Veneered wine box

[Kent Parker]

I recently completed two veneered wine boxes for large format bottles. One box is for a 3 liter, the second is a 1 1/2 liter. Both boxes have a poplar core. The planks were resawn, then reversed and glued to minimize movement. A bit of extra work but worth the stability it provides in the long run of temperature and humidity changes. The veneer is camphor wood applied so that the grain pattern is a continuation from the face pattern to the top/bottom and sides. There is paua blue abalone inlay contained by a white/black/white purfling and a edge banding of canarywood. Inside the boxes is loden pigskin. The bottle braces are covered with deerskin wrapped over very thin pieces of my wife's yoga mat (don't tell her) as a cushion. Brusso hinges and my favorite lock mechanism from Andrew Crawford (Smart boxmaker). Sealed with two coats of shellac, multiple coats of wipe on poly and then having difficulty getting rid of the 1200 grit sanding marks I brushed on a full coat of satin poly which did the trick.

Cheers,

Kent

[Jim Becker]

Totally beautiful work, Kent!

[Von Bickley]

Looks GREAT...

[Paul F Franklin]

Absolutely gorgeous! I'm certain I could not afford a bottle of wine that would be worthy of such a box.

[Frederick Skelly]

I agree - just gorgeous!

[Bruce Page]

A beautiful box for High-End wine only!

[Mike Henderson]

Very nice. Do you make your purfling or did you purchase it somewhere? If you made it, how did you make it? It's difficult to cut stringing so that it's even thickness all along.

Mike

[Kent Parker]

I purchased the white/black/white purfling from Luthier's Mercantile in Windsor, Ca. I then cut a thin strip of poplar the width of my abalone and sandwiched/glue the w/b/w, poplar and w/b/w together to create a "U" channel. It was easier to cut and install as a single unit and then once in place, fit the abalone. Using cyanoacrylate glue it goes pretty quick once the three individual thicknesses are clamped together. Lots of super glue in these boxes....

One particularly hot day (100 degrees) and after the boxes were being coated I discovered a bubble in the veneer to my horror. I asked my neighbor, a diabetic, for a hypodermic needle and used it to inject some super glue through the veneer into the void. One of those miraculous saves that greatly lowered my heart rate....

Cheers.

[Kent Parker]

Bruce,

These boxes are for bragging rights, as well as the wine bottles that they contain. :)

[Mel Fulks]

I see a flying bat at bottom center of of pic 4 . To the right of the bat, close to edge of box, there is a man's reclining head.
Chin is toward the bat and he is facing down. Beautiful piece.

[Mike Null]

+1 Remarkable!

Absolutely gorgeous! I'm certain I could not afford a bottle of wine that would be worthy of such a box.

[Jim Tobias]

Beautiful work and box!! Craftsmanship is outstanding! Great details!
I've been making a few wine boxes also, but haven't done any with veneer yet. I may try that soon.

Jim

[Phil Mueller]

Beautiful box, Kent! I have done some veneer work, but not multiple sides...I’m inspired by you work to give it a go. Thanks for posting.

[Tom Hyde]

WOW. Stunning. That's Pappy Van Winkle worthy!