small boxes

probably childs play for most here, but all the mitres, all the parts, all the routing, a lot of work.

made a spline jig, added splines, still working on them, have to add the feet to 2 of them.

I decided when I make anything small, I should make 3-6 at a time, this way if my daughter grabs one, and my future daughterinlaw grabs one, I will still have some left if my wife or another relative wants one.
I made four, but I had to dump the sides of one box, the spalted maple was just too punky and didn't do well when I started to cut mitres. I finished the top to the box, Ill just make another 2 or 3 when I finish these.
It will be 2-4 coats of Danish oil, followed by either em6000 spray laquer, semi gloss, or wipe on poly, depending on where Im at with the night stands and the outdoor temps. I don't want a lot of unfinished products backing up on me.

Im going to make a run into new jersey, to a place called boardandbeams, Ive ordered from them before, I like the thick full cuts of their rough lumber, but Ill pick it up this time.
My supply is finally going dry, except for cherry.

heres some pictures of where they are right now. I spun the handles, not spending money on hinges.using anything/hardwood I have on hand and is less than 36 inches long.they are full of sawdust, they need to be cleaned up.

I see nothing child like about those, they look nice. Seems like the hardest stuff to do is the little details and you've nailed those. Good work!

Nice! I like the design. I'd do a different finial (You know I don't generally do any lathe work), but otherwise they're great! Daughter, D.I.L (future) and Elen will all love them.

Those look sweet Alan. Would like to see them when you have some finish on them. Really like the wood color contrast in the second one.

Nice boxes Allen all the miters look spot on great job.

Jim DeLaney said:

Nice! I like the design. I'd do a different finial (You know I don't generally do any lathe work), but otherwise they're great! Daughter, D.I.L (future) and Elen will all love them.

Click to expand...

I made smaller ones, well, I attemped, twice they broke on me, and I wanted something that could lift the tops off, the next ones Ill give it another shot.

Nice job Allen. Multiples are a good idea.

Boy, if that's child's play, then I should probably never post anything here...

Looking good !!!!!!!!!

Nicely done sir!

Small boxes can be challenging. People pick them up, hold them, look closely at them - much more than the would do with a table or cabinet - so they need to be perfect in order to hold up under such intense scrutiny. Yours look to meet the challenge.

Nice work, Allen!!!

Your miters sir are on point!

Some of those are cute as a bug, looking forward to seeing the grain once you put the top coat on - they should really pop.

Well done and look nice. However, I can't say the mix of woods is to my taste.

I think these look very nice. Once you put a finish on them the wood will really stand out. Well done.

Frank Fusco said:

Well done and look nice. However, I can't say the mix of woods is to my taste.

Click to expand...

to be completely honest, this challenge for me was building the jigs, mitre and spline jigs, and trying to make something without many errors.
I used whatever pieces of wood I had under 36 inches, or split, or warped, cut out as much good as I could get.

I just found a piece of something, Im not sure, possibly sapele, cracked, around 18 inches wide, 24 inches long. Im going to cut it up and see if I get enough to make another box out of. Im cleaning up the wood pile. That piece has been sitting here since 2009. I believe I gave a 4 ft piece of that wide stuff to bob Gibson? when he was visiting once.
Eventually, Ill head over to the lumber yard and pick out some nicely figured matching lumber for another box or two.

heres some pics with 2 coats of Danish oil. Figure popped on one of them.

my first error I noticed, on the walnut box, I thought the small piece of lumber I thinned out for the splines was maple. Turns out I believe seeing the poor color of it it was poplar. Didn't even know I had poplar in the garage, so it must have been a scrap piece thrown in my loads way back when for free.
I wont make that error twice. Im throwing out the rest of the splines I cut.
(that one spline on the top right sort of has a greenish tint, the rest are ok, but I would have preferred maple, never really checked it that closely, it was white, and was mixed in the maple scrap shelf)
and for the next set of boxes, Im going to try to cut a little more shapely feet for them. Im not keen on using my bandsaw on such small pieces.
my wife is making me quilted pillows, very thin to put on the inside of each box, to cover the wood bottom.

in a few days when these boxes are ready, Im going to use wipe on poly, and between coats, I will put together some Adirondack chairs, pieces cut over the winter, no downtime.

The green in the poplar will brown up eventually - a bit of UV will speed that up nicely.

I like them, Allen. Great job. And I'll echo Rennie's comment about the fact that little boxes are scrutinized more than bigger pieces.

Vaughn McMillan said:

I like them, Allen. Great job. And I'll echo Rennie's comment about the fact that little boxes are scrutinized more than bigger pieces.

Click to expand...

theres less to look at. Im way past worrying about small errors. they happen when I woodwork, I try harder each time I build something to avoid them, Im not always successful.