Stephen Edwards
02-19-2008, 9:10 AM
Howdy Folks,
I wanted to share a fairly simple and straightforward project that I've made quite a few of over the years. These miniature cedar chests are a great gift item for a family member or friend. I give them away (sell a few, too!) as wedding or anniversary gifts. They're also great gifts for new born babies.
The jointery is simple and easy enough for the less skilled among us to accomplish. This project is a great confidence builder. Perhaps some of you will find it interesting. I hope so!
This image is a view of the mini chest with lid closed:
82035
This image shows the chest with the lid open. Please note the two removable sliding trays. You can also see the simple spline joint used as the corner joints.
Fortunately, I have an old New Hermes Pantagraph engraving machine, (from the dark ages of engraving equipment!) and several brass font styles. This enables me to personalize the underside of the lid like this:
82036
Finally, here's a close up of the engraving. In this case I engraved the text, sprayed the engraved area with a couple of coats of laquer and then sanded down the overspray back to the unfinished wood. Sometimes a customer will want the engraved text to be black. In that case I spray with clear laquer first, then engrave, then spray with black paint...another coat or two of laquer and a final sanding to remove all paint and laquer from everywhere except the engraved area. The reason for spraying with laquer before the black paint is to keep the paint from penetrating too deeply into the cedar. Again, in this particular chest there's no paint. I just wanted to include that explaination in case anyone was interested.
On a few engraving projects I've used a product called gesso which you can tint with color bases. You can then fill an engraved area, let it dry overnight and sand flush with the surface. I digress! Here's the close up of the engraving:
82037
I hope that some of you find this simple project interesting and inspiring. If anyone wants more details on the construction I'll be glad to share.
I wanted to share a fairly simple and straightforward project that I've made quite a few of over the years. These miniature cedar chests are a great gift item for a family member or friend. I give them away (sell a few, too!) as wedding or anniversary gifts. They're also great gifts for new born babies.
The jointery is simple and easy enough for the less skilled among us to accomplish. This project is a great confidence builder. Perhaps some of you will find it interesting. I hope so!
This image is a view of the mini chest with lid closed:
82035
This image shows the chest with the lid open. Please note the two removable sliding trays. You can also see the simple spline joint used as the corner joints.
Fortunately, I have an old New Hermes Pantagraph engraving machine, (from the dark ages of engraving equipment!) and several brass font styles. This enables me to personalize the underside of the lid like this:
82036
Finally, here's a close up of the engraving. In this case I engraved the text, sprayed the engraved area with a couple of coats of laquer and then sanded down the overspray back to the unfinished wood. Sometimes a customer will want the engraved text to be black. In that case I spray with clear laquer first, then engrave, then spray with black paint...another coat or two of laquer and a final sanding to remove all paint and laquer from everywhere except the engraved area. The reason for spraying with laquer before the black paint is to keep the paint from penetrating too deeply into the cedar. Again, in this particular chest there's no paint. I just wanted to include that explaination in case anyone was interested.
On a few engraving projects I've used a product called gesso which you can tint with color bases. You can then fill an engraved area, let it dry overnight and sand flush with the surface. I digress! Here's the close up of the engraving:
82037
I hope that some of you find this simple project interesting and inspiring. If anyone wants more details on the construction I'll be glad to share.