Toothpicks. No, Really

Tiny copper tacks. Veneer-thin wood. And toothpicks. Yeah, that’s right. Toothpicks.

In my introduction to making Shaker boxes, the instructor told us something I’d known coming into the class but didn’t quite believe - the top and bottom pieces of these boxes are held in place by nothing more than toothpicks hammered into small holes so that they wedge in place. They’re then snipped off, sanded flush, and that’s it. No glue.

To which all my woodworking instincts object. These things can’t possibly stay together, I thought, much less in any sense that would bear use and abuse.

Yet… there are plenty of these still around, hidden away in the corners of antique shops, still intact and as strong as they were when they left some Shaker craftsman’s workbench in the 1800s. After my instructor pointed this fact out, he claimed that a Shaker box, placed on the floor, will bear the weight of an adult without cracking.

One of the reasons I love this style of box making is this strength-in-weakness paradox. Thin wood bent around a form and held in place with clinched-off copper tacks, then pinned to its top and bottom pieces with nothing more than toothpicks. Individual parts weak enough to merit the adjective “delicate,” yet when combined in just the right way become strong enough to last a century or more.

So yeah. Seriously. Toothpicks.