Jarrah & Redgum & burl Jewelry box...with pics

[Tim Martin]

Hi, have been making a few posts here lately, so I thought it was time I showed my latest completed projects.

These are 2 jewelry boxes that I made from Jarrah and River Redgum with Eucalyptus Ash burl veneer insert panels. The black feet and inlay are also Redgum that was buried underground for over 5000 years and had begun to fossilize, thus turning black.

Whilst I'm not new to wood working, it was my first foray in box making and I didn't start out with any real plan or goal, just designed it along the way. It was actually a salvage job/experiment of some nice veneer that I had almost ruined when pressing incorrectly.:o

Feel free to comment good/bad, like I said there was never any detailed plans or ideas.
Here are some progress pics and the finished items, cheers.

[Tim Martin]

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/th_jbox.jpg (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/jbox.jpg)

Once the polyurethane is cured, it was cut back and then buffed to a high gloss.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/th_jbox3.jpg (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/jbox3.jpg)

Finished pictures.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/th_jarrahbox4.jpg (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/jarrahbox4.jpg)..http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/th_jarrahbox3.jpg (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/jarrahbox3.jpg)..http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/th_jarrahbox2.jpg (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/jarrahbox2.jpg)..http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/th_jarrahbox1.jpg (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/jarrahbox1.jpg)

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/th_redgum3.jpg (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/redgum3.jpg)..http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/th_redgum2.jpg (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/redgum2.jpg)..http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/th_redgum1.jpg (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b64/iVeneer/redgum1.jpg)

[Glen Blanchard]

Tim - Those are outstanding!! Beautiful indeed!!

[Jim Becker]

Those are really lovely, Tim!! Beautiful boxes!

[Jerry Strojny]

Very cool Tim. Wow!

[Richard Wolf]

Very nice.

Richard

[Dan Oliphant]

Well done indeed, really shows the craftsmenship.

[Ken Milhinch]

Well done Tim. Good to see a fellow Aussie producing something so nice from Australian timbers. I doubt our US cousins appreciate how spoiled they are in respect of timber availabilty compared to the stuff we have to work with.

[Gary Herrmann]

Very nice, Tim. Gives me something to shoot for when I make a jewelry box for SWMBO.

[Joel Ficke]

Outstanding Tim. Would you mind discussing how you form the ring holders? Is it material glued to foam or something altogether different? Whatever you did it sure looks great from here.

[Don Bullock]

Excellent craftsmanship. I really like the wood choice. They are beautiful.

[John Timberlake]

Excellent job. I really like the design and choice of woods. All works well together.

[jonathan snyder]

Very nice. I really like the combinations of the woods used. Excellent work. The inlay on the sides really adds alot to the piece IMO.

Jonathan

[Zahid Naqvi]

Very nice, I like how much attention you put to small details.

[Brett Baldwin]

Excellent boxes. Those feet are a nice detail, continuing the ogee all the way around. The whole combination works well.

[peter slamp]

Awesome!




Once the polyurethane is cured, it was cut back and then buffed to a high gloss.

Could you explain to a noob what you mean by 'cut back'. Also, how did you buff the poly to make it look so nice. Man, if i could get poly to look like that I'd be real happy!

[Karin Voorhis]

This is a lovely just amazing work here. I am awe with these very nice. Please post more pics.

[Mark Valsi]

those are some of the best boxes I have ever seen anywhere !!

everything is perfect: size, proportion, choice of wood, design !

Interiors are perfectly designed as well

those are great !! no kidding !!

[Rich Torino]

You are definitely not new to woodworking... Outstanding piece of work...

[Ralph Okonieski]

Outstanding work. Beautiful wood and combinations! Very nice.

[Tim Martin]

Thank you all for the glowing comments, its awesome to get such great feedback.

As for the ring bars, I have attached some pics of how I made them.
All I used was some draft sealing foam, the stuff you use between slab/brick walls in the expansion joint. It has an adhesive backing and came in 3/8"(19mm) wide which I though was a bit too wide, so I cut it to 5/8"(16mm). Then in long strips, say 20", I sprayed 3 surfaces of the foam and the back of the velour with a Contact adhesive in a spray can.

Once it was all pressed together, I just cut each bar to length with some good quality dress making scissors. Because its fairly squashy, you can cut it a little oversize so it has a good fit and is unlikely to move.

Let me know if you have any more questions, and once again cheers for the kind words.




Awesome!



Could you explain to a noob what you mean by 'cut back'. Also, how did you buff the poly to make it look so nice. Man, if i could get poly to look like that I'd be real happy!

Gday Peter, the Polyurethane that I used is a little different than say something like Minwax wipe on poly.

It is a 2-part poly very similar to an automotive finish, and you can treat it exactly like you would a car.

When I say 'cut back' I mean rub back the coating until it is nice and flat with no orange peel with wet and dry grits from 800 to 2000 grit.

Once that process is complete, then I use a Polisher/Sander like the one below, and buff it with 2 grades of automotive cutting compound. Then a nice coat of Mothers Milk carnauba wax.
http://www.makita.com.au/images/products/9207SPB_enlarged.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>: LayerDisplay('product-details','block'); LayerDisplay('product-image','none');)

[Mike Cutler]

Well done Tim. Good to see a fellow Aussie producing something so nice from Australian timbers. I doubt our US cousins appreciate how spoiled they are in respect of timber availabilty compared to the stuff we have to work with.

Yeah, but the native species you have are pretty spectacular. You also have a great selection of Ports for after the job is finished. Most of our ports taste like kerosene.

Tim.
Well done. The boxes are gorgeous.
What is the darker wood that is being used for the feet?

[Tim Martin]

Yeah, but the native species you have are pretty spectacular. You also have a great selection of Ports for after the job is finished. Most of our ports taste like kerosene.

Tim.
Well done. The boxes are gorgeous.
What is the darker wood that is being used for the feet?

Yeah, have to agree with you Mike that we do have equally spectacular species in Aus. They are there, you just have to look harder.;)
We do also have very good wine. In fact, over the last few years we have had a big oversupply of vintage, and good wine can be had pretty cheap just about anywhere here. Never have seen an American wine here, can anyone recommend one that might be exported from the U.S.?

The darker wood used for the feet is called black redgum. Its the same timber as used in the box, but has been reclaimed from submerged river beds that became extinct over 5000 years ago. It has been carbon dated by a Museum. The dust from it is very much like charcoal, yet it still works, glues and finishes like normal timber.