new cocobola box :)

[Richard Stewart]

I havent found the time lately to make anything new or post anything on the site, cause christmas i got a PSP and i was messing with that for a while, but today, i found the time to make a box out of cocobola wood and here are some pics http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/8867/woodwork0216fe.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=woodwork0216fe.jpg) and another one with it open is here http://img418.imageshack.us/img418/3549/woodwork0225kc.th.jpg (http://img418.imageshack.us/my.php?image=woodwork0225kc.jpg)
--i sanded it down to 400 grit
--its been buffered by a buffering system (no clue what its called)
--rennaissance wax was added and buffered off the size of it is about 2-2 1/2 inches tall and about 1in-1 1/2 in diameter...plz tell me what you think of it:D

[John Hart]

I think the BoxMaster has some up and coming competition!!!;)

Very Nice box Richard! Don't cha just hate those little white specks in the ingrain? I'm still trying to figure out how to get rid of those.:)

[Ernie Nyvall]

Very nice Richard. You're coming along fast.

Ernie

[Dick Parr]

Richard isn't that cocobola nice to work with. Great looking box.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Nice box Richard. Great work.

[Gary DeWitt]

Excelllent little box, I particularly like the "handle" on the top there. Great looking wood, too.

[John Miliunas]

Nice box, Richard! Need to get my rear in gear and do a couple boxes sometime this year, as it's been a while!!!:rolleyes:

On the white spots: Don't know for certain if this is what happened, but on some woods, no matter how nice the final cuts are or even how fine it's finish sanded, they remain. A couple things, which I found held are:
When final sanding, use something like Velvit Oil or BLO and apply it with your sandpaper. Somewhere around 400 or 600 should do the trick. What happens is, the sanding is still taking off a wee bit of the material, but with the oil, it's redepositing much of the material back into those tiny voids, acting as sort of a filler. I find that really helps, especially with the darker woods. Obviously, the nature of Velvit or BLO dictates that you now leave it to cure and harden a few days. Once dry, when you go to your buffer, hit it lightly with the Tripoli and then go directly to the wax. SKIP the White Diamond. The buffing tip seems to even help if you don't do the oil routine but, you still stand a chance of embedding some of the wax into those voids, which will also leave some whitish residue.:) :cool:

[Corey Hallagan]

Very nice indeed. Love the look of Cocobolo!

Corey

[Michael Stafford]

Great work, Richard. Believe it or not the cocobolo will benefit from even more sanding. I almost always sand the dense tropical hardwoods to 1200 or even higher. At that point you almost do not need to put a finish on it. Then buff the wood with a white 3-M non-abrasive pad and a piece of coarse felt. It will shine like new money. That is a small box. Congratulations on such nice work.:D

[Bob Noles]

Richard,

You do nice work. Keep sharing so I can keep learning :)

[Keith Burns]

Nice box for sure. Great piece of wood with a great form. Keep it up:) :)

[Mark Cothren]

Nice box! Hope to see more of them! I hope to try one of these not too far down the road.

Thanks for the pictures!

[Jim Ketron]

Nice Box Richard!

[Bill Stevener]

Hi Richard
Very nice little box.
Depending on your choice of finish, another approach you may wish to try which will greatly enhance the finish on open grained woods, is to first, like Mike noted, reduce the sanding grits until the piece looks like you have applied a finish. When it looks good enough, in the unfinished state to give it as a gift, blow it down with high pressure air, then wipe it down with mineral spirits, especially on oily exotics. Go over it one more time with your finest grit, and blow it down again. Apply a coat of sanding sealer, let it dry and sand it off, lightly. Blow it down again. On very open grained wood, a second coat of the sealer doe's not hurt. Apply a coat of lacquer, sand off lightly and apply four more coats, sanding lightly between coats. When all is dry, then go through the buffing procedure. You will have a piece of work that will glow in the dark, in a forest on a moon lit night. However, again this depends on your choice of finishes.

A great finish, is only evident with the initial preparation.

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Very nice Box, Richard. Just GOT to love Cocobola.

Bruce

[John Miliunas]

Hi Richard
Very nice little box.
Depending on your choice of finish, another approach you may wish to try which will greatly enhance the finish on open grained woods, is to first, like Mike noted, reduce the sanding grits until the piece looks like you have applied a finish. When it looks good enough, in the unfinished state to give it as a gift, blow it down with high pressure air, then wipe it down with mineral spirits, especially on oily exotics. Go over it one more time with your finest grit, and blow it down again. Apply a coat of sanding sealer, let it dry and sand it off, lightly. Blow it down again. On very open grained wood, a second coat of the sealer doe's not hurt. Apply a coat of lacquer, sand off lightly and apply four more coats, sanding lightly between coats. When all is dry, then go through the buffing procedure. You will have a piece of work that will glow in the dark, in a forest on a moon lit night. However, again this depends on your choice of finishes.

A great finish, is only evident with the initial preparation.

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)


Bill, sounds like a nice process and, although a bit more "labor intense" than what I've been using, it may be faster from start to finish!:) Thanks much for the procedure! I'll be sure to give that a try, as well, especially seeing as to how I just love the look of buffed lacquer!:) :cool:

[Mike Forsman]

Very nice work. I like it.

[Rich Stewart]

Funny thing, when you hold the box and look at it, it looks like marble. You can't see the little white flecks. I was wondering if the flash reflected off tiny vallys in the wood. He loved the cocobolo. So did I. I got some more coming. Next things will be sanded with micromesh. we'll see how that does.