Wood workers, demolition experts?; I want to put a high explosives box in my Chrysler

[BigblueC]

Guys, I have had an old wooden "high explosives" box hanging out in my garage for the last 15 years and I got the idea to repair it now so that I can use it to carry/contain supplies for traveling (a quart of oil, trans fluid, paper towels, etc.). My problem is that the bottom has rotted out (before I got it) and there is some dry rot that I need to address, so I thought I would seek some advice from guys experienced with repairing wood.
My basic plan is to glue the finger joints together (they're loose, likely because of the missing bottom, maybe the joints should not be glued?) and glue the rotted/broken slat back together, then build a new slat bottom. But I'm really not sure if that is the best course of action, or how to deal with the dry rot area. My goal is to preserve the box in a useful manner. Any suggestions from experience is appreciated.

 

[Big_John]

I like that box! Beats the Moose Head beer crate I use.

@detmatt is the guy to talk to.

 

[detmatt]

Thanks John, you're too kind!

To clarify first, does the whole thing come apart? Because if it does it wouldn't hurt to glue it back together in the repair/resto process with some good old tightbond wood glue. Sparingly though as you don't want it oozing out and filling all the grain because it'll then look like a kindergartner fixed it. It wouldn't have been uncommon to see triangular glue blocks in the corners of old boxes either so you could reinforce it that way and it would make it easier to save the appearance of the outside of the box. As far as the bad side there I might get yourself a piece of 1/4" ply of some sort and actually laminate the 2 separated pieces to it with the same wood glue. You'd see it on the inside of the box of course but it would make for a sturdy repair for what you want to use it for.
To keep the wood from rotting any further and reinforce what you have left I would give the whole thing a treatment per the directions on the can of Minwax HP wood hardener.
As far as the bottom goes I guess I'd find a piece of white oak or even poplar or whatever and mill it down to the same thickness as the sides and glue and nail it in place, again being careful with the amount of glue.
That's a kool piece!

 

[BigblueC]

Detmatt, the box holds itself together as-is pretty well, but I can wiggle/walk the joints apart. Do you suggest that I pull it apart enough to get some glue on the inside of the joints? I like the idea of triangle braces in the lower corners, that will be more contact for the new bottom. What is Minwax HP and how will it effect the appearance? (I don't like high gloss, and I don't want to change the current finish any more than necessary) A quick google search just looks like a body filler? And thanks for the reply!

 

[detmatt]

No, this is the stuff. It goes on like water to penetrate and won't add any sheen to the surface. It's available anywhere the stain is sold.
You could either pull the joints apart and try to locate the glue accurately, I use a syringe capable of injecting wood glue when doing things like this or put small triangular glue blocks in all the inside corners.

 

[Ironwolf]

Hey Matt, could you epoxy a bottom like this to it ?

Well maybe not "YOU SPECIFICALLY" although I know "YOU CAN" as I sure as hell could not ....

 

[Samplingman]

Can't add anything to what's been said, except that that is a really cool box, especially if you have a 440 TNT motor.

 

[detmatt]

Hey Matt, could you epoxy a bottom like this to it ?

Well maybe not "YOU SPECIFICALLY" although I know "YOU CAN" as I sure as hell could not ....

View attachment 138104

I actually thought about hammering out a piece of old galvanized sheetmetal to the proper size and attaching it for a bottom would look kool.

 

[fury fan]

There are other woodworkers hiding in plain sight here.

I don't do any resto stuff, but I agree with what detmatt said, although I'd go maybe a step further and make a box sized to fit just inside that one, out of 1/2" plywood. Wood expansion can be a funny thing, ideally you want both inner and outer to expand together, but different species might fight each other and re-split the old one, which is why I'd use plywood (instead of an inner box of poplar).

Or make the inner box 1/8" smaller all around, and just have the dyno-box be a decorative sheath around the stout box. That's what I'd do.

Some exploits:

 

[GJS]

You could also do the bottom out of 1/2" or thicker material cut to the outside diameter of the box then rabbit joint to fit the inside diameter, glue and brad... this would add some integrity in the lower sides.

 

[BigblueC]

You could also do the bottom out of 1/2" or thicker material cut to the outside diameter of the box then rabbit joint to fit the inside diameter, glue and brad... this would add some integrity in the lower sides.

I thought about doing something along those lines but I lack a router or table saw.

 

[GJS]

I thought about doing something along those lines but I lack a router or table saw.

Well, conversely you could cut 1 say 1/4" piece of ply to the outer dimension and one 1/2" to the inner dimension and lam them on center. just a thought if you did want to go that route.... but then without a table saw, getting those cuts straight may be tricky.