Wedding gift for a friend

[brian zawatsky]

Friends of my wife and I are going to be married in May. After seeing the envelope box that I made for our wedding 5 years ago, they asked if I could make something similar for them as a commission. I decided I’d do it as a gift instead, they just don’t know that part yet.

They left wood selection up to me, so I set out in search of some KD figured walnut. The box is just a basic dovetailed box in curly walnut. The base is quartered walnut, and the frame for the lid was also cut from the straightest-grained stock that I had left. The straight grain was necessary since all the profiling was done with molding planes and scrapers. Pics in just a minute...

[brian zawatsky]

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I have found that folding a piece of blue tape over the board before I mark up for tails & pins has increased my accuracy in both marking and sawing dramatically. So much easier to see the line. Sneer if you want, it works for me lol


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A few process pics of sticking the moulding for the base.

[brian zawatsky]

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Box & sticks for base

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Cut some arcs into the base sticks to give it the look of a bracket-footed base. *POWER TOOL WARNING: I cut the rabbet for a piece of 1/2” plywood that will act as the bottom of the box with the table saw, and used the table saw to cut the miters. Also used a 23ga pin gun to tack the miters together. Don’t tell anyone.

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Next task was to cut a wide cove for the frame that will hold a figured panel for the lid.

[brian zawatsky]

I should mention that I cut a scraper to match each profile to clean up any grooves or scratches left by the moulding planes. Both profiles had elliptical elements to them that required the use of 2 different size round planes that were then blended together. To complicate things a bit, the base’s profile transitions from an outside radius at the top to an elliptical inside radius approaching the foot. I’m just not proficient enough with hollows & rounds to blend that all together without leaving a stripe or digging in here or there. Hence the need for some custom ground scrapers to match. Worked a charm. Good thing I have a pile of old saws laying around.

Once the sticking was cut for the lid pieces & a groove was plowed on the inside edges, I selected a piece for the panel and cut a tongue on the edges.

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Heres the box as it sits. The frame miters aren’t glued yet, and there is still some detail work to clean up before finish goes on. If life cooperates I’ll Have this thing totally wrapped up by the end of the week.

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[Phil Mueller]

Beautiful work, Brian. That walnut is spectacular.

[brian zawatsky]

Thanks Phil. The walnut really is beautiful, I am excited to get some finish on it. It came from Groff & Groff Lumber in Lancaster county PA, one of my favorite places to visit when I'm in the area.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Brian, absolutely gorgeous. They will love it. Patrick

[Bill Carey]

Wow. Wonderful box Brian. Great gift and great work.

[Jim Koepke]

Great work, it will be a gift they will treasure for a long time.

jtk

[Frederick Skelly]

Beautiful wood and workmanship. Look forward to seeing it with finish on it.

Derek Cohen has been demonstrating the use of blue tape with dovetails for some time. I haven't tried it yet. But I'm glad to hear of another satisfied user of that technique.

[Patrick Whitehorn]

That is beautiful!

I agree with the use of the blue tape - the contrast really makes it easier to see the lines. I am just conflicted about all the waste from it, but that is something I will have to come to terms with.

[Kim Gibbens]

That is awesome.

[Bill Carey]

Beautiful wood and workmanship. Look forward to seeing it with finish on it.

Derek Cohen has been demonstrating the use of blue tape with dovetails for some time. I haven't tried it yet. But I'm glad to hear of another satisfied user of that technique.

I've been using his idea for a bit now, and it works well. I like what Brian shows here - adding tape to the sides as well as the end grain. Put the tape on, use the marking gauge, and tear off the upper portion of the tape. Should make the cut stop line MUCH easier for these old eyes to see.

[Bill McDermott]

That is going to be spectacular when finished.

Open Question: In the photo where Brian is selecting the panel for the top, that board has a diagonal streak of figure in it. What causes that? Specifically, is that where a branch joined the trunk? Was that tree leaning over? Is that the sort of thing that a sawyer can imagine is going to appear? How unusual is that? Thanks.

[brian zawatsky]

Beautiful wood and workmanship. Look forward to seeing it with finish on it.

Derek Cohen has been demonstrating the use of blue tape with dovetails for some time. I haven't tried it yet. But I'm glad to hear of another satisfied user of that technique.

Thanks Fred. I stole the technique from Derek and adapted it somewhat to fit my workflow.