maples box with 4 pix

[Tom Sontag]

I have always admired the grid paintings by Piet Mondrian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian). With them in mind, I made this box using a number of different samples of maple: curly, spalted (with and without ambrosia beetle stains), straight ambrosia, and burl.

I made veneers and laminated both sides of some 1/4" MDF. Then I assembled sized pieces with the katalox frame elements. Katalox is a Mexican timber that is hard and close grained with a tendency to tear out. There were lots of glue-ups. To unify the colors a bit and deepen both woods I used garnet shellac for the finish. I am happy with how that part came out; the photos are not enhanced.

It is about the size of a larger cigar box. It is not attached to the katalox stand. I put a bead of silicon caulk on the stand to keep the box from slipping around.

Open:

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w188/SirDoofus/maples%20box/maplesboxopen.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w188/SirDoofus/maples%20box/maplesboxopenback.jpg

Wooden hinges:

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w188/SirDoofus/maples%20box/maplesboxback.jpg

From the front the handle disappears into the design:

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w188/SirDoofus/maples%20box/maplesboxcorner.jpg

[David Christopher]

Tom, that is a beautiful box and alot of work..great job.....thats one way to get rid of scraps

[Cody Colston]

Outstanding! I love the random design, the base, the hinges, the finish...great job.

[John Keeton]

Very, very nice!! To be so random, the color and pattern of the veneers really works - actually, it is exceptionally well done! Great job on the hinges, too.

[Jim Rimmer]

Fantastic box! Nice work. The stand looks great - I would make it part of the box.

[John Thompson]

Looks great.. I love the base and feet and the wooden hinges as you did a nice job. I'm going there soon on wooden hinges as I have never used them but that is going to change.

Well done all around...

[Jack Camillo]

Wow. That is fantastic art in my book. Thanks for sharing.

[Ed Sallee]

Outstanding! I love the variety of maples and how you put them in to the design of the box. The base looks very nice as well.

Nice work!

[John Timberlake]

This is great. Give me a feeling of Japanese Shoji screens. Very nice choice of the different woods to give a pleasing look. Love the base as it adds to the Oriental appearance.

[Ray McGrath]

Beautiful box, reminicent of stained Glass.

Ray

[Jerry Murray]

Excellent job! Love the variety of woods used and the hinges. How did you make your hinges?

[John W Dixon]

That is outstanding! I absolutely love the look of this. Great job!

John

[Jeff Mohr]

Fantastic!

[glenn bradley]

How fun. That is a great looking piece.

[Zach England]

Very Beautiful. Pardon my ignorance, but which panels have the amborsia beetle stains?

Have you ever used that concept in furniture?

[Jerry Murray]

You said that you made veneer from the various pieces. How exactly does one make veneer?

[Clara Koss]

wow love the closures!!!!

[Tom Sontag]

Thank you for the nice comments. I do appreciate them.

The hinges: they are hand carved. I have made a couple in the past and continue to perfect the hole drilling part. In this case the holes came out fine but maybe I could have allowed the hinges to open a tad further. It stays open, so all is well.

Ambrosia maple: ambrosia beetles crawl through maple and (alledgedly) there is a fungus on their legs which stain the wood. Google Image search for "ambrosia maple lumber" will show this effect. The first picture shows some on the underside of the lid on the large square piece, slightly spalted (colorful). The little dark circles are the holes she makes burrowing into the wood. The upper right piece on the front (same picture) is an end grain ambrosia piece, dominated by the darker colors of the staining.

Veneering: way more info out there than I can summarize, but resawing 1/16" slices on the bandsaw is the starting point. A drum sander for final thicknessing is important to me too.

I agree about the oriental look. It started to look like that which is why the stand's legs got the flare.

[Zach England]

I think it looks like a great 1:20 prototype for a coffee table.

[Richard Dooling]

This is great stuff! I also am a fan of Mondrian and this piece is a very nice homage to his aesthetic.

[Jim Becker]

THAT is really kewel! Wow.