Rodney

Thanks Glenn and everyone else for your kind words.
I thought of it and did just that on the one I built for my daughter but in the interest of keeping things simple decided to just nail the bottom on for this one. Cutting out the rabbets that were necessary for even this simple box can be challenging without the right tools. They can be done with nothing more than a hammer and chisel but are much easier with a tablesaw or router.
I debated whether I should build this box with hinges or an even simpler box that the machine just drops in. In the end I decided that though it was more difficult it was worth the extra steps to show people how to install the hinges.

This base was intended to be only a base, it's good for machines intended for display or machines fitted with a hand crank. If you want a lid you would need to make the base longer on the wheel side to clear the wheel. That would give you the extra compartment for the electrical box that you see on many vintage machines. I decided to keep things as simple as I could and still end up with a decent looking functional base so I designed the base without it. There seems to be a lot more machines floating around than there are bases or cases to go with them and I hope this helps people to decide those machines are worth saving too.

I strive for perfection but never quite reach it. This box is full of flaws. I think though that it meets it's goal of showing people that they can do something like this for themselves if they want to.

I do have a question. I've been looking on the internet trying to find suitable coverings to give a vintage look like the original boxes used from the 40s until plastic took over. So far I'm drawing a blank. Any ideas out there?
Rodney