My Latest Box

[Vaughn McMillan]

After more than enough trials and tribulation, I’ve completed my next box. This one is padauk, with a canary wood knob on top. It’s another box-jointed and coved experiment, except I took the coved theme into the top as well. The finish is a combination of BLO, spray-can shellac, and so many coats of glossy Arm-R-Seal I lost count…probably somewhere around 12 to 15 coats. I was going for a very smooth, glossy finish with no perceptible wood pores. I plan to buff it out a bit more in a few weeks after things have fully cured, but I didn’t want to wait to share, so here are some pics:<o =""></o><o =""></o>

Here’s the basic box shot. It’s about 7.5” long by 6” wide, and about 3.5” tall.<o =""></o>

http://workingwoods.com/workingwoods/boxes/OrientalBox1-600.jpg

Here’s another showing the profile of the sides and how the top carries the line beyond the edge of the sides:<o =""></o>

http://workingwoods.com/workingwoods/boxes/OrientalBox4-600.jpg

The bottom is lined with crushed black velvet, and this shot shows the sculpting of the top. (Forgive the reflection of the upholstery on the side of the box…it’s what I get for using the couch as a backdrop.):<o =""></o>

http://workingwoods.com/workingwoods/boxes/OrientalBox3-600.jpg

I coved the box sides after it was assembled, and while I had the saw set up, I coved a few more feet of material to make the top. The top is simply four pieces mitered together, with a hole left in the middle for the canary wood knob. The grain in this particular hunk of padauk was running diagonally to the edges, so the four pieces of the top make somewhat of a spiral:<o =""></o>

http://workingwoods.com/workingwoods/boxes/OrientalBox2-600.jpg

And, one more of the top by itself. This sort of shows the way the knob was sculpted with a Dremel and lots of sanding. It feels nice in your fingers. I also want to call your attention to the edge of the lid in the lower portion of the picture:<o =""></o>

http://workingwoods.com/workingwoods/boxes/OrientalBox7-600.jpg

Now the fun part of my story…a couple of weeks ago, I was almost finished with the box (just needed to install the bottom), when a chunk of wood fell off a high shelf in the shop and landed right on the edge of the lid. It took an ugly bite out of the edge of the lid:<o =""></o>

http://workingwoods.com/workingwoods/boxes/Chunk2%20600.jpg

I was crushed worse than the box. After a lot of hours working on it, I didn’t want to toss it on the scrap pile, but I couldn’t sand out the blemish without losing the nice edge profile I’d worked so hard to achieve. After a bit of pondering at the local hardware store, I ended up getting some stainable epoxy "wood" putty. I mixed the putty with some padauk sawdust, and using a red oak stain marker pen and brown, red and orange Sharpie pens, I hid the blemish pretty well, especially when it was covered with several more coats of Arm-R-Seal. In some lighting conditions, you can see the patch, but most of the time it’s virtually invisible unless you know where to look:<o =""></o>

http://workingwoods.com/workingwoods/boxes/Chunk4%20600.jpg

All in all, I’m pretty happy with the way this one came out. Pardon the poor lighting on this last shot.<o =""></o>

http://workingwoods.com/workingwoods/boxes/OrientalBox9-600.jpg

Well, that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. Thanks for looking, and your critique and comments are welcomed.

- Vaughn<o =""></o>

[Jason Tuinstra]

Vaughn, it looks great! I'm glad to see you got the "nick" worked out. Those can be some of the most trying but also the most educational parts of woodworking. It seems to be a near perfect match. And how about that shine? Wow, it turned out fantastic. And those are some great shots of the box as well. I guess you guys saw the sun today. Pretty dark in the valley.

[John Motzi]

Hi Vaughn - That is one really cool box. Very very nice!

John

[Karl Laustrup]

Vaughn, that is a wonderful job. To me it seems to say touch me. I want to touch. :)

Karl

[Jim Knauss]

Beautiful work Vaughn, and you did a great job of fixing your boo-boo!

Jim Knauss

[Richard Wolf]

Very nice.

Richard

[John Miliunas]

Dang it, Vaughn...Great looking box! Really unique shaping; I'm not exactly sure how a box can flow, but that one does! :) Wonderful detail on the handle, as well. Little stuff like that can be ever so time consuming, but really add that "special" touch. Nice! The finish looks like sprayed lacquer, rubbed and buffed! Again, nice. The only question I have is on the box joints: Which method for those? TS or router??? All in all, a super looking piece! Great job, Vaughn!!!:) :cool:

[William Lewis]

Vaughn,

The box is beautiful, nice recovery on the accident. If the box needs a home i would be glad to help you out LOL

William Lewis

[John Hart]

Holy Smokes Vaughn...That thing is gorgeous!!! Nice repair too by the way. I've been waiting to see it. Just beautiful!:)

[Andy Hoyt]

Bravo Zulu Vaughn! She's a beauty. And the patch job is excellent, too.

[Keith Burns]

That is one of the finest looking boxes I've ever seen ! I absolutely love it. Nice fix on the ding.

[Corey Hallagan]

Wow, nice box Vaughn. That is like none other I have seen. You have your own little deal going here with the cove work and box joints. Nice design and work Vaughn, be very proud!

Corey

[Dan Larson]

Your box making skills really progressed with this new box, Vaughn. I really like the previous one that you made with the coved sides, but this one is way better! I like how the side contour continues into the sides of the lid-- very thoughtful design element.

Dan

[Gail O'Rourke]

Vaughn, it is just gorgeous and great save on the nick. I love the finish and the wood is gorgeous. Please send to me so that I can have closer look. Thank you.

[Jim Becker]

Umm...oh, my. That's an incredible box, Vaughn. Outstanding! And send it to me on the way to Gail's house... ;)

[Kent Parker]

Vaughn,

Thats some pretty box. The lid just begs to be touched. Nice recovery too! ;)

Kent

[Keith Hooks]

Beautiful box, sweet pictures, and a great save. Nice work!

[Lee DeRaud]

Way cool!!

Did you sign it?;)

[Roy Wall]

Vaughn,

All I can say is......

"You are very good "

Terrific!!!

[Don Dean]

WOW! I don't post much, but your box required a response. Outstanding box. Box does not describe such a work of art that you created. Looking forward to more of your creations.

[Andrew Ault]

Dude! That is beautiful.

[Jim Young]

I like it. There is a huge difference in the first pic and the last pic as to the colors. The last pic gives the handle a big contrast to the body.

[Alan Turner]

Nice work, my friend. Good use of the coving TS technique.

[Mario Brissette]

:eek: Wow ! Beautiful box ! I like the finish also, the colors are so warm ! Very nice.

Still waiting the dovetailed version ! :D

[Keith Foster]

Excellent Vaughn - love the save "story" as well. :D

[Vaughn McMillan]

Wow, thanks everyone for all the kind comments. :o A few things to add in response to comments & questions...

Jason, the pics were taken last night in the dining room and hall of my house. Just the incandescent lights overhead, and in some cases a bounced flash off the ceiling. (My camera has a built-in flash that's way too glaring for project shots, so I often use a heavy piece of white paper in front of the flash, angled towards the ceiling.) When I get a good chance I'm going to try some outdoor shots.

John, I did the box joints on the TS. I still need to make an adjustable jig, because I still end up wrestling with the joint a bit using my current jig. I've also got an early-model Incra jig and fence, so I may try using it on either the TS or router table to see if I get better results.

To several people: Yes, it's hard to not want to touch the top when you see it. :) Unfortunately, I have a suspicion that over time, as the wood moves seasonally, the mitered joints in the top will be "feelable". I realize the grain orientation is all wrong for stability, but it just looked to cool to pass it up.

I have one other box in progress that's got a glossy finish, but then I think I'm going back to a more satiny hand-rubbed look. (Now I see why so many folks do a coat of BLO, a coat or two of top coat, then call it good.) It's a ton of work to make the heavy gloss look right, and (at least for me) virtually impossible to get it perfect. This one still has some flaws if you look closely, but it looks great from across the room, and it photographs pretty well.

The colors in all the pics except the last one are pretty true to the actual colors of the box. The last photo was with the direct flash (as I recall), and my camera sort of freaked on it. I tried to adjust the tones and contrast with Photoshop, but eventually decided that the original looked better than any of my tweaked attempts.

Thanks again. You folks are great inspiration and motivation.

- Vaughn

[Gregg Mason]

Another nice project. Your keeping busy.

[Dan Forman]

Lovely box Vaughn. I really like the lines, the grain on the top, and, well, everything else about it.

Dan

[Peter Pedisich]

Vaughn,

Looks like you've got a good bit of an artist in you with the design and the way you made the nick invisible, it looks great!

Thanks for sharing.

Pete

[Doug Shepard]

Wow - That's some serious eye candy. The finish looks incredible - almost liquid. Please take a few more pics after you buff it out.

[Neil Clemmons]

Excellent. Really like the coved sides and finger joints. Beautiful work.

Neil

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Beautiful box and GREAT SAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bruce