | 6½" × 7" × ⅞" |
Corners: rabbets in the ends (one board thick, half a board deep); fronts and backs sit in them, 2 screws per corner, no glue on the end grain.
Bottom and lid: two pieces edge-glued, grain running the length of the box.
Bottom to walls: screwed from below only, outer holes oversized so the panel can move.
Lid: two small brass hinges on the back edge.
Finished size: Each box, S4S: 6¼" L × 6¾" W × 5½" H, inside 4¾" × 5¼" × 4" deep · S2S: 6½" × 7" × 5¼", inside 4¾" × 5¼" × 3½" deep. Holds about 300 cards with dividers.
Before You Start
Shopping List
- 1 lumber pack — 4/4 · 2ft (S4S or S2S)
- Wood glue (Titebond II or III) — panels only
- 16 × #6 × 1¼" brass or steel flat-head screws for the corners
- 20 × #6 flat-head screws for the bottoms: 1¼" (S4S) or 1½" (S2S)
- 4 small brass butt hinges, about 1" × ¾", with screws
- Lid stay or short brass chain (optional)
- Sandpaper 120 / 180 / 220
- Finish: wipe-on oil, hardwax oil or water-based poly
- 8 felt pads
Tools
- Saw for crosscuts (mitre saw or circular saw with a speed square) — with a stop block
- Table saw with dado stack, or router with a straight bit and fence (rabbets)
- Saw for rips (table saw, or circular/track saw with a guide) — S4S panels
- Drill/driver, countersink bit, pilot bits
- Sharp ½" chisel (hinge recesses)
- 4–6 bar clamps, 12" or longer
- Random-orbit sander or sanding block
- S2S only: jointer, straight-line rip jig or hand plane
S4S or S2S? S4S boards arrive flat and square on all four sides — cut and build. S2S boards have rough edges you straighten first, and finish ⅞" thick instead of ¾". No jointer? Choose S4S.
Our sizing assumptions: ⅛" per saw cut · S4S boards 23½"/47½" long with ¼" to square an end, 4" wide, ¾" thick · S2S boards trimmed ½" each end and ¼" off each rough edge (3½" clean), ⅞" thick · sizes drawn for the narrowest board in the pack. Wider boards give you a bigger offcut or a wider part — never a shortage.
Step-by-Step
S4S Lumber Pack
Surfaced 4 sides — no jointing
- 1 Crosscut. Boards 1–2: two ends at 6¾" and one panel piece at 6¼" each. Boards 3–4: three panel pieces at 6¼" each. Board 5: four fronts and backs at 5½". Use a stop block for each length.
- 2 Glue up four panels. Pair the panel pieces (board 1 with board 2, board 3 with board 4) and edge-glue each pair into a panel 6¼" long — two bottoms and two lids. Clamp and leave overnight. Rip each panel to 6¾" wide.
- 3 Cut the rabbets. On the inside face of each end, cut a rabbet across both ends: ¾" wide (the thickness of the front) and ⅜" deep. Use a dado stack, a router with a fence, or several saw passes with the mitre gauge. Test on scrap first.
- 4 Assemble the walls. Fit the fronts and backs into the rabbets, tops and bottoms flush, and clamp the box square. Drill and countersink 2 holes through each end into the front and back, and drive #6 × 1¼" brass or steel screws. No glue here — the front's end grain meets the rabbet, and end grain doesn't glue.
- 5 Fit the bottom. Set the box on a bottom panel, edges flush. Drill 3 holes along each end and 2 along the front and back. Drill the outer holes 3/16" so the panel can move with the seasons; keep the middle hole of each end tight. Drive #6 × 1¼" screws up into the walls. No glue.
- 6 Sand. Sand everything 120 → 180 → 220. Round the outside edges, and ease the front edge of each lid so a thumb can lift it.
- 7 Hang the lid. Lay the lid on the box, flush all round, and tape it. Set two small brass hinges on the back, about 1" in from each end. Mark, chisel shallow recesses for the leaves, pre-drill and screw. Add a lid stay or a short chain if you want the lid to stop just past upright.
- 8 Finish. Wipe on 2–3 coats of oil or hardwax oil, inside and out, so both faces move the same. Add felt pads underneath.
- 9 Fill it. Cards stand on their long edge across the box. The inside is 5¼" × 4¾" and 4" deep — plenty for 3 × 5 cards and tabbed dividers.
S2S Lumber Pack
Surfaced 2 sides — straighten edges first
- 1 Prep the boards. Trim ½" off each end to remove any end checks. Joint one edge straight, then rip the other edge parallel (¼" off each rough edge is our planning allowance). S2S boards finish ⅞" thick, so screws and some sizes change — use the sizes in this column.
- 2 Crosscut. Boards 1–2: two ends at 7" and one panel piece at 6½" each. Boards 3–4: three panel pieces at 6½" each. Board 5: four fronts and backs at 5⅝". Use a stop block for each length.
- 3 Glue up four panels. Pair the panel pieces (board 1 with board 2, board 3 with board 4) and edge-glue each pair into a panel 6½" long — two bottoms and two lids. Clamp and leave overnight. They come out 7" wide — no rip needed.
- 4 Cut the rabbets. On the inside face of each end, cut a rabbet across both ends: ⅞" wide (the thickness of the front) and 7/16" deep. Use a dado stack, a router with a fence, or several saw passes with the mitre gauge. Test on scrap first.
- 5 Assemble the walls. Fit the fronts and backs into the rabbets, tops and bottoms flush, and clamp the box square. Drill and countersink 2 holes through each end into the front and back, and drive #6 × 1¼" brass or steel screws. No glue here — the front's end grain meets the rabbet, and end grain doesn't glue.
- 6 Fit the bottom. Set the box on a bottom panel, edges flush. Drill 3 holes along each end and 2 along the front and back. Drill the outer holes 3/16" so the panel can move with the seasons; keep the middle hole of each end tight. Drive #6 × 1½" screws up into the walls. No glue.
- 7 Sand. Sand everything 120 → 180 → 220. Round the outside edges, and ease the front edge of each lid so a thumb can lift it.
- 8 Hang the lid. Lay the lid on the box, flush all round, and tape it. Set two small brass hinges on the back, about 1" in from each end. Mark, chisel shallow recesses for the leaves, pre-drill and screw. Add a lid stay or a short chain if you want the lid to stop just past upright.
- 9 Finish. Wipe on 2–3 coats of oil or hardwax oil, inside and out, so both faces move the same. Add felt pads underneath.
- 10 Fill it. Cards stand on their long edge across the box. The inside is 5¼" × 4¾" and 3½" deep — plenty for 3 × 5 cards and tabbed dividers.
Why rabbets? The rabbet lines up each corner by itself, so the box goes together square, and the screws pull it tight. It is the easiest strong corner for a first box.
Why no glue on the corners or the bottom? The corners meet end grain, which doesn't hold glue. The bottom's grain runs the other way to the ends, so it has to be free to swell and shrink. Screws in oversized holes let it.
Why finish inside too? A board finished on one face only takes on moisture unevenly and can cup. Oil both faces of the lid and bottom so they stay flat.
Make It Yours
- Card stand: cut a ⅛" saw kerf, ¼" deep, across the lid, 1½" from the back edge. Stand the recipe you're using in it.
- Two-tone: maple box with a walnut lid — swap panel pieces between boards before you glue.
- Engrave it: burn or carve a family name on the lid before you finish it.
Safety and Care
- Wear eye and hearing protection. Use a push stick for every rip under 4" wide.
- Cut the rabbets with the end held against the mitre gauge, never against the fence alone. Keep fingers well clear of the dado blade.
- Pre-drill every screw — hardwoods split without a pilot hole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not for S4S boards — they arrive flat and square on all four sides. S2S boards need their edges straightened: a jointer, a table saw with a straight-line jig, or a hand plane all work. No jointer? Choose the S4S pack.
No. The box is sized for standard 3 × 5 recipe cards, with the inside 5¼" wide. 4 × 6 cards need wider panels than two edge-glued boards give.
Glue on end grain is weak. If you want no screws showing, glue ¼" dowels into holes drilled through the ends into the fronts and backs, and trim them flush.
Use a small brass lid stay, or screw a 4" brass chain between the lid and the inside of an end. Either stops the lid just past upright.
Planned offcuts only: 2–4" at the end of boards 1–4, under 1" on board 5, plus the rip strips from the S4S panels. All 5 boards go into the boxes.
Yes. A 4ft pack makes four boxes: crosscut every board in half first, then follow this plan twice.
