Cube Tissue Box Cover w/ Hummingbird design

[FrankEV]

Last Thursday (4/21/22) Bernd (munzieb) posted his very nicely done Tissue box Cover that his wife had asked him to make.  I mentioned that I have cardboard cube type tissue boxes all over our house and I would like to make a box cover for them.  However, I also mentioned I would have to make them with a Hummingbird design as my Lady loves Hummingbirds.  

This led to discussion and searches for Tissue Box Covers with Hummingbird designs.  Steeve Good, The Wooden Teddy Bear and Sue May all have patterns for Tissue Box Covers with HB designs, but I just was not happy with any of them.  Also, I’m not a fan of Steve’s joinery, and Sue Mays pattern is just butt joints, a not so nice look.

Then, there is another part of the design for these box covers I’m not fond of… the open fretwork.  I don’t really want to see the cardboard tissue box at all.  Using ¼” thick material and adding an interior backer starts to make the cover bigger and heavier than needed.  Also, making the covers out of solid wood can get very expensive.

Soooooo, I thought why not create my own version, in this case, of a Cube Box Cover with a more attractive HB design, AND, why not think about adding color as well. 

My design uses a double layer of standard 5/32” thick solid core ply to effectively create a five-sided, Cube type Tissue Box Cover with ¼” thick walls.  Just like doing my Art panels, each side is comprised of a cut panel and a backer, as is the top.  Of course, the top needs to have the tissue access hole in both the cut panel and the backer.

Each panel, again like my Art panels, is Hand Painted prior to affixing the cut panel to the backer.  Simply using contrasting color panels would also work if painting the backer is not your thing.  The typical Maple/Walnut, or Walnut/Maple, combination would look very nice also. 

Now a little about my actual HB design.  I freely admit to having found a nice abstract image on-line that included the HB and Flower.  I had to modify the Image considerably to make it scrollable and do a little resizing to make it fit the 5” wide cover side panels, but now it is not just a Tissue Box Cover, but a Piece of Art as well.

To make this HB Cube Tissue Box Cover, you will need to think small.  The side panels are easily stack cut.  A #2/0 MGT R is best suited to cut the HB, and a #2/0 Spiral works best to cut the flowers (I use Pegas blades).  I tried a FD #3/0 spiral and even though the smaller size was better, cutting was much too slow in the stack of four panels.   Also, it should be noted that, unlike the simple pattern such as Steve uses, this Tissue Box Cover will take a lot more time to cut (as it very delicate), paint, assemble and finish.   But, in my opinion, worth the effort.  

My design uses mitered joints so there are no visible plywood edges unless you look closely at the tissue access hole.  Never to be seen while a tissue is popped up during use.  However, I do need to talk about my construction execution on this first attempt. 

Even though the pattern is delicate, it is scrollable.  When assembled, the cover does fit the standard cube tissue box nicely.  My mitered joints do work and would have looked better if I was a little bit more careful.  I used a 45degree chamfering router bit to bevel the edges but my set up was not as accurate as it could have been.  As a result, I did not get the real sharp edges that is needed.  After the box was glued-up there were slight gaps along each joint.  I decided to hide the gaps by rounding over the corners but made the mistake of using my bench belt sander and took too much off exposing the solid core material.  I’m happy with the overall look, and my Lady loves how it came out, but the corners could have looked much better.  My final finish is multiple coats of Deft Clear Gloss Lacquer.

Sorry for the long read.

For those who might like a challenge, I will post the Pattern in the New Pattern Announcements for your use and enjoyment.

And you all know the drill, Comments and critiques are always appreciated.

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[spirithorse]

Well done, Frank,
Nice looking cover you have created and I'm glad your lady likes it.

God Bless! Spirithorse
 

[meflick]

That looks nice Frank and not  surprised your wife loved it. Now, as I also recall, you said you had those tissue boxes all over the house. So I think you have more opportunities to perfect your methods.

Edited April 26, 2022 by meflick
Typos 🤫

[jollyred]

Really nice box.  I made some years ago, and used the mitered corners like you did.  Mine had the slight gaps like you mentioned, and I used a method I learned a long time ago to make them better looking.  Take a round steel rod, such as the shaft of a screwdriver, and rub the corners hard enough to cause the wood fibers to bend and close the gaps.  Don't overdo this, just enough to get the gaps closed.  This leaves a much sharper corner than can be done with sandpaper.  

Tom

[preprius]

As I was reading your description, I imagined every panel a different item.  Kinda like make a minature gallery of your favorite pieces. 

I have not made boxes before. So this might be a bad question. Would cutting the panels with a 45 deg blade might be better than edge routing?  Miter / cutoff saw  or table saws is what I am thinking. 

Now we (this village) needs a design for used tissue box with hazard symbols.  Covid symbol on at least 1 side. 

By the way ...... That cube looks awesome.  

 

Me.

Mark Eason

[Hawk]

Frank;

That is really COOL!!! and sucks (lol) cuz now I have another project for my list. In the motorhome my wife like the cube tissues and she's been bugging me to make covers for them. I've been hedging because I couldn't come up with a good idea for the box, now I have one. I love the color idea, thanks for sharing !!!

 

Chris

[flarud]

Nice.  My wife asked me a few months back to make a square one to cover our square tissue boxes.  I made a long one a couple of years ago that sits over a tissue box in the living room.  One complaint about the long ones is that the tissue doesn't stay "popped" up on that style of box so you have to actually reach down into it to grab the next tissue whereas the square ones "pop" up automatically when you pull one out.  It may have been a Sue Mey pattern, can't remember.  

[wombatie]

Very nice.  My husband would like this one too.  Great work Frank.

Marg

[merlin]

Not too shabby at all, bugger might have to make one now....

[munzieb]

Fantastic job on the box. Love the colored backing.

[daveww1]

terrific job, it's beautiful

[TAIrving]

Very nice Frank!  That goes up high on my Tp-Do list.  Thanks for posting the pattern.  

As I recall from the last time I cut a tissue box cover (SG design) it came out that different brands of tissue boxes come in slightly different sizes.  Fortunately, my lady is consistent about which brand she buys.  I just have to make sure the box I cut fits the box she buys.  

Edited April 26, 2022 by TAIrving

[FrankEV]

6 hours ago, merlin said:

Not too shabby .......

Just shabby...got it!

[John B]

Nice box Frank.
I want to make a gift for a person, leaving work and a cube box similar to yours may be just the ticket.
I have not made one yet, I usually make mine to fit the rectangular boxes.

[FrankEV]

On 4/25/2022 at 10:30 PM, preprius said:

...Would cutting the panels with a 45 deg blade might be better than edge routing?  Miter / cutoff saw  or table saws is what I was thinking...⁷

 

Using a good quality miter saw might work.  I don't have one due to limmited space in my small work shop.

I've tried beveling thin wood with my table saw blade tipped at 45 degrees but the result was not very good.

Actually my best results have been by using my bench belt sander with the table tipped to 45 degrees.

 

 

Edited April 27, 2022 by FrankEV

[CSull]

Once again your use of color in the projects is wonderful. -it really makes your projects special. I have been meaning to scroll some of these-the ones I have made I just put a rather plain pattern on the front.  I got good corner results by setting my table saw at 45 degrees and leaving a tiny edge-not cutting all the way through as it were. I also used some hardwoods I had so I didn't have to worry about edges as much.