Starting lumber. I decided to use poplar instead of pine for a few reasons. For one, I had some poplar scrap that I could use, second I kind of like the look of it, and third I have a hard time finding good S4S pine. I also tend to think that working on pine doesn't translate to hardwood. I've had lots of issues with planing end grain on pine for example. It turns out I screwed up my cut list and ended up just barely having enough wood for the project. 

I checked a few different arrangements thought this jointing would look the best. As it turned out, I painted it, so it didn't really matter, but I didn't set out to paint it.

All the lumber cut to width and, for the till pieces, length. I used my table saw for this.

Like I said, I got my cut list wrong. I only bought enough lumber for 3 sides. Luckily I was able to piece enough scrap together to get the back side. 

I got some glue sticks and shims when I cut the boards to length. Handy stuff.

Glued and clamped with my cheap Harbor Freight bar clamps. Used saw dust to remove excess glue

I'm not sure I'm a fan of this technique, because you (or maybe just me) end up smearing more glue on the surface. Next time I think I will use the technique of letting it partially dry then use a scraper to remove gummy beads.

Part of my scrap poplar. I decided this would make the top. 

Here I am edge jointing the top with my bench plane. I have an issue here where tightening my vice makes the top two edges open up. I use some clamps to try to get them closed, but its a pain. And the joints aren't as good as they could be.

All the edge jointing is done.

Time to cut the jointed boards to length. I was going to go hand tools with this. That handsaw as $5, and the chisels were like 4 for $20. They've served my well. I use a pocket knife as a marking knife. 

Knife wall, ala Paul Sellers. I did cut this to length by hand but it was a royal pain, so I did the rest on the table saw.

The tools I use to layout the dovetails. Small engineer square, sliding bevel, knife and dividers. I also use my veritas dual marking gauge. 

One of the nicer tools I own. Veritas tenon saw. 

Time for the dovetails. Tails first. Not the greatest. Next time I think I will try Paul Sellers technique: https://woodworkingmasterclasses.com/2016/08/paul-sellers-dovetail-technique/

Tails are cut, use the tails to mark the pins. This is probably the most problematic part for me because holding it all together while marking all the sides seems incredibly fiddly to me. 

Here's a departure from Chris Schwarz's instructions. I cut the dados and the mortise for the lock before I assembled the 4 sides.  I dry fit the 4 sides, then carefully marked where the dados would go. Disassembed the sides and cut them.

I can understanding wanting to cut the dados after you glue the 4 side: so that you can ensure the dadoes are parrallel to one another and not risk moving them slightly after assembly. But the lock mortise? Why not do it first. I have serious doubts I could have fit the lock if I cut the them after the box was assembed. 

The tools to cut the dados for the till, and the mortise for the lock. I love my veritas router plane.

You can see my dado diverged from my pencil line. The pencil line was off. I used a square and knifewall, the chiselled out the waste. Finished with the router plane to guaranteed equal depth.

Those cross grain shaving. 

Pretty good results. I drilled the barrel part of the keyhole with a drill (before I cut the mortise), but I didn't see instructions on how to cut the key part. I ended up using a saw file. It went easy because the poplar is pretty soft. It was also sloppy, but gets hidden by the escutcheon.

Time to make the molding. This might have been my favorite part. I ripped the molding to width on the table saw. Then I used my marking gauge to mark 1/2" down the length. Then I just plane down to that mark with my #4. Of course I had to move my clamps a few times.  I also used my block plane in a few places to remove any facets.

It ended up having a slight camber to it instead of a hard straight line. I was absolutely fine with that. Schwarz's advice to make a full length as opposed to 3 individual pieces was spot on. It would have been trouble trying to make 3 different pieces all the same. 

Time for miters. This might have been my least favorite part.  I made a quick miter box to match my tenon saw. Instructions on how to do that here: https://woodworkingmasterclasses.com/2014/09/poor-mans-mitre-box/.  My results were lackluster (as you will see), I tried to make the box a few times. I know that this should get you a good approximation of 45 and you should finish on a shooting board. However, I have doubts that I can make an accurate shooting board if I can't make a better miter box. I will eventually make one, I just didn't have the wherewithal  to do it in the middle of this project. 

Not very good. This was the worst of them though. 

So then I had this brilliant idea that I would glue the trim together by itself. I used shims to adjust the angles so the miters were tight, and then used tape to clamp the joints shut while the glue set. This did give me fairly good joints, but the angles were so far off that there's no way I could then nail/glue the trim to the box. The trim was out of square by about an inch over the length. 

I got it done anyway. I used a file to somewhat correct the angle on the miter. I glued and clamped it as best I could. The box is 90% done now. 

Here's a shot of the inside: Note the hinges. I actually bought uneven strap hinges from lee valley, but I got the wrong length (9" instead of 7').  I decided not to reorder the correct ones, because it would be sort of putting lipstick on a pig. I had these other hinges but they were bright silver, and that didn't really match. But I used a propane torch to blue the hinges. I think it worked pretty well. What didn't work so well was my choice of screws. I tried reaming out the holes, but they still don't sit flush, as a result the lid doesn't close quite all the way without a little effort. 

The ugly corner. In addition the bad miter, i also chipped off some edges of my dovetails when I was planing them. Yikes!

Looks OK on the inside.

The inside I used 2 coats of BLO. Potato quality picture, but the knot and the grain pairing worked out well, I think. 

I painted it flat black with some extra paint I had.

I'm not sure where I want to put it, or its purpose. Maybe by the fireplace. 

Another picture from the inside. I don't like the way I attached the chain. I wasn't really sure how to do it. But I saw a really nice way in another build album, see vistacruiser's build. 

Obligatory pet photo. Solomon was a bit sad I didn't participate in the pet project  on Reddit. He thinks maybe we could use the box to hold piles and piles of dog treats.