Boxes 5 of 7

My kitchen is nearly done, so I'm back to making stuff. We have 5 more retirements at the end of the month, and here are the 5 boxes that I am working on. the outside dimension is about 5.5 x 8.5 inches, and 2 inches tall. The sides are Myrtle wood, the bottoms are ply inset into the sides by about 3/16 all of the way around. As you can see each corner is mitered. One shot shows a bag of the clamps that I used.

I cut key slots as shown in the picture for both looks and strength. The keys will be black walnut that I cut to fit the slots. I will cut the keys a tad oversize, glue them into the slots and cut them down flush prior to sanding the outsides.

Each lid will be a little different, and I contemplating building the hinges as part of the lid. More on that as I get one done.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

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.

Kitchen Remudel

I have posted anything new lately, as I'm in the throes of a major Kitchen remodel. Moved one wall 13" and taking the top half out of another. Actually, I finished putting up the stud walls today, both for a short one at 41" and another the full height of the room. But that is only part of the story as I had to move a lot of electrical service outlets. I also pulled the kitchen light switch out and put 2 three-ways in it's place. Part of the cupboards are down, with the remaining set waiting to be emptied. All of the upper cupboards need to come out so I can remove the soffits for the new cupboards, which are taller. Probably need to build a small step to get up to the higher shelves. Thrown out half of what was in a couple of cupboards cause it was old, some as far back as '89. While I know some people would use this stuff anyway, since I'm supposed to eat less, I might as well go for the better flavor. With any luck tomorrow I'll be getting some material to bring the additional floor space up to level, then add sheetrock to the walls. After that I may post a picture anyway. I still need to take the current ceiling texture down (embossed wallpaper) and scrap the popcorn of the roof in the dining and living rooms. At the last meeting of the Cascade Woodturners, Stuart Mortimer from England demonstrated how he turns spirals on the lathe. It was great to see such a gifted turner. While Stuart showed two traditional ways to create to spirals, he also showed the technique that he uses to get the job done quickly. I was indeed impressed. I will be attending the AAW Woodturning symposium next week in San Jose. And I'm looking forward to that. Enjoy, but be careful of the nails. Bill G.

Progress Report

I finally got back to my drawers for my shelving unit. I made the drawers 1 inch smaller than the opening width, but a full 12 inches deep to get the max space. I was unable to buy the full length slides at the store cause neither store had a set the length I needed, though I could have ordered them in. They also cost $16-18 a pair. So I kept looking around and found some medium duty slides at Lowes for less than $5 that were for 16" drawers, but since they were stamped channels and only two bearing each side I took a pair home to try them out. I started off by cutting 4" off the slides and drilling a new hole for the screw near the cut end. They did work, but not perfect. The catch to keep the drawer from coming all the way out limited travel to 6", which meant I only get to open the drawers half way. On the second set I used pliers to flatten the catch and the drawer can open all the way, but at that point it falls out. Neither scenario is good. Full length slides would be better. Another choice is to make my own guides. Later, if I'm feeling rich.

Anyway, here are two pictures, one showing the face, made from the same wood as the sides of the cabinet. The drawer sides are popular and the back is pine, cause that is what I had on hand.

Enjoy, but be careful of the splinters.

A Carved Cat

Finally, a real original design. I carved this cat, which is not painted yet, from my own sketches to give me a tall skinny cat. It is meant to be a folk art type piece and the eyes will be painted in. It is a simple design, but one that I like. I'll post it when I finish painting it so ypou can see the differences.

In addition, last Saturday I created this small box from cedar. I had issues that I expected using a router with cedar, mainly the tearing of wood chunks at the edges of the wood. Other than that, it looks good and I want to try this same box in a hardwood, which I know will hold up much better with the router. I used the video set from youtube for basic instructions and tried to follow his tips and suggestions. With a different wood, I'd like to try adding the border inlay that was shown, but was afraid the ceder would keep tearing due to its soft nature.

<

By the way, the box is 3"x3"x3". The rabbits and lid separation was done on the router, the mitered corners were done on the table saw. Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.