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Bill Carey
11-18-2018, 8:33 PM
When I was a kid, both sets of grandparents lived with us, so with my 6 sisters and my brother and my folks that was 14 people in the house. On Christmas day, all the cousins from 2 other families would come over, so there would be 25 kids running around. Now my Granpa Clff was a nice guy, a grumpy, quiet old nice guy. And on Christmas day he wanted to make sure all his grand kids got a present from him, but to make a big deal out of it would have embarrassed him. So he would go off to Sears (maybe, could have been McAlisters) and buy 30 or so pairs of slippers, various sizes, colors, styles etc. And on the big day he would dump them out and tell us to take what we wanted. We looked forward to this, wrestling around trying to get a pair that not only fit, but weren't too ugly. Was great fun.

So I'm gonna try my own version of Grandpa Cliff's method: I have 3 kids, 4 grand kids, 4 great grand kids, and 2 neighborhood kids. That's 13 boxes I'm gonna make, put them on the floor and say take your pick. I'm sure they won't be ready for it, and there will be a lot more decorum than when we went diving for slippers. I have saved a bunch of cut offs from various projects, and I got a great deal from Cassen's lumber on some small gnarly slabs with some cool figure that I was able to buck out nice material from. And he threw in a 7' piece of sassafras, which I have never used before - quite an interesting odor when cut.

So far it has been pretty cool - no plan, just designing as I go, using templates from other projects, mixing woods, letting the wood dictate size, style, etc. Lotsa sawdust - lotsa fun. A couple of them will even incorporate my wife's stained glass work. Nothing like spending time with the LOML in our shop working together. Life is good.

Mel Fulks
11-18-2018, 9:11 PM
Bill, sounds like a Charles Dickens story. God bless you,everyone!

Lee Schierer
11-18-2018, 10:10 PM
Be sure to let us know how it turns out. Remember, no photos it didn't happen...

Jim Koepke
11-19-2018, 12:40 AM
Sounds like fun.

Maybe before the melee you can tell the story that inspired the 'tradition.' Maybe, in a few decades, one of the young ones will pick it up for a future generation.

jtk

Frederick Skelly
11-19-2018, 9:54 AM
Love it! Can't wait to hear how it goes!

Bill Carey
11-19-2018, 11:42 AM
ok - pics.
here are some of the small slabs I bucked material from.
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and here's some of the material I got from them
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and the first 3 boxes in various stages of undress
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if you look closely at the box jointed box you'll see the pins are proud about 3/16". My idea is to hit them with a sanding ball in the hopes of knocking down all the edges, because I like the look of the proud pins but not the harshness of the edges when you handle it. We'll see how it works out. Sanding them flush may be in my immediate future.

Doug Garson
11-19-2018, 12:20 PM
Sounds like a great tradition. When I was a kid, my mother wrapped one of my Christmas gifts in a shoebox from a pair of Italian shoes called Bobar Goma. When I unwrapped the box I exclaimed wow a Bobar Goma!! (I'm sure I didn't know what a Bobar Goma was). Every year after that my mother wrapped one of my presents in that same box. My mother passed away 10 years ago but my oldest brother and I have continued the tradition. We take turns wrapping a gift in that same box. My wife reinforced the box years ago with packing tape but it's still that same 50+ year old box. It's never an expensive gift, usually a gag gift, but always in the same box. We even reuse the wrapping paper and gift tag for years, another thing learned from our mother. This year my brother has the box som I will be getting a Bobar Goma again this year.

Ken Fitzgerald
11-19-2018, 2:10 PM
Sounds like you have started a family tradition that will be treasured!

Bill Carey
11-19-2018, 3:04 PM
Doug - very cool that you've kept the box and take turns. And ya, never throw away wrapping paper - I made that mistake only once! :eek:

Jim Koepke
11-19-2018, 9:03 PM
And ya, never throw away wrapping paper

For many years, when our kids were small, my 'tradition' was to find images on the internet and print custom paper to wrap the kids gifts. The images would each be printed with the individual in mind. Sometimes it drove the kids mad because there wouldn't be name tags. It wasn't until Christmas morning that they would be told which package was theirs.

Some of them saved and still have the paper from those years.

jtk

Bill Carey
11-20-2018, 7:34 AM
Well I was pleasantly surprised that the sanding ball actually worked. You can see how sharp the edges of the pins are
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and then how nicely pillowed they are in the next pic.
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gives the box an extra textural feel when handling the box. And I kinda like the way it looks.

Bill Carey
11-27-2018, 9:42 PM
I'm up to 7 boxes, 4 mostly done, 3 others in production. Last 3 boxes were dovetailed, and I tried several different methods. Cut them all with a dovetail pull saw, then to cut the waste out I tried chopping at the scribe line (Sellers?), chopping a skosh away from the line and then taking slight cuts to the line, cutting the waste with a coping saw, and cutting it with the band saw, lots of straight cuts almost to the line and then cleaning up with a chisel. Got to try out the new Ashley Isles dovetail chisel - what a nice tool. Cutting with a coping saw was a real drag. I spent so much time with a coping saw that if I never use one again it'll be just fine with me. The method that was the most fun was chopping the waste out a skosh from the line. I have a couple of skewed paring chisels being delivered tomorrow - should make clean up easier. The small box will be a ring box for my daughter who's getting married this coming summer. I plan on doing all the hinges at the same time - they'll all be 1/4" stop hinges. Anyway, some progress. Half way there. Same with the finishing.
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Bill Carey
12-09-2018, 8:16 PM
Well, 8 and 9 are underway. And I have run out of time so I'm calling an audible: the neighbor kids are SOL. And of the great grandkids 3 are infants, so they are SOL. So I'm done at 8. At least I thought I was. Number 9 goes to the ex-wife - one of SWMBO's best friends. (don't ask). Here are some pics of 8 and 9. Having settled on chopping the waste of dovetails I encountered some very brittle walnut that kinda came apart while chopping. So it occurred to me that I keep an extra TS loaded with the box joint saw blades so why not use that to get rid of most of the waste. Took it down to within 1/16th of the line and then just parred to the line. Worked out pretty well. Walnut box will have maple hinges. I have some experience with M&T but not a lot so I decided to make the last one a bit more of a challenge and have double thru tenons. Plus it gave me an opportunity to use the new tenon jig I bought. Pretty sweet. Lesson one: make all the cuts you need with each setup. I think I have learned this lesson 5 or 6 hundred times, so I'm probably half way there. And the stained glass won't happen. LOML has been under the weather.

And I bought a LN 62 - what a nice tool. And made a shooting board - why didn't I make one years ago?? Anyway, I'll get these 2 done and move to the finishing, and then a group picture of them all.
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Bill Carey
12-20-2018, 8:45 PM
So, the count went from 13 to 9. Too much going on. And here they are. Working with the walnut and cherry was a real trial. Difficult grain as you can see. In the future, I'll follow Gramp's lead and opt for slippers! Happy holidays kids.
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