walnut birdseye maple shaker box

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Oliver Springs, TN
Here's my latest shaker box. It's a #5 size, which is the largest I've made. It's around 9 x 6 inches. As the title implies, the box is walnut that I left a little sapwood showing. The top is birdseye maple. I got the maple from home depot.

I didn't say it to start with but the top is bookmatched.
 

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Thanks guys

They had the one board Larry. It was a 1x6 that was about 8 feet long. It had a big knot about 2 feet from one end. I had one of the lumber guys cut the knot out so I didn't have to pay for it. It ended up being around a 1x6x6ish.

They stock red oak, maple, and poplar. Sometimes you find a diamond in the rough so to speak. Anytime I'm there I swing by the lumber section to see if they have anything like this mixed with the regular stuff. Every so often you get lucky. I was there the other day and they had a good looking piece of curly maple, but it was only a 1x3 so I passed on that one.
 
Beautifully done, John. :clap: Your Borg sure has nicer wood than mine. :p I've found a few curly pieces, but nothing this nice. I don't think mine would cut a knot out of a board and lower the price, either. All of their hardwood (the limited amount they have) is price tagged and bar coded. (I think it's all coming from Georgia-Pacific.)
 
Real sweet John! What is the inside look like? Do you steam the wood to wrap around a mold? Veru well done!

Thanks for the nice comments. They're fun to make and make great gifts.

Jim, the finish on the inside is just a couple of coats of shellac. On the outside I used two coats of shellac followed by three coats of Enduro-Var by general finishes that I brush on with a foam brush. I let that dry for a few days and then hit it with a coat of Renaissance Wax.

Here's a shot of the inside. The bottom is white pine.

shaker box 007 (Medium).jpg

I got the forms for my smaller boxes #0 - 4 from John Wilson at http://shakerovalbox.com/. I decided to make this one and I used MDF. I coated it with several coats of shellac.

shaker box 010 (Medium).jpg

I also got this pan from John. I put the pan of a hot plate and soak the bands in hot water for 20 to 30 min. before bending them around the forms. I have a friend who's an HVAC guy. I'm thinking about trying to scrounge up some copper sheet and get him to make me a larger pan.

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That Enduro Var is one nice product! That is pretty much my finish of choice for clears. That is the finish on the cherry kitchen I am building right now and what is on their floors.

One suggestion I would make though. You may consider going to homestead finishing products and getting one or two of Jeff's waterbase golden taklon brushes. They lay down that finish smooth as glass. minimal to no brush marks. I found the foam brushes tend to drag a bit especially if you try to go back over a spot that didn't take.
Easy clean up too!
 
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