6 Attachment(s)
Ebony Macassar Box - Work in Progress
Recently I saw a Victorian-era ladies travelling box, veneered with Coromandel. The richness and glow of the timber was almost luminous.
Coromandel was reported as being logged out by around 1900; however, Macassar Ebony is very similar and knowing I had a few (very few) pieces of this veneer I decided to make a small box:
Attachment 459919
Not enough to do the whole box, but I could stretch it if I put my one and only piece of Zircote veneer on the back -
close enough a match to get away with it I hope!
Attachment 459920
The available veneer means the box is around 260mm wide by 170mm from front to back and 75mm tall. Given the limited material a four-corner match was not going to be possible, but then this is only a prototype for something larger I plan to make later in the year.
Top PanelI started with the top panel, veneering both sides of a 6mm ply panel. The inside of the lid will be lined, so the balancing veneer is nothing special. For anyone new to veneering thin panels, it is important to veneer both sides - if you don’t the panel will curl like a banana!Two strips of the Ebony Macassar were bookmatched to form the outside top panel (shown here under waxed paper)
:Attachment 459921
and glued with Titebond 2. A ‘sandwich’ was made of (from the bottom up) 25mm MDF, cork tile to ensure the pressure is spread evenly, waxed paper to stop the glue sticking to the cork, then the veneered piece, more waxed paper, cork and MDF. Off into the book press for a couple of hours (maybe a bit longer in this cold weather):
Attachment 459922
The end result:
Attachment 459923
To give it a little protection I put a couple of coats of Neil’s Hard Shellac on the panel. It also gives a good indication of what the box may look like at the end (I hope!)
Attachment 459924
Happy with that so far. More soon - the carcass will be next....
Brian