Heres a before and after of some oak. Ill use the “before” part for the lid of one.
I have the sides for the next three cut and planed. Time to close the garage and start gluing.

Going for tge lapjoint look on this one.

When only the weight of a small vise will do. Whatever it takes lol.

I have a lot respect for what you do. A life event left me terrified of a table saw. Not afraid to admit it either.

I would love to have the tools to do that kind of thing. I'm not sure sure I do the quality of your work, but would like to!

Lots of respect for that table saw too. And the mitre and bandsaw. But I try to work safe and sometimes just don't do the operation and find a work around if I can. The one tool, though, that probably gives me the most pause at times is the drill press. Its danger in the shop is underrated I feel. I try to clamp stuff down on that thing but the base design doesn't lend itself well to using clamps.

Sure you could. I use lots of sandpaper. And a good ruler.

The three boxes and two of the lids are ready for sanding.
Ill make a third lid out of this hunk of oak tomorrow..

Nice work.

Thank you for the kind words.
Heres a before and after the planer with that last piece of oak.

Guess thanks to your pictures I need to get a small planer. Been using a belt sander to get to get rid of the aged wood but yours looks so much better. I really like the corners and the top edges that are rounded. Keep showing your steps and progress.

Planer also helps taking out some high spots. Thinner wood will flex though. Jointer helps in that case but it’s a fine touch sometimes. Well thats it for the day. Gotta hop on the bike and visit my mom. Heres a pic of yhe three new boxes in sanding/fine tuning stages with the finished one staring me
down saying, “you better hurry up”.

That purple heart looking wood is going to look sharp! I like that.

Any update?

If Mr Malibu wasn't under a deadline. I bet he could build the same thing but with more detail. French polish or some other hand rubbed finish. Inlays using piano keys.

Artists always keep the best stuff for themselves. Even having to slam them out, they're top notch.