Building a Japanese-style bamboo box from upcycled bamboo accented with cherry and walnut.
You can download a set of plans and templates for the legs and handle. How to build a Japanese Bamboo Box
You Can Download the Plans and Templates here:
Affiliate links to some of the products used in this build
• Domino 500 – https://amzn.to/2ktOH5K
• Assorted Dominos – https://amzn.to/2jqm2Nj
• Incra Miter Gauge 1000HD https://amzn.to/2kzprcj
• Whiteside Spiral Pattern Bit https://amzn.to/2spe5eH
• Earlex HV5500 Spray Station https://amzn.to/2H0KHRk
Building a Bamboo, Cherry, and Walnut Box: A Step-by-Step Guide
I’ve been eyeing this pile of scrap wood in my shop for a while now, and I finally decided to put it to good use by making a few decorative boxes. The design combines bamboo-accented cherry and walnut, and the curved legs and handles really make these boxes stand out. If you want to build one yourself, I’ve got the plans and templates available on my website.
Getting Started with the Legs
I started by digging through my scrap pile and pulled out some 8/4 cherry for the legs. After ripping them to rough width on the band saw, I cleaned everything up at the jointer and then headed to the table saw to square off the ends. I set up a stop on my miter gauge so I could cut all the legs to the same length. Pro tip: keep track of which side you jointed so everything stays square as you work through the process.
For joinery, I went with dominos to attach the legs to the sides. The long sides get two dominos each – one at the top and one at the bottom. I screwed a jig down to my workbench with stops on both the left and right to position the mortises consistently. For the short sides, I just flipped the leg end over end, and by referencing off the bottom, I got a mortise that sits nicely centered since the box sits about an inch off the ground anyway.
Shaping the Curves
Here’s where things get fun. The curves on the legs and handles really define this whole design, so I took my time making a plywood template first. This let me see the actual size and shape before committing to cutting into my good wood – totally worth the extra step.
Once I had all the legs marked out, I cut them on the band saw, making sure to leave the line. Even though it’s a straightforward cut, I taped the offcuts back on rather than trying to hold everything together by hand. I was batching out several boxes, and when you’re doing repetitive tasks, your mind can wander. A little tape is cheap insurance against messing up a piece or, worse, cutting yourself.
After cutting, I refined all the curves on the spindle sander to get them smooth and even.
Prepping the Bamboo
The bamboo I’m using is actually leftover stranded bamboo flooring from a previous project – I love finding ways to upcycle materials. Before I could use it, I had to rip off the tongue and groove edges on both the sides and ends.
I set up stops on my miter gauge so I could alternate between cutting the long and short sides. This kept all the boards in order, which meant the grain pattern in the bamboo strands wraps continuously around the box. It’s one of those subtle details that really elevates the finished piece.
Now, here’s something I learned the hard way: stranded bamboo is made by compressing bamboo strands with a hard resin, and that resin is a nightmare to cut mortises in with the domino. The workpiece kept jumping around on me. So I built a jig to trap the bamboo in place and added stops to locate the mortises. That made life a whole lot easier.
Cutting the Dados and Assembly Prep
Next up was cutting a dado for the bottom panel. I kept the side pieces stacked in order to maintain that grain flow I mentioned earlier.
I ran into a small hiccup when I realized the bottom panel was going to hit the inside corner of the legs. No big deal – I just set up my keyed miter jig and cut notches in each leg corner to accept the bottom. And yeah, if I’d measured a bit more carefully from the start, I could’ve avoided this, but that’s woodworking for you.
Another issue: the dado for the bottom went right through the domino mortise. To keep the bottom panel from hitting the dominos during assembly, I used a chisel to chop the dominos in half so everything would fit together properly.
Glue-Up Time
Standard wood glue wasn’t cutting it with the resin in the bamboo flooring, so I switched to epoxy for attaching the legs to the sides. Getting all those dominos lined up with both the legs and sides can be tricky, so I assembled everything in stages – creating small sub-assemblies first, then bringing those together.
Clamping awkwardly-shaped legs is always a challenge, so I used large rubber bands to apply gentle pressure while the epoxy cured. I also put blue tape along all the edges to protect the bamboo’s factory finish from glue squeeze-out. Since the flooring came prefinished, I didn’t want to risk scratching it while cleaning up epoxy.
Making the Lids
While the boxes were drying, I moved on to the lids. I set up my shop-made panel raising jig, tilted the blade to what looked like a pleasing angle, and cut the edge profile. I always cut the end grain first because it’s more prone to tearout, and the subsequent long-grain cuts will clean up any mess.
Then I set the blade back to 90 degrees and cut a rabbet on the underside of each lid so it would sit slightly inside the box and not slide around.
I finished the tops and legs with a few coats of lacquer. I’ve got an old stool with a swivel top that makes applying finish so much easier – highly recommend it.
The Finishing Touch: Handles
The last step was making the handles. I cut the general shape on the band saw, leaving the line again, then made a jig with toggle clamps to hold these small pieces safely while I routed the final shape with a pattern bit.
For the curves on the underside of the handles, I roughed out most of the material on the band saw, then used some double-stick tape to position stops on my spindle sander. I picked a spindle close to the radius I wanted and sanded to the final shape.
To attach each handle to its lid, I kept it simple – just a dowel and a bit of CA glue. I eyeballed what looked straight, and once the glue set, it was plenty strong for these little lids.
And that’s it! These boxes turned out great, and it felt good using up some of that scrap wood I’d been hoarding. The combination of the bamboo with the cherry and walnut gives them a really nice look, and those curved legs and handles add just the right amount of visual interest.
I’m the owner of Benham Design Concepts, a mixed media art studio where I design and build custom furniture and other works of art using wood, glass, stone, and various metals.
In this blog, I talk about the art I create, my journey, and the things I learn along the way.