Hi all,
After many months of home improvement and shop improvement projects, I finally made into the shop for a "proper" woodworking project.
A year ago I made a small ring box for our wedding, which was also the 4 year anniversary of our first date. The first-anniversary theme is 'paper' and the fifth is 'wood', so I figured it would be fun to make a box for photos from the last five years using a similar design. Was a hybrid hand and power project-major milling with machines and all the fitting and finishing with handtools.
The sides are elm from a local park.
IMG_7671.jpg
The background for the top was sycamore from Jensen's hardwood in Walla Walla (i think...). Bandsaw remains my favorite power tool...
IMG_7686.jpgIMG_7693.jpg
Veneers cut to ~2.5 mm thick. Cut elm and walnut at the same time.
Here's the background with the wings cut in using the double-bevel technique, along with the original ring box.
IMG_7696.jpg
Adding the head to the second swallow.
IMG_7698 (1).jpg
I forgot to take a picture, but one of my favorite tools for this work is a Lee Valley scraping plane with a toothing blade that I use to level the surface before finishing with a card scraper. Fast and foolproof and eliminates the need for all the veneers to be exactly the same thickness.
Since I was under deadline, went with a simple rabbeted box rather than dovetails. The completed box before finish and then with a first coat.
IMG_7702.jpg
IMG_7704.jpg
The box was well-received, as were the stack of photos I still need to finish with shellac and will post some final shots in a few days. Thanks for looking and comments/questions welcome.
Best,
Chris