Craftsmanship in Wood

I haven't trimmed the wedges is because i like the way they look and because of that I may use this box for something else. Used as a stone pond/sharpening station, the wedges would certainly have to be trimmed flush.
The reason I'm not using glue/epoxy is that I'm just using this as a joint making exercise. I have a plastic tub I'm using now and it works great - it just doesn't have "cool factor" (I have so little cool factor in my life).

Paul
Your method of drawing tight the corner mortise and tenon joint is ingenious and very creative. You said you would probably eliminate the miter on the inside on future builds of the tray opting for a shallow dado but I like the miter since it puts equal grain on both sides. It may be more fiddly to execute but is very rewarding in the long run. Very nice job.
Jack

Is there a reason people don't want to use a marine epoxy to seal up the joints after assembly? Is that a sort of 2nd tier or 3rd tier-type work? Is that the Wal-Mart or Harbor Freight approach to water ponds?

I guess the question really is: do you trust your joinery to be water tight? Or...are you willing to take a chance that your joinery might be fine without recourse to adhesives and sealants? Water tight vessels have been made without glues and sealants for a very long time. Making one with joinery is very possible. Even if your joinery is slightly imperfect and the vessel leaks some small amount, is that amount of leakage going to be a big problem given that this is already a device which will be tending towards messiness and water spills from time to time?

If you made a wooden bathtub and it had a slight leak and lost a very slight amount of water, that doesn't mean it wouldn't be a perfectly serviceable bathtub. You won't know until you try it out. And if it won't hold water, it will surely be useful for something else and you can improve your technique next time around.

The sharpening pond shown here that I made did not leak at all. If I can do that then you can.

Here's a quick sketchup drawing for a mortised and wedged tenoned water box. The overall dimensions are somewhat arbitrary but I can't imagine needing to go much bigger for my needs. I'm open to any thoughts/suggestions as to design and construction. I was thinking of adding handles just like a tool box would have, and possibly a lid in the same vein as well.

I figure if it can't hold water I've got another tool box

I like your design Jon. I have a couple thoughts, I think the one on page two has those top pieces both to add strength to the top of the joinery against racking and to function as handles. I figure if it racks at all it will leak.

If you are building this with hand tools you may find through dados a lot easier to produce with accuracy.

I have found a break in a project to continue with a water pond project. On my last try I was using 2 wedges per corner to hold it all together but the whole thing was a bit "gangly". This time I wanted just one wedge per corner so I used extended tenons with a 5 degree angle that holds a dovetailed tenon on the other side. By tightening the wedge, not only does is apply force from the wedge but also prevents the other side from moving and even tightens to a certain extent. The angle on the "dovetail" is 7 degrees simply because I had a 7degree bit and I used it to cut the entire recessed area. That left 7 degrees on each side of the recessed area. I put a 7 degree bevel on the wedge as that acts to help "capture" the wedge. Overall I am very happy how the joint worked.

The pond is complete and I beveled 2 sides with corresponding grooves in 2 platforms for stones.

Awesome! That's very nice work Paul!

Awesome Paul! I like how you dovetailed the wedges to lock it on one side. Have you thought about cutting a shallow dado in the end panel to lock the other side of the wedge?

Today I assembled a water pond similar to the drawing that I posted previously. I changed the overall size but the general concept was the same. I aimed to make all the joints on the tight side and for the most part I think I succeeded, however one corner of the cedar bottom ended up getting a little thinner and as a result that corner has a leak. I tried to remedy that by tapping a series of wedges into the groove on the underside of the bottom. That seemed to stop the leak for the most part. I'll see how it looks in the morning when I return to the shop. Hopefully it will still be holding water

I'm also planning to attach handles and cap pieces as Brian suggested, and will likely make a top as well, in the same style as a Japanese toolbox.