I'm not a very creative guy and most of my woodworking involves building various kinds of "boxes" and putting them together to occasionally make furniture.
Often I enjoy making relatively small boxes as standalone pieces:
* They don't require a lot of lumber (which can allow the luxury of matching grain patterns etc. to feature particularly striking figure in the wood).
* There an opportunity to try out new techniques like carving, veneering, marquetry etc. on a relatively small scale where the cost of failure isn't horrible.
* Because are small, you can put them almost anywhere. For me, this means moments of unexpected joy when you walk through the house and happen upon an object that is appealing to both hand and eye.
* Lastly, because there relatively small/shippable they make great gifts, which is opportunity to share my enjoyment of woodworking with people who would otherwise never see it. For example, prior to our current quarantine, I ate breakfast most days at a local diner that's a real dive. The grill is right behind the counter, the owner Scott does all the cooking and I have no idea how it ever passes health inspection. All the locals sit at the counter, order read the paper and "discuss" all the issues of the day. Scott already knows everyone's order and everybody knows everybody – you know the place.
Couple Christmases ago I made the 4 mahogany boxes in the picture below as gifts for Scott and a couple of the other locals. It wasn't a big deal, but was a nice surprise. What surprised me was how much it sparked an interest/conversations about woodworking. Ever sense, people asked to see pictures of my current projects. One of the old-timers, Craig a retired carpenter, brought me a giant 6' long two man timber saw - I guess he figured it had to do with wood so I would like it!
Sorry for the digression, I guess our current isolation has me thinking about community/friends I took for granted that I don't get to see now. God willing, hopefully this too will pass.
Anyway, back to boxes – I was talking to my sister about what kind of box my brother-in-law might like. I couldn't really describe over the phone ideas I was considering so I gathered up some of the boxes in the house and took a picture to give her some ideas. Thought I would share with my fellow Creekers to help pass the time.
Thanks for looking and be safe, Mike
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