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graemet
4th June 2006, 10:17 PM
My daughter dragged out a jewellery box that I made for her when she wasa little girl. At the time I thought it was something special but looking at it now, it's quite crude. So I thought I would have a go at making something a bit different than the usual finger joint or dovetail square sided box with brass hinges. I'd always liked the look of silky oak and the grain pattern suggested that curves might look better than straight lines. So here's my first attempt at a box for many years.
The corners are dowelled buttjoints, the sides curve and taper horizontally and curve vertically and the lid has a slight curve and slopes down from back to front. The hinges are brass 1/8" rod in blind holes in the sides and so the insides and lid edges had to be finished before the box was glued up. The finish was Hard Shellac buffed with EEE. This is my first foray into a wiped finish - why did I wait so long, what an easy way to go!!! (Thanks Neil for your excellent book.)
I wanted a white timber for the interior dividers to contrast with the oak and found some cottonwood, which seems to be ok, although I've not come across it before.
Dimensions are 22x14x7cm. I'll try something a bit bigger for SWMBO next.
Cheers
Graeme

Scally
5th June 2006, 01:19 AM
That was quick Graeme.
On Friday I thought you said you had just started.

How did you shape the sides?

The box looks very smart. Well done.

zenwood
5th June 2006, 11:00 AM
Looks great. Unfortunately the photos seem a bit too foggy to do it justice.

Be interested to see your daughter's original box, to see the evolution to this one.

RufflyRustic
5th June 2006, 02:31 PM
Hi Graeme,

Lovely box. Great hinges too - nice and easy, but you are so right about finishing that area behind the hinge/top before fitting the hinges - yep, got caught myself once :)

Looking forward to seeing your next box.

cheers
Wendy

BobR
5th June 2006, 04:04 PM
Nice looking box Graeme.

AlexS
5th June 2006, 09:53 PM
Came up well Graeme, bit of a change in size from your recent projects.:)

graemet
5th June 2006, 10:00 PM
How did you shape the sides?


Started with blanks about 17mm thick, planed a couple of tapers with my Stanley Bailey#4, then attacked it with my WASP, freehand until it looked right, then sanded up through the grits by hand with no backing block. Using 2 dowels (using my OziJig) on each joint allowed me to sand across the endgrain and get the joins smooth before I glued up.
Cheers
Graeme

Wardy
6th June 2006, 05:17 PM
Silky oak has a great grain pattern.Nice soft looking box.Great box Graeme
Cheers Wardy