Another Box from Valsi PICS

[Mark Valsi]

Here's a little jewelry box I made for my siser in law. SHe's a nice gal, and part Italian to boot.

Top is from a nice piece of Walnut I found at Rockler's; inlay on the top is curly maple.
the frame is bird's eye with a bubinga inlay.

I am trying to get to make some good inlays, and this one came out fairly well.

Finish is a bit different, Danish oil, then spray poly from a can, then wax. Usually I use wipe on poly, but tried the spray can.

comments please, actually I appreciate the negative comments more than the positive. helps me improve

[Dan Forman]

Mark---I wracked my brain trying to come up with some negative comments for you, but to no avail. ;) The box is lovely, certain to be cherished by the lucky lady.

Dan

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Beautiful work Mark! Negatives.....don't see any in these photos....sorry!

[John Miliunas]

Mark, that's just flat out classy! Gorgeous work and, as Dan mentions, I can't see as to how anywone could improve on it! Great job!:) :cool:

[Dan Oliphant]

Mark,
I agree with the others, the box is stunning. My only comment would be that maybe a delicate birds eye maple handle, located near the front of the lid would helpful. Some times hand oils are acidic or alkaline and can damage a finish.

[Corey Hallagan]

That is very cool!! Excellent combination of figured woods. Beautiful!


Corey

[Dick Parr]

Very Beautiful Work Mark :)

[Norman Hitt]

Here's a little jewelry box I made for my siser in law.

comments please, actually I appreciate the negative comments more than the positive. helps me improve

Mark, the design and wood are beautiful and the craftsmanship is excellent, so maybe this will make me unpopular with others here, but I did see a couple of things that I questioned, so, here goes.

1. With the lid open, (showing the inside) I didn't really care for the cross inlays going all the way to the sides, especially as it was inconsistant with the top of the lid (shown when it was closed).
1-a. I also thought that since there was one horizontal/cross inlay (the top one on the inside of the lid), that was wider than all the other inlays, I felt it would have looked more balanced if it had been across the bottom instead of across the top.

2. On the outside of the lid, it appears, (in the pic at least) that the cross inlays go just slightly past the vertical inlays/(front to back inlays) at the corners. If this is correct, I felt that they should have either been squared off at the corners, OR extended slightly, just enough to emphasize them as being intentionally longer instead of maybe being a poorly squared inlay corner.

Neither is a big deal, but just my first immediate reaction when looking at the pics, Buuuut........nobody ever said I had artistic talent, either. :D

That finish really came out nice also.
\
Mark, I've returned again twice to the pics, and even squinted my eyes to look at them, :D , and if the top cross inlay on the inside was the same width as the rest of the inlays, I think I could buy the cross inlays going all the way to the sides/ends. I think it's just that extra width on that one inlay that is throwing it out of balance for me.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Beautiful work, Mark. That's a gorgeous piece of walnut, and the maple is awesome. The finish and workmanship look impeccable.

Since you asked for critique, I like the oval accent, but I haven't yet decided if the bubinga color works for me, or if I'd prefer it with another brown wood -- more walnut for example. (It's not just your jewelry box...I have mixed opinions about several things I've made with brown and red woods, too.) I also agree with Norman's points about the inlay width on the inside if the lid. I think they'd look better with equal widths.

That said, I should hope to be able to build a jewelry box that nice someday.

BTW, looks like I finally found a Creeker that shops at the same Rockler that I do. Besides them and Arroyo Hardwoods, are there any other decent wood stores in the area? Rockler does come across some nice pieces of wood from time to time, as evidenced by the walnut in the top of your jewelry box. (I picked up some pretty 8/8 walnut there myself Saturday.) If you ever see a blonde hippie wandering around in there looking for more ways to spend money come up and say hi.

- Vaughn

[Dale Rodabaugh]

Way Cool:cool: :cool: :cool:

[Keith Burns]

Great looking box. Great choice of woods. I do agree with Norman about the inlays on the inside of the box. I think the outside inlays on the lid is just a lighting/photo thing. Again I like it very much.


"Some days its just not worth chewing through the restraints."

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Mark,

That sure is a sweet looking box! Man, great choice of woods and a great execution. I am hoping that getting into box making, will be my next task, but we will see what LOML has to say.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Mark,

I really, really like this piece a lot. I'd be proud to call it my own. I love the contrast between the maple and the walnut. And you can never ever go wrong with bird's eye in my eyes.

I have to agree with Vaughn on the color of the oval accent and go a bit further and say that I'd leave the oval accent off altogether. It didn't fit into the overall look of the piece for me. It didn't tie in with anything. But this is just a subjective opinion, not worth a whole lot, and said with true respect for your craftsmanship.

Keep up the good work!

[Jim Hinze]

Stunning, simply stunning.

[Jim Becker]

Wow...the maple in that box is stunning! And the box is awesome, too!

[Mark Stutz]

Beautiful wood, and great craftsmanship. Since you were looking for comments... I might have considered omitting the inlay altogether because of the highly figured wood. Almost looks too busy. I very much like inlay and try to use it a lot and have struggled with this very thing on other projects. I now try to use inlay to accent the plain stuff and try to let the figure speak for itself. Just my .02!

[Mark Singer]

Excellent and great design....super work!

[Bill Fields]

Mark--


Great and original!

My negative comment is that I'll never be able to do that kind of work--a fatal combination of impatience and lack of talent.
I'll stick with large chunks of wood--more room for error!

BILL FIELDS

[Dennis Peacock]

Mark,

Very nice box, design and great craftsmanship.!!! I do agree about the inlay banding on the inside of the lid. To me, it would look better if the inside inlay more closely matched the exterior inlay and all the maple inlay was the same width. Other than that....and I was being really picky about it....but shoot, it's real purdy if you asked me!!!! Very nice!!!!

BTW, how are you cutting your inlay pieces! I'd like to know so I can try that some time soon. :confused: