Curly maple knife tray

[lou sansone]

hello fellow WW's

here is a little project that I just finished. It is an 18th century knife tray. They seemed to have been one of those essential items that most households had to store their eating utensils in. They make nice organizers or display trays to put stuff in. I have made a few of them in the past. This one is a gift. They are a good simple project that takes your mind off more complicated projects ( tall case clock in this case ). It takes about 10 hours total to make one from start to finish, now that I have all the angles down. There are actually 4 different angles use the construction. The compound angle is the tough one.

enjoy
lou

[Doug Cowan]

Wow, that is impressive. It looks like it is on fire. How did you finish it?

[Richard Wolf]

Lou, beautiful job. How about those compound joints, are they dovetailed? If they are, I'm not sure if this is a less complicated project at all. That's a great project, I love making things like that. Every project can't be a huge piece or we will run out of room.

Richard

[Mark Singer]

Beautiful job and great wood!

[John Renzetti]

Hi Lou, Nice job. Now I understand why you sold your LT24 to Ben to get that 36" Moak. More resaw to handle those knife trays. Only kidding. :)
Vey well done.
take care,
John

[Tom Pritchard]

Beautiful work Lou, and a great finish on that maple! I'm anxious to hear what you finished it with. I love curly/tiger maple, and this is a great use of it. Great job!

[Lou Morrissette]

Great job, Lou. That finish realy made the maple pop.


Lou

[Corey Hallagan]

Wow, nice looking piece, that finish on the maple look beautiful.

Corey

[David Fried]

Lou,

That came out really nice. Looks really tight. The wood is beautiful. Like everyone else I'm curious how you finished it.

Dave Fried

[Jim Becker]

Curly, indeed!! You really popped it wonderfully, two...I assume with sanded off dyes, etc.

[Martin Shupe]

Beautiful Lou!

Please tell us, step by step, how you got that marvelous finish.

Really impressive!

[Bryan Nuss]

Beauty, eh? A really georgeous job, Lou. Details ... we want details!

[Jeff Sudmeier]

WOW! That figure in the wood is great! You have put it to wonderful use.

[lou sansone]

Lou, beautiful job. How about those compound joints, are they dovetailed? If they are, I'm not sure if this is a less complicated project at all. That's a great project, I love making things like that. Every project can't be a huge piece or we will run out of room.

Richard

Dear richard
The corners are not dovetailed. They are formed with a compound angle on all 4 pieces. The joints are cut somewhat like crown molding is. If you have done crown molding then you know what I am talking about, if you have not then you might be in for some fun. These boxes were always nailed together and this one is no exception. It would seem easy enough, but I assure you that it will present some real assembly challanges, as does nailing the bottom on. After building several of these I have found some methods that really help the process. I was actually thinking of submitting it to FWW for a small but challanging project.

[Keith Christopher]

Beauty piece, only comment I have is, did you think about using a contrasting wood for the handle ? perhaps some ebony or purple heart, maybe some wenge ? or perhaps some corian ?



oh and you never told us what finish you used. ;)

[lou sansone]

Beauty piece, only comment I have is, did you think about using a contrasting wood for the handle ? perhaps some ebony or purple heart, maybe some wenge ? or perhaps some corian ?



oh and you never told us what finish you used. ;)

that is a good idea, I might want to use some real dark walnut

lou

[David Fried]

I take it we will learn about the finish in Knife Tray Tour part 63. :D

[lou sansone]

Beautiful work Lou, and a great finish on that maple! I'm anxious to hear what you finished it with. I love curly/tiger maple, and this is a great use of it. Great job!

thanks for the complement. These knife boxes are about 9" x 13" x 4.5" and help to use up small scraps ( I used to burn a lot of this tiger in the fireplace)

lou

[Martin Shupe]

Lou,

Still looking for that "secret" finish recipe...

I can't find it in this thread either!

Any hints yet?

[Mark Singer]

Lou,

Very nice piece! Well crafted and the wood is beautiful!

[lou sansone]

Lou,

Still looking for that "secret" finish recipe...

I can't find it in this thread either!

Any hints yet?

here it is
here is what I have found to work for curly maple, after lots of experimentation - You have to have decent maple or else the rest is not worth a hill of beans.

I call this my "double dye process" I am not sure that I have ever seen anyone else use this exact method, but for all I know every one does but will not tell anyone how they do it.

1. sand to 220 grit
2. use a water base aniline dye - I use a mixture of honey amber maple and pilgram maple. mix to suit your taste. I think darker is better than lighter on the color. I make my dye the strength of very very strong tea. I always wear rubber gloves because it will stain your fingers brown.
3. brush on the dye. lots of it. rub it into the wood with a rag.
4. let it dry overnight
5. sand to get rid of the raised grain. Do not sand off the dye. Some folks do that, but I do not. I also do not play games with using different color dyes and sanding them back. If you have decent wood and the right base color the wood will do the work and not the chemistry lab.
6. brush on the dye again- same strength or possibly a little weaker or stronger depending on the first try
7. let it dry overnight
8. coat the whole piece with BLO thinned with turps or mineral spirits- soak it on and if you want you can use a sanding sponge and make gravy with the dust and BLO. Be carefull here - use super fine sponges
9. wipe off the excess
10. let it dry a few days
11. put 1 or 2 coats of orange or garnet shellac 1/2 lb cut on with a brush and sand between coats carefully - this is where you can ruin the piece by sanding through the dye
12. top coat with what ever you like - tung oil, poly soup mixture, more shellac- but use super blond , nitro lacquer, ....
13 put a few coats on of the top coat until you like the build
14. let the finish set a week
15. rub it out with 0000 steel wool and wax or what ever else you like to rub stuff out with
16. make a nice pot of coffee and sit and look at your piece for a while - think nice thoughts and all of that rot.
17. post a picture for us to look at on SMC<!-- / message -->

[Von Bickley]

Lou,

Great looking project with a super finish... ;)

[Vaughn McMillan]

... ( I used to burn a lot of this tiger in the fireplace)

lou
Just thinking about this comment almost brings a tear to my eye. It's such beautiful wood I'd have a hard time throwing any of it away, regardless of the size.

Beautiful knife tray Lou, with another excellent finish. Thanks for sharing.

- Vaughn

[Martin Shupe]

Thanks Lou, for posting the finish recipe! I'll have to give it a try, as your finishes are always beautiful.

I was beginning to wonder if it really was a secret. :D

[Bill Simmeth]

If you have decent wood and the right base color the wood will do the work and not the chemistry lab.<!-- / message -->I love this quote and the philosophy behind it!

[Dave Malen]

LOu,
That curly maple looks beautiful. You really brought out the grain. My favorite type of wood.

Dave

[Randy Meijer]

My Mom had a piece similar to that but somewhat larger and built with bird's eye instead of curly. She used it to hold her knitting supplies although i think it was originally intended to be a container for magazines and newspapers. It was made for her by a guy named Wagstaff out of Herkimer, New York. I imagine the guy is gone by now as he built it for her in the late 50's. He built a lot of furniture and worked exclusively in curly and b/e(to the best of my knowledge) and was pretty well known locally. I don't know if his rep extended beyond the local area......anyone ever heard of him??

Didn't mention it before; but nice work, Lou!!

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Wow...that's beautiful.

KC