Tea chest and Tea Pot Box - critique?

[Mike Minto]

Here's a few photos of a box, about 20" high by around 7 inches square I made for a friend's wife. It was to hold tea in the drawers, and a teapot or two near the top and on top. Lacewood, ebony and walnut. Critiques welcome. Mike

[John Keeton]

Mike, that lacewood sure makes for a dramatic look! I noticed that on at least one of the drawers, the grain on one side appears to run vertical, and on the other side horizontal. Has this presented a twisting problem for you? It would seem that the wood movement differential could cause a problem, although the drawers are so small, it may not.

Otherwise, very nice looking project!

[Mike Minto]

John, actually, this was made a good 4 years ago; just found the photos sitting around. I hadn't done much woodworking at that point, and probably didn't even notice I had done that. Oops! Mike :o

[John Keeton]

Mike, I would say that after four years and no complaints - my guess is that everything did fine!

[David Keller NC]

Mike - John's right on this - it's a bit of a no-no to orient grain in a drawer side/end or front in the vertical direction. Besides the expansion/contraction of the grain causing issues with the drawer fitting in the case (the grain will expand/contract a great deal in the across-grain direction and very little along the length), the grain is quite weak in this orientation.

As John noted, though, very small drawers can sometimes be done "wrong" and still stay together for a very long time because the wood movement is over a very small dimension.

My only comment from a design criteria would be that I would've considered putting feet on the bottom of the case. Because the piece is vertically oriented (i.e., a tall aspect ratio), and a fragile and potentially heave item is to be placed on the top, feet help insure that the case will not rock slightly on the base, which might cause a tip-over when a drawer is pulled in/out.

That's are really nice use of wood grain and contrast with the pulls, and a quite nice modern-style design. Much of the "modern" or "studio" design I see is underwhelming - this one's quite good (and maybe worth a few reproductions in different wood combinations).

[mike holden]

Mike,
I think that looks terrific!

and, if you dont mind, I will make a near copy for my wife.
We bought a special teapot in China, and this would be ideal for storing/showing off in our kitchen.

Nice design and execution.
Mike

[Mike Minto]

Mike, please do make a repro - and if you do, I'd love to see a photo of it. I really like working with tropical hardwoods - the colors and design's hidden by nature under the bark are simply amazing! They are kinda expensive and usually hard to work with for varying reasons, but the results can be well worth the 'trouble'. Thanks to the rest of you for the comments and advice on building drawers! Mike

[David Keller NC]

Mike - If you like woodworking DVDs, it might be worth checking out a copy of Rob Cosman's "Drawermaking: The Professional Approach" out of the local library. Some like Rob, some don't, but there's a lot of good info in this DVD.

[Jerry Murray]

Mike, the lacewood is beautiful.

I've looked at what John was talking about with the vertical and horizontal grain pattern and am really trying hard to see what he sees.

Lacewood is one of those woods that I would like to work with...how is it to work with?

[Roger Warford]

Mike, Very nice. Incredible wood!

Jerry, look at the second picture. You can clearly see the vertical grain on the far side of the drawer on the left.

(Edited to add the critical phrase "vertical grain"!)

[Mike Minto]

Jerry, i found lacewood kind of a pain to work with - i mean, it machines well in some cases (table saw) but not well in others (planeing can cause the wood to pit, or chip out pieces). needs alot of sanding if that happens; once you put a finish on a nice, smooth lacewood surface, however, you'll find it worth the effort - really smooth, shimmery - hard to believe that beauty is covered up in bark - and i wonder what the bark looks like! mike

[Dana Nurmela]

Mike,

Excellent work. That lacewood really shines. I too have used it in the past and agree that it is somewhat difficult to work with when using certain tools. Obviously by seeing your finished project, it was definitely worth it!

[John Thompson]

Very beutiful lacewood grain... I love it but it doesn't love me. I tried it about 20 years ago and it's the only wood I have been allergic to... so far anyway. So.. it doesn't like me as I had some pretty heavy rash.

If that was going to be a free standing piece I would have probably put some base or feet on it but... just a matter of how and where the recipient was going to display it would have been the determining factor of yes or no.

Again.. eye grabbing grain and finish.

Sarge..