Box 2 of 7

Another retirement tomorrow, so naturally I finished the box with very little time to spare. It currently is sitting open so that it will air out and dry.

The sides are myrtle and mitered together, birdseye maple trims the top of the box, maple is used in the keys I cut in the corners to get it a bit more strength. The lid is a myrtle frame with a piece of spalted maple fill in the center. Inside the lid is a layer of mahogany veneer to hide the sins. The hinge is a piece of birdseye maple that I rounded on the bottom then pinned with a brass rod. Inside I inserted a piece of green felt glued to cardboard. The top only opens vertical.

The lid was too thick in my mind so I made a 10 degree cut of the stiles before I put it all together, so the outside edge was thicker than the inside. After the lid was complete, but before I added the hinge piece, I decided to cut an angle on the outside at 36 degrees. This lightened the box up considerably.

The finish is as thin a layer of BLO I could get on, then a layer of a combination wax and walnut oil to protect it.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

Finished Box

Here are the pictures of the latest box I made. The sides and top are Myrtle wood. The legs are cherry, the hinges are from popular. The finish is BLO, then a walnut oil -shellac mix. The hinges have a dark walnut stain them. Inside I attached a piece of felt to cardstock ( cereal box ) with 3M spray adhesive and it is set in place on the bottom. The hinges use a hollow brass tube for the pivot. It was well appreciated by the new owner.

To make the hinges, I hand cut joints and did so badly I tossed them in the fire bucket and went to Rockler and bought a jig and spiral upcut router bits. They worked perfect and gave me the joint I was unable to cut by hand. I hand tooled the top of the hinges using a small bit in my Foredom.

I'm already working on another box for the next office retiree. At the end of September there will be 5 more people retiring. Maybe I shouldn't have started making boxes for people as they retire. Who would have known the office would provide an incentive. The good thing is no-one will get laid off next year. The following year is still up in the air.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

A Gift Box

I couldn't find the camera so I grabbed the tablet and took these two pictures to show some progress. The box is 1/2" myrtle wood with cherry corner posts and a myrtle wood top. I think the hinges are from maple, but I'm not sure. Each hinge has a brass tube for the pivot (fulcrum) and is 3/8" thick. As you can see in the second picture, no assembly has been done, nor is there any finish. I'm thinking of darkening the corner posts, to black, and using BLO on the rest of the box letting the color go where it may. The box is 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"

Enjoy and be carefully of the splinters.

For anyone that follows this blog, I'm almost done with the kitchen so I will be posting more often.