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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Townsville, Nth Qld
    Posts
    4,236

    Default Purple heart / huon pine jewellery box

    Made this jewellery box for one of my daughter's for Xmas, and was still fitting hinges at 6am this morning. It is the box that didn't want to be made, resisting me at every turn over the past 12 months. Virtually has to rebuild it two or 3 times in places. Mostly my poor workmanship, not taking enough care.

    The measurements are 100 x 200 x 300 and the wall thickness is 8mm. Because of the thin walls, I had to fit the 6 x 35 mm strap hinge flush with the inside edge, and ground the rounded ends of each hinge flat for a better appearance.

    The huon pine lid was resawn from a larger piece, and separated with a loud bang like a pistol shot. A highly stressed piece of timber, but came up well. My daughter particularly like the appearance of a constellation in the grain "the big bang constellation". It is floating in a 4mm wide slot around the top of the box sides, and the grain patterns change with the viewing angle.

    The mitred joints are epoxy glued, without keys or hidden splines

    Finished with Kunos #244 oil, and the base liners for the tray and the box are suede mat board, epoxied into position. Normally I use double sided tape, but it would not stick to the oiled base.

    in some of the photos below it is difficult to distinguish between the corners of the tray and the black suede lining. That's exactly how it is without the camera.

    Gift was delivered at lunch time today, very well received

    Merry Christmas everyone, and I hope 2018 brings you lots of happiness and satisfaction with your woodworking

    P1700322 (Large).jpg P1700296 (Large).JPG P1700323 (Large).jpg P1700313 (Large).jpgP1700318 (Large).JPGP1700311 (Large).jpgP1700292 (Large).jpgP1700330 (Large).jpg
    regards,

    Dengy

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Mornington Peninsula
    Posts
    2,741

    Default

    Very nice.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Darkest NSW
    Posts
    3,198

    Default

    Beautiful job - well worth the effort

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Blue Mountains
    Posts
    813

    Default

    Excellent job. Congrats on your craftsmanship. I haven't use purpleheart. Does it retain that colour over time?

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Mornington Peninsula
    Posts
    2,741

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ajw View Post
    I haven't use purpleheart. Does it retain that colour over time?
    The question is, where can you buy Purple Heart from?

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Townsville, Nth Qld
    Posts
    4,236

    Default

    cava, I got mine a couple of years ago at Trend Timbers, near Richmond in NSW. Not cheap, but my wife spotted it and wanted it.

    ajw, it is quite a hard and somewhat brittle timber, and I believe it eventually turns grey over a long time. Interesting timber in that when you cut or plane it, it does go grey, but recovers its beautiful deep purple colour when exposed to UV (sunlight) over a few days.

    The Kunos oil definitely made it come to life.
    regards,

    Dengy

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Mornington Peninsula
    Posts
    2,741

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dengue View Post
    Not cheap, but my wife spotted it and wanted it.
    Moral of the story, take your wife shopping for exotic timbers.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Gosford nsw
    Posts
    14

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    Quote Originally Posted by cava View Post
    Moral of the story, take your wife shopping for exotic timbers.
    My wife bought a cutlery service for our youngest son and his wife. Unfortunately it came in a cardboard box, so I was commissioned to make a wooden box from Tassie oak. I decided to make box coming joints which I hadn't made for about 50 years. Haven't finished it so the cutlery will be delivered tomorrow and the box finished as time allows.




    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 1999
    Location
    Westleigh, Sydney
    Age
    77
    Posts
    9,542

    Default

    Great result there Dengue. The thin sides always make for a nice looking box, and the choice of timbers is excellent. Did you cut the slots for the hinges by hand?

    A couple of purple heart boxes I made 15 years ago have retained their colour.
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  11. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Darkest NSW
    Posts
    3,198

    Default

    So......is the general consensus that if you finish purple heart with Kunos (or similar) and keep it in a normal position with typical exposure to light, it'll retain the colour? Never tried any myself, but seeing this box makes me interested to have a go. It would look nice paired with some figured rock maple, methinks.

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Darkest NSW
    Posts
    3,198

    Default

    Ah....just found this, which suggests there is a bit more to keeping the colour

    "When freshly cut the heartwood of Purpleheart is a dull grayish/purplish brown. Upon exposure the wood becomes a deeper eggplant purple. With further age and exposure to UV light, the wood becomes a dark brown with a hint of purple. This color-shift can be slowed and minimized by using a UV inhibiting finish on the wood. For more information, see the article Preventing Color Changes in Exotic Woods."

  13. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Townsville, Nth Qld
    Posts
    4,236

    Default

    Did you cut the slots for the hinges by hand?
    Thanks for the kind comments, Alex, I really appreciate them. Started cutting the slots out on the router table, a la SmartHinge style, got it wrong, needed to trim the 2mm outside edge with a chisel along its 30mm length. The 6mm strap hinge was actually 6.4mm wide, unlike the others of this make I have used previously. There was a bit of overhang on the inside of the box I didn't worry about, in too much of a Xmas rush. "She'll be right". Glued the suede mat bases overnight.

    T'was the morning before Christmas and at 6am I went to put the tray in, take photos of the finished article and gift wrap the box, when I found the tray wouldn't fit properly because of the overhanging hinges. Well, it would fit, if you didn't mind the scratches down the ends of the tray.

    Next 4 hours this morning spent removing the hinges, drilling and plugging the 8 screw holes with 2.5mm bamboo skewers, very carefully widening the four areas for the hinges to sit on the top of sides using a very sharp chisel, then drilling new holes, tapping and fitting hinges again.

    Then photographing, wrapping and delivering. Been a long morning that cut badly into our cleanup for visitors tomorrow.

    Merry Christmas Alex, looking forward to more inspiration and lessons from your work in 2018
    regards,

    Dengy

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Buderim qld
    Posts
    842

    Default

    That Huon pine lid has a lot of character and contrasts well with the PurpleHeart. Persistence paid off.

  15. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Dundowran Beach
    Age
    76
    Posts
    19,922

    Default

    One very spiphphy box indeed!!

    I have to agree with all the above comments, especially regarding the thin sides and that wonderful Huon lid!!

  16. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Valla Beach
    Posts
    1,185

    Default

    Hey there Joe

    I love that box, very nice indeed. I can say that Purple Heart is a very hard timber. I come by a 2 meter length of it by about 280mm x 40mm, a couple of months ago. I am currently making two guitars from it. Check out my WOP in the Guitar section. I must put a couple more pics in there, as I have progressed somewhat since the last pics. I am not sure if I will try a box from my leftover offcuts due to the hardness of that timber. I'll see. When I was down at Mal's (Boutique Timbers) some weeks ago he reckons a length that size would be worth $400 to $500, so its certainly not a cheap timber.

    Great looking box Joe,

    Paul

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