Thread: Silky oak & rose mahogany gift box

That is totally awesome, Alex. Beautiful timber, amazing design and construction, well done

A small question, where is the silky oak?

I don't dare ask how you bend timber like that

Thanks Dengue. The silky oak is the main timber, but it southern SO, so it doesn't have the big medullary rays that the northern has. The 'wings' are coopered, not bent, but they don't have parallel sides.

Now that is different!!

Beautiful and unique box Alex!!

Really like this box.

Very striking design, and beautifully made to boot.

Excellent.

Steven.

Wow
That looks fantastic.
Looks like a box with in a box.
Could you give us some more information on how you went about making it.
Especially the splayed out sides.

Thanks folks, glad you like it.
Simplicity, the angles for the sides were calculated using the attached compound mitre spreadsheet, which can be used for any number of sides.

The sides were cut on the table saw from material that was wide enough to include the 'wings' plus losses from bevelling them to give the folds. Then I ripped them to the height of the sides of the box proper. The remainders were then cut freehand on the bandsaw, with the table tilted, to give the 'folds'. These then had to be planed. I used the bandsaw because the sides of the staves in the folds aren't parallel, they are cut at random angles, but they could have been done on the table saw using a jig.

I glued the sides to the folds using masking tape to clamp them, then trimmed the ends by paring with a chisel. The final glue-up was also done using masking tape as a clamp.

One thing to be careful of when lining the bottom is that you don't get glue or oil on it. I wrap the bottom with glad-wrap before the glue-up, so you have to be careful that it's not too tight a fit in the slots in the sides. If you do this, when the box is completed and oiled, you can carefully pull the wrap up through the slot. You may need a pair of small forceps to pull the last of the film out if it tears off.

Hope this helps.
Compound Mitre Angles (version 1).xls

Thanks Alexs
That's great

You've got too much time on your hands Alex. Fantastic and unusual bit of work.

Hi Alex

a most stunning design

the corners appear to be mitred. Are they reinforced with splines ? or were you really tricky and used mitred dovetails ?

Originally Posted by ian

Hi Alex

a most stunning design

the corners appear to be mitred. Are they reinforced with splines ? or were you really tricky and used mitred dovetails ?

They are mitred, and they aren't reinforced. Usually I use slipfeathers, but decided to chance it this time, as the wood is very stable.