Heron Jewelry Box Build

[Christopher Charles]

Thanks Jim and Pat.

Pat, it sounds like getting the angle right for the kerf would be challenging, but it really only takes a couple tries with scrap, i.e., less than 5 minutes at the start of a project. But some warm up is definitely worth it. One hazard is cutting the wrong direction around a piece (i.e., clockwise instead of counter clockwise), which results in a piece that is too big or small for the opening...

[Christopher Charles]

Hello all,

Pardon the long silence on this thread, I was having difficulty with both my computer and phone, which took three days of fiddling to fix. And finding three days for such things takes a while right now...

For the veneer work, I use the technique outlined by Craig Vandal Stevens in his book, where pieces are added from the outside of the design and working in. This requires careful planning to properly sequence pieces, which isn't as hard as it seems. Somewhat more challenging, at least at first, is that pieces usually have some border that is the final outline and other parts that are cut outside the final border, to be cut away when the next interior piece is added.

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In the photos above (click 'em to make 'em big), the number correspond to the initial and final locations of the pieces. Note piece 2 and piece 4 are much larger than the final size.

[Christopher Charles]

As pieces are added, so is more blue tape!

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This is the nearly complete heron from the front (show) side under blue tape. I work on the back side to add new pieces. Blue tape is pretty good for this since the veneer is thick (2mm), but is a bit fiddly as it sometimes peels and sticks to the table.

[Christopher Charles]

OK, so I said the design is built from the outside in, but to do so on the entire top would be unwieldy, so I actually build up the heron on a piece of poplar veneer 'background' as seen above. In my excitement to see how it would look on cherry, I cut out the outside profile into a cherry background, as shown here.

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Which created a 'pucker' moment when I realized I would have to recut the outside profile _exactly_ or just to the inside border of the heron to not have the cherry background show up as a new element. Not a big deal for the body of the heron, but sketchy for the bill as minor changes in proportion there are noticeable.

This photo shows the final aligning of the heron component to the sun burst. I aligned the pieces using a small hole through the center of the eye, sawed the border and the heron then dropped into the sunburst.

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[Michael Todrin]

Truly outstanding work Christopher. It looks like it is coming together very nicely. I can't wait to see more.

[Christopher Charles]

Thanks Michael, appreciate the kind words!

With the box front nearly complete, it was time to prepare the inside lid, made out of sycamore, and and glue up the panel. I'm getting better at making shop cut veneers, but ended up using stock that varied in thickness by ~0.2 mm. This was relatively easy to deal with for the back because after edge gluing the pieces, I could clamp one side and work a face flat with a toothing blade. This only took ~5 minutes and I really like my LV scraper with their fine toothing blade for this task. Frankly, it is really the only thing I use the plane for and a vintage toothing plane would have been a better value...

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And into clamps. Being in N. Idaho in a drafty shop, this was a bit exciting. I warmed all three panels together, heated the OBG and got it all into clamps to cure in front of the fan of the woodstove.

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I placed newspaper over the panel packet to keep it from sticking to the veneer press. I laid a cloth between the top and the veneer press top to even out pressure on the top pieces to ensure they all glued down to the substrate since I couldn't level the back without pulling/breaking pieces beforehand.

My lame glue spreader

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Out of clamps! And leveling of the face:
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[Christopher Charles]

Hello all,

I'll at least be consistent in my inconsistent posting... Here's the rest of build.

The one bit that I did not do on the veneer before gluing up the panel was also the most important...doing the eye and getting it right. I tried a couple approaches, and in the end should have just done prior to gluing up. I drilled a recess and modified to the shape of the outer eye and cut a piece with the outer eye and iris to fit.

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This piece also had the pupil, but I wasn't completely happy with it. So I drilled a hole for the new pupil, whittled a scrap of ebony and it was all fun an games until someone gets a stick in the eye...


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From there it was a matter of trimming the panel to fit into the box using a shooting plane, cutting a rabbet to fit the groove, and tweaking with a shoulder plane. Whereby my shooting plane plays planing stop..

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And glue up of the box with the panel captured.

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The solid box gets the lid cut off. I should get brave enough to do this by hand, but I find it exciting enough as it is at the bandsaw.
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[Christopher Charles]

With the lid cut off, I then carved a lift for the lid from ebony. I was pleased with the texture, but in retrospect would have lightened a bit by making smaller or by adding a "waist".

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Built a couple of trays, with a bit more of adventure in clamping than I would have liked.
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Used some scraps to lay out the design of the tray dividers.

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[Christopher Charles]

And here's the final product.

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Thanks for following along. Build threads are my favorite, so many thanks to all that post their efforts. I continue to learn much from all the contributors here. Please share any comments or questions.

Best,
Chris

[Matt Lau]

Not sure how much I can add:
1. If you need reconstituted stone, try Rescue Pearl.
2. I like Riogrande for jeweler stuff.
3. Let me know if you want to borrow a Knew concept fret saw. Just mail it back when done.

[Christopher Charles]

Thanks for the offer Matt, but perhaps wrong thread?

Best,
Chris

[Mike Allen1010]

Chris, your jewelry box is absolutely beautiful – thanks much for posting! I love the way you book matched the grain and how precisely you executed the half blind dovetails – just great!


Thanks so much for the tutorial on marquetry for the heron – it was very instructive and super helpful. It goes without saying results are fantastic.


How do you like the Old Brown Hide Glue? I intended to get some forever, but when the time comes I'm just too impatient to order it/wait for it to be shipped and just end up going forward with the Titebond I have on ha, which usually yields mixed results. Sometimes the glue soaks through and discolor the marquetry veneer and I also don't always get uniform adhesion of the marquetry panel to the substrate (yeah those annoying veneer bubbles that show up when you're all done).


Thanks again for posting absolutely awesome. I look forward to seeing more of your work.


All the best, Mike

[glenn bradley]

Really beautiful Christopher. Thanks for the detailed ride along. A wonderful piece with a wonderful purpose.

[Noah Magnuson]

Absolutely beautiful! Very inspiring. Thanks for taking the time to share.

[Christopher Charles]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the kind words. Which reminds to admit that I peened some of the dovetails to make them look good, which is a "skill" that I find takes some of the pressure off doing them.

While I did take care to pay attention to grain orientation and grain graphics, I doubt the pieces are truly bookmatched. That said, I cut all the veneer on my bandsaw, which means everything's got to be pretty close to book/slip matched by definition.

I really like OBJ and have also used Titebond. I prefer the OBJ if for no other reason than I like the bottles better. And it is made by Patrick Edwards, who I've long admired (and who must practically be you neighbor?). I will say that the veneer I make is ~2mm or almost 1/8", so I too likely end up with some air pockets, but they don't telegraph, at least not yet... I haven't ever had issues with discoloration, but also haven't used any dyed veneers.

Glenn and Noah, thank you and glad you enjoyed the posts.

Best,
Chris