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My wife had a jewelry box that started rotting and falling apart so she got rid of most of it. She's kept the drawers (no damage) for her earrings, which she has quite a bit of and she just keeps the drawers around and I want to fix that. Give her something to put the drawers in. They aren't very large, 5x5x1.5 roughly. Compared to what you guys make and post, this is easy, but some new items for me and stuff I know how to do: dovetail or box joints (these'll be new), dados and square cuts.

A general question for you all...should I get a miter saw, small bandsaw or a benchtop/worksite table saw? Storage space is limited, so I'd like to get the most versatile tool but they all have their drawbacks. The table saw will be a different battery system. The miter saw and table saw have pretty big footprints. Bandsaw is a new as I'm typing this consideration and haven't done research on it...this is probably the winner? What do you guys think?

My wife had a jewelry box that started rotting and falling apart so she got rid of most of it. She's kept the drawers (no damage) for her earrings, which she has quite a bit of and she just keeps the drawers around and I want to fix that. Give her something to put the drawers in. They aren't very large, 5x5x1.5 roughly. Compared to what you guys make and post, this is easy, but some new items for me and stuff I know how to do: dovetail or box joints (these'll be new), dados and square cuts. A general question for you all...should I get a miter saw, small bandsaw or a benchtop/worksite table saw? Storage space is limited, so I'd like to get the most versatile tool but they all have their drawbacks. The table saw will be a different battery system. The miter saw and table saw have pretty big footprints. Bandsaw is a new as I'm typing this consideration and haven't done research on it...this is probably the winner? What do you guys think?
[–] • 1 pt

Problem is all those saws have different specialties. You might as well add a jigsaw to the list of possibilities. The most versatile saw you could get would be a radial arm saw. A bandsaw is probably the least versatile on the list. There are dovetail bits that fit routers and Dremels. I would suggest checking out a tuber such as stumpy nubs for a good pro vs con rundown on new tools.

https://youtube.com/@stumpynubs

[–] • 0 pt

For joinery on such a small box, I think you will want to go for box joints. They will be easier to work with and you won't have to mess around creating small dovetails in thin wood where tear out will be a concern. As for saws, a small bandsaw could do well here, but making box joints on such a saw can be a bit of a problem as bandsaw blades can shift when making cuts.

Cheap, small bandsaws don't usually have great blade guides and the thin blades flex a lot which could lead to accuracy problems cutting miniature box joints. I'd just rough out the joints and leave extra wood to fix with files so you can fine tune the fingers and fit rather than just scarfing out the final joint and discovering you have bad fit and gaps afterwards.

It's good to have saw options if you do somewhat regular woodworking projects, but only spend the money for a new saw if you think you can get a return on it with other projects too. A laser cutter would be great here for making small boxes, but since this is a jewelry box and you probably want to use a nice hardwood, a laser cutter won't cut the denser, thicker wood. But if you want it made of 1/8" or 1/4" Baltic birch plywood, the laser cutter is your best bet.

[–] • 0 pt

I do believe that what you are really looking for is a scroll saw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoOzICLQ23g

[–] • 1 pt

I'm not a fan of scroll saws. I don't know if it was the teacher, saws the middle/high school had or a combination of both. I just don't enjoy using them. I always feel like I've created a lot of waste after using them and it wasn't really worth using it.

In fairness, I'm not a fan of table saws either...but I've only ever been around ones from the 1950s that sounded terrifying when turned on.