re: Endgrain Box with lots of issues.

An interesting read Awsum,
I just goes to show with a little thinking inside the box you can produce some most attractive features.
Your skills and application of recovering from all the demoralising "glitches" reminded me of my Jewelery box finishing and cutting board chip outs, so I can relate first hand to the "roadblocks' that  seem to appear when working a little un conventionally.
Timber orientation being the biggest test of a persons KSA to overcome,
  along with (rant alert!)  our ever changing product suppliers.
Timbermate, various glues and tradition finishes changing names compositions and suppliers,  Sickens comes to mind  along with Liberon Products, and general rebranding from a know and recognizable product label, now add the introduction of the the micro dot technology used to show directions is a little maddening to say the least.
Almost making you be a budding Sherlock Holmes and have a magnification Glass in you back pocket when shopping these days.