Hollow out a Box from a Solid Piece of Wood


This is a piece of 8/4 walnut.  I removed the center with a jigsaw and used it for another project.



The jigsaw blade deflects in the thick material so it doesn't work to smooth the inside of the box - only to rough it out close to final dimensions.

To smooth the insides, I built a simple template from MDF for use with a bearing guided router bit.


Template glue up.


I was planning on using this oversized base to span the reach of the template, 



But then I realized my 2" bit is a flush trim bit - not a pattern cutting bit.  So using double-sided turners tape and nailed stops, I attached the template to the blank and completed the smoothing at the router table.

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