Keepsake box

[Ray McGrath]

Building for Granddaughters, this is #3 of 4 all are similar design with different inlays

428491 428490

Thanks for looking.
Ray

[Phil Mueller]

Beautiful work, Jay. They will love those.

[Frederick Skelly]

Very nice! I love the contrasting colors, the inlay and the dark "keys" on the joints.

[glenn bradley]

Those are just beautiful. Well done.

[Joe A Faulkner]

I am also a fan of the contrasting colors and the dovetail keys. Nice job. The box looks great!

[Christopher Herzog]

Great job. It has that family heirloom quality!

[Von Bickley]

The box looks GREAT...

[Mark Rainey]

Fine box Ray, I like the beveled lid.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Beautiful Ray! Well done Sir!

[Bill McNiel]

Solid design elements and well executed.

[Mike Henderson]

You did a beautiful job. The only suggestion I would make to you is to use thinner material for the sides. The sides just look too thick to me for the size of the box.

Mike

[Stan Calow]

Ray, I'd like to know how you did the match-up of the top and back side, in order to get the hinges in exactly the right place. Just by measuring and marking carefully? Routed with a jig? I have a lot of trouble getting that done easily.

[Mike Henderson]

I'm not Ray, but the way I'd do it is to first make the mortises for the hinges on the sides. Then put the top down on the bench upside down. Place the box on top of the top and put it in the position you want it to be in reference to the top. The back of the top will be aligned with the back side. You might want to put a clamp on the box to hold it down firmly against the top - just so it doesn't move.

Then take a knife and transfer the location of the hinge mortises on the back side to the top. Remove clamp and box. Use your hinge, aligned to the knife marks and mark the outline of the hinge leaf. Route or chisel out the hinge mortise on the top. Should fit pretty close.

(You could also do it in reverse - put the box down on your bench, place the top in place, clamp so it doesn't move and then mark upwards on the top from the hinge mortises. Just a bit more difficult to see what you're doing.)

Mike

[This is a bit different situation, but here's (http://www.mikes-woodwork.com/BoxTutorial-2ndVersion-6.htm)how I set hinges on a box with a different kind of top.]

[Phil Mueller]

I think I’ve tried every method to accurately align the top and bottom for the hinges, and Mike’s suggestion is the one that I have found to be the best for me. Even then a very slight mis-alignment can occur which I find can be easily remedied with a card scraper.

[David Utterback]

Very nice work. How did you make the bills on the hummingbirds without breaking them off? Also, how are you able to make the mortises for the bills?

Thanks for sharing.

[Scott Linge]

YOu have my greatest respect for those inlays, Beautiful workmanship.