Bone-shaped Box

Our daughter had been asking for a dog for a while but we just hadn't felt ready for it. It took us a long while to get around to accepting the enormous responsibility but after we did, we wanted it to be a surprise for her. So I decided to make a small scroll-saw box in the shape of a bone and put in a note that said that she could finally, really have a dog. We gifted it to her at her graduation and her elation was more than anything we could have hoped for, as you can probably tell by her super-wide smile in the last pic.

This is my second scroll saw project and it follows most of the basic construction techniques I used in my first one (https://www.instructables.com/id/Little-Heart-Box/), so I will be brief here and highlight the main differences/challenges for this one.

If you like this 'ible, I'd appreciate if you'd vote for me in the Dogs contest!

Materials needed:

- scrap piece of 2x4

- scroll saw (bet you weren't expecting this)

- sandpaper, clamps

- white spray paint can

Start with a scrap piece of 2x4 (~7" long). Nothing fancy here - just make sure it is clean, flat and knot-free.

I googled a simple bone shape, printed it out, spray-glued it on the 2x4 piece and scroll sawed the outline.

I sliced out 1/4" on the table saw from both sides of the piece so one will become the top/lid and the lower one the bottom, to be glued back on later.

I rough drew a 1/4" outline on the middle piece and scroll sawed it out.

From the cutout of the middle piece, I sliced out another 1/4" on the table saw, flipped over the top piece and glued the slice to it. This will create a lip on the lip so it seats comfortably.

Glued the bottom slice back to the bottom of the hollowed-out middle. With a 1/4" roundover bit, rounded the top and bottom on the router table to give it a rounded appearance.

After that it was the fun part of filling in the holes and sanding to remove the scroll saw blade marks and generally make it smooth. Then spray painted 4 coats and light repair and sanding between each.

Close-ups of the final product. The last pic has the rolled-up note with the real gift.

The smile says it all :-)