Pennsylvania Spice Box --Line/Berry inlay with French polish

[Mike Allen1010]

Here are some pictures of an all Neander Pennsylvania spice box modeled after one by Steve Latta in FWW.


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This is my second run at Line and Berry inlay, and I still haven't decided if it's worth the trouble. One of my biggest problems is I have difficulty getting uniform thickness stringing that consistently fits the groove. I know there are ways to do this -- I just haven't figured it out yet.

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This was my first attempt at inlaying letters that had some curve to the font -- this is something I will be sure not to do again! I have inlaid letters with straight fonts before and it was fairly simple (although hard on the eyes!). These curves were a real handful for me. Carving the recess was doable, but trying to cut the veneer to fit the recesses was difficult. I did it by hand with an X-Acto knife. I think if I had a power scroll saw it would be easier.


I'm usually horrible with finishing -- I have a couple I can do reasonably and I stick with those. This is paded on blonde shellac over an oil/varnish mix, followed with paste wax. I use some rottenstone with water and a felt block before the final coat or two of shellac.

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This is the fourth -- fifth time I've used this finish and I'm getting better. I like the depth and gloss -- but up close you can still see the flaws in the shellac where I had drips/runs that I didn't scrape off well enough.


Next up are drawers. I have some Birdseye Maple I could use for solid drawer fronts (which is probably my preference) however I could go for some flashier looking veneer -- which way should I go?


BTW, I am thrilled to report that after 28 years of wedded bliss (mostly), I for the First time have a shop that doesn't also have to accommodate a car!


For the first time, both our boys are away at school and my wife and I just moved into a smaller place and I was able to lay claim on this one car garage space for my shop. Now for the first time my bench doesn't have to be pushed up against the wall at the end of the day -- and I even got a window!

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Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus!


Thanks for looking.


All the best, Mike

[Winton Applegate]

Mike,

Your photos of your very wonderful project are the kind of stuff that keeps me going.
Thanks !
After a day in the weird world of mediocrity and worse I came home and saw your project and it made my day.
It is good to know there are at least a few pockets of civility and gentility left out there beyond the horizon.

I am having a great time looking at your work is what I am trying to say.

A window ! You got me beat. Don't get me wrong, I have the best shop I have ever had now AND I don't have to wade snow to get in and out of it. I can just go to work in my bunny slippers, as a machinist friend of mine who works at home used to say. Come to think of it he had to wade snow to get to his shop then. OK I'll stop.

PS: I never thought a person could do such nice work with a bench that had round dog holes. Hmmm. :)

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

That's looking great, Mike. This one's been on my bucket list for too long now, and it seems like I'm always dealing with something else. My only quibble is the choice of the red and black for the berries - and that's more a personal aesthetic than anything.

For the drawer fronts, I feel like the birdseye maple you mention would be a little jarring with the darker wood unless you dyed it a little closer - I know some folks like that color combo, and it can look nice, but I feel like it would look funny with this piece.

You pulled this off really well though, and congrats on the shop space!

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I'm jealous you can leave all those tools out in the open - ever since I moved in with my now wife, the turtle tanks and the plants have brought the humidity to levels where that's a no go.

You mention the inlay and difficulty cutting the letters - I haven't done a lot of inlay in wood(the bit I've done the inlay material is MOP or similar) so I could be way off, but when I have, with inlaying veneer or thin woods, I'd be making paring cuts with chisels and gouges where ever appropriate to cut the inlayed piece if I wasn't sawing.

You're cutting the inlayed piece and then scribing the cavity to match, right?

Certainly a good job on a tough typeface - I'm not sure I could do better - all my inlay has been much simpler. (And I just now realize those are among the photos I lost)

[george wilson]

The spice box is very,very nice looking!!

You are having trouble getting consistent width stringing? You can buy accurate strips of wood from Stewart MacDonald guitar supply . If you want to make them yourself,there is a really nice brass little "thickness scraper" shown in the Diderot Encyclopedia(I think it's Diderot.) It essentially consists of a scraper blade held at an angle over a metal plate. The height of the scraper is adjustable by thumb screws located on top of and beneath the brass bar that the scraper blade is attached to. There are threaded rods coming up out of the lower plate. You thin out a little bit of the wooden strip on one end,then get hold of the strip and pull it through beneath the scraper. I wanted to make one but never did. It was pretty cool looking. Back when I was in an 18th. C. setting,it would have been handy for making purfling.

A guitar maker I met made strips by pulling wooden strips UP through the mouth of a Stanley plane. He had to make certain which way the wood wanted to be cut so the plane blade just didn't tear the strip. I am sure that this procedure had to be done incrementally with a sharp blade. An adjustable mouth plane would be helpful. He might have just adjusted the frog. I didn't ask. I also think the adjustable mouth would have to have the edge adjacent to the plane blade rounded some so it wouldn't scar the wood up.

Personally,I think the scraper jig described above would be better. Those old craftsmen knew what they were doing.

[Ron Bontz]

Beautiful work. My compliments.

[george wilson]

I'd be careful about using a mixture of finishes,like shellac over varnish. You might find the finish crazing in years to come. They used to call crazing "Chinese writing" many years ago.

[Gordon Eyre]

Beautiful spice box, I really like the book matched pair on the side. Your work is inspirational to us mere mortals.

[Lloyd Robins]

Wow! Very nice.

[Brett Robson]

That's fantastic work there! Even more impressive that you're doing it neander! Well done!

[mike holden]

George,
what about using a scraper like this one.

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I was told you made this one for scraping stringing to thickness.

Pics are from the 2008 Williamsburg conference.

Mike

[Chris Griggs]

Looking good buddy! Each of your projects is even better than the previous.

[David Weaver]

I forgot to comment to this after seeing it, which is flippant and rude given how nice the work is! Looks great, Mike, and congratulations on getting a dedicated shop - and one with some nice natural light at that.

[Steve Voigt]

Mike,
Holey Smokes. If you made that with a table saw, 'lectrical routah, and a plaid shirt, it would still be an amazing accomplishment. Making it all neander style is truly stunning. The workmanship is fantastic, and the finish looks great too.
I really like the look of your shop. I even forgive you for being a trojan fan. :D

-Steve

P.S. I think you have a saw addiction. The first step is admitting you have a problem…:p

[Mike Allen1010]

Thanks guys for the feedback -- much appreciated!

George, I appreciate your caution about putting shellac over an oil and varnish finish -- I will keep an eye on this to see how it does over time. It would be a real bummer to get the "Chinese writing" you described.I also appreciate the advice about where to get accurate strips of wood from Stewart MacDonald guitar supply - this is something I would much rather pay for than spend my time making.

Josh, I decided to make the berries red and green -- sort of a Christmas theme, primarily because my wife liked it and I enjoy a little bit of color now and then.I also appreciate your comments about making the drawer fronts from Birdseye walnut. Now that I look at it I think you might be right that the color contrast would be two charring. I guess I'll see what kind of burl veneer I might be able to find that's a little closer in tone/color to the walnut. there is a hidden compartment for a small box behind the central door opening that is accessible from the back. It might be the perfect opportunity to use some scraps of Brazilian Rosewood I have left over from some toolmaking projects.

Mike, your scraper jig for thickness veneer looks like just the ticket! Do you clamp the jig to the benchtop and then set the thickness of the veneer by adjusting the height of the blade with the wing nuts?

Dave, the moldings were made with the HR planes I got from you -- thanks!

Chris, I'm still trying to come up with the taglineas half as clever as your's: "Always be yourself.... Unless you can be one of the X-men, than always be an X-men...." Always makes me laugh!

All the best, Mike

[Chris Griggs]

T
Chris, I'm still trying to come up with the taglineas half as clever as your's: "Always be yourself.... Unless you can be one of the X-men, than always be an X-men...." Always makes me laugh!


Well, I didn' actually come up with it. Stole it form the internet and just tweaked it to say Xmen instead of Unicorn.

I'll try to find or come up with something for you:)

[Chris Hachet]

Beautiful spice box, I really like the book matched pair on the side. Your work is inspirational to us mere mortals.I consider myself a mere mortal, and yes, your work is awe inspiring!

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

A couple of versions of stringing jigs here (http://www.ktproductions.co.uk/blog/?page_id=49) and here (http://media2.fwpublications.com.s3.amazonaws.com/PWW/NewToolsfromOldPlane.pdf). The "adjustable" one using an old plane frog in the link from PWW (the second one) is pretty neat.

A quick look at thicknessing jig at Lie Nielsen (http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?cat=549) makes it look like a doable thing too. I know I saw a thing similar to what George discusses in FWW or PWW, but can't for the life of me think about it. I feel like it used a card scraper, and I remember a picture of pulling the piece through with broad flat vise grips. . . .

But I agree - if you aren't doing a lot, or aren't looking to use a very particular wood, the pre-thicknessed stuff from places like Stew Mac or LMII is the way to go.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Ah yes - it was issue 232 of Fine Woodworking, Michael Fortune's article he has a thicknessing jig that I was thinking of.

Ever since FWW redesigned the website, if you want to find a particular article in a recent issue, it's frickin' impossible. You can find the article online, but without a digital subscription, you can't see it. But the old site used to at least say "from issue 233" or whatever. The index available online doesn't seem to have anything recent in it.

[Jim Paulson]

Nice work Mike. I love the inlays and you inspire me to want to tackle a project like this.
Kudos on your new shop and how organized it looks.

Jim

[Zach Dillinger]

Beautiful work!!

[Mike Allen1010]

A couple of versions of stringing jigs here (http://www.ktproductions.co.uk/blog/?page_id=49) and here (http://media2.fwpublications.com.s3.amazonaws.com/PWW/NewToolsfromOldPlane.pdf). The "adjustable" one using an old plane frog in the link from PWW (the second one) is pretty neat.

A quick look at thicknessing jig at Lie Nielsen (http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?cat=549) makes it look like a doable thing too. I know I saw a thing similar to what George discusses in FWW or PWW, but can't for the life of me think about it. I feel like it used a card scraper, and I remember a picture of pulling the piece through with broad flat vise grips. . . .

But I agree - if you aren't doing a lot, or aren't looking to use a very particular wood, the pre-thicknessed stuff from places like Stew Mac or LMII is the way to go.



Josh, thanks a lot for taking the time to share the links to several different inlay thicknesser referrences - all the ones you posted look like they would work much better than what I was using.

Josh, it's exactly the spirit of sharing knowledge and information on topics you're really interested in (like the links you posted), that makes the Creek so cool!

Thanks again!Cheers, Mike

[Bob Jones]

Mike, seriously nice projects! Spice box, bench, tool storage. I'm waiting for the right project to find inlay, but it takes a while when you average 2 projects a year! :)

[Andrae Covington]

Very nice. I don't mind the colored berries... something different that says you made it. As for the drawer fronts, I wonder if something in the same tone as the frame around the door, but more figured grain.


Mike, seriously nice projects! Spice box, bench, tool storage. I'm waiting for the right project to find inlay, but it takes a while when you average 2 projects a year! :)

Two?! What a speed demon.;)

[Benji Berry]

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I have been a follower of the Laser/engraving forum and thought I would share something wooden on the wooden forums! LoL! This is a door I engraved for a friend building his own PA Saltbox for his daughters wedding present. He made several attempts at the stringers, but wasnt happy with how the joints came together. I scanned the drawings and made a hi-res template for him. I also engraved for lettering and cut out the letters in Holly for him. A perfect fit. Still waiting for the finished piece to have good pics of.


Benji

[Benji Berry]

Completed door and the rest of the box created by my customer.

[Mike Brady]

I can think of three possible solutions to your stringing thickness dilemma. First is to purchase the thicknessing blades from Lie-Nielsen, as I did, and make your own tool. http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee300/finefettle/IMG_0936_zpsa4cc1e05.jpg (http://s234.photobucket.com/user/finefettle/media/IMG_0936_zpsa4cc1e05.jpg.html)

Second is to use Jeff Miller's idea of using a plane frog and cutter, mounted to a block of wood. A third approach is to purchase your stringing pre-dimensioned from on-line resources. I have used the pre-made stuff and it is quite consistent and is available in long lengths for stringing table legs and long drawers. Let me know if you need sources.

Another tool I found valuable was a Swann-Morton surgeon's scalpel purchased on eBay. It is the super craft knife or marking knife.