jewelry box - pics

Messages
1,456
Location
Central (upstate) NY
I've been making a jewelry box for my wife. This will end up being my first functional fine woodworking piece if and when I ever get it done. I'm hoping to get the construction done next weekend and finishing done the weekend after that for a slightly late birthday gift (12 Sep - the local AF base put on a little air show for her birthday a few years ago :huh: ).

This weekend I took some pictures and did some error / flaw correction.

The base is cherry and the carcass walnut, both mitered, with a free floating, pre-finished (for me, it is a friend's Deft finished off-cut) cherry plywood bottom panel as seen here:

base_gluedup.jpg

carcass_gluedup.jpg

This is how it will look put together after some decorative work:

dry_preview.jpg

I plan on adding paduak splines to the carcass miter joints and possibly the base miter joint. The base is also going to be rounded over and core boxed to give it feet. I plan on making them real feet as opposed to just a core box edge treatment - I am planning to use a straight bit to remove 1/4" along much of the bottom of the base and then finish up the stock removal with a core box bit.

I am going to use a hinged lid and am as yet unsure what wood to use. I would need to check if I had cherry wide enough, I still have some of the original walnut board or I might use ash - but I wonder if ash is too much contrast. I'll put a piece of each on top and see sometime. The lid will be a solid panel, rounded over. If I spline the base I will also spline the lid. The base is a bit proud of the carcass - if I spline the base, I'll do some trial and error to get the base spline a little deeper than the carcass spline so that all of the splines line up to make a vertical line.

There is going to be a tray inside that can be slid to either side of the main box. The tray rails are along the long side of the box. I made the tray rail rabbets on my jointer. After I glued the carcass up I noticed the triangular gaps that can be seen above. I still had the 45 degree beveled piece of walnut that I cut the carcass from, so I zipped a little bit of the bevel off with my bandsaw to glue into those gaps like so:

gap_fix.jpg

I really need to get some ZCI's for my bandsaw - I also crosscut the walnut gap filling pieces to size with the bandsaw and the cut turned into a break halfway through each cut. I didn't feel like hauling out the oscillating spindle / belt sander for such a small job, so I walked to the shelf where it is stored in belt mode and gently rubber the ends of the gap filling pieces against the belt to smooth the ends off. I'll have some chisel work to smooth these bit off after the glue dries. The can of Bush Oil in the background will be used for finishing.

Being more of a tool collector than a woodworker right now, what is the best way to make the recesses for the hinge plates so that there is no gap between the lid and the carcass when closed?
 
jewelry armoire

Mark, the jewelry box is really taking shape. Sounds like you have put a lot of planning into it. I think the sucess of any woodworking project is because of the planning. Keep up the good work and let's see a pic of the finished product.

I am also in the planning stage of building a jewelry armoire for my wife. It will end up being a piece of furniture. I'm thinking along the lines of 41"hx22'wx16"d. It will have removable drawers, sides that hinge open to hang long stuff, drawer for ring storage and bigger drawers for lingerie.

I'm doing most of the design myself (i.e., not pattern) so it will be interesting to say the least. We'll see how all my advance planning pays off. Wish me luck.
 
Hi Mark, :wave:
Thanks for sharing the "gift for your Bride".:thumb: It is coming on well and taking shape nicely. Keep us abreast and good luck with your timetable.
( Hard to top an Airshow as a birthday present.:eek: )

Shaz
 
Yeah Mark...you got 'er done yet? Looking good so far. I went through a box-making phase a couple years ago, and they are a lot of fun...and a lot of challenge if you're detail oriented.
 
No, it is not done yet. However, I did add to my maple stash today. The stuff I milled (with a friend's help) today was from some upper tree parts after the first major bifurcation. I know that this will likely not dry flat and will require more work for final milling (jointing / planing) but it was free, and I'm thinking that I might rip it all into 2" wide strips when it dries for a bench top. At some point I need to go out and get an approximate measurement in board feet.

Back to the jewelry box, I did sand out the tearout - this has revealed a little bit of crossgrain on one of the miter joints, but I'm trying to tell myself that I shouldn't be expecting perfection for what is, essentially, the first project. I also chiseled off the excess from the triangular gap filler bit of walnut. I did kind of a butcher job of chiseling the crossgrain, but it doesn't look horrible and I think I am done fiddling with that particular aspect of the project. I'll add pics of this butchering at some point for completeness.

Thinking ahead to the next step of adding the splines into the miter joints (and purely decoratively into the top - I've decided on cherry for the top) would a glue line rip blade be an appropriate blade for cutting the splines? If so, could anyone recommend a good full kerf glue line rip blade that will give a flat bottom? Do such blades come in 12"?
 
Top