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4K views 21 replies 7 participants last post by  Brodan 
#1 ·
Resaw and prelim assembly

Building a keepsake box for wife's new god daughter .

Material: Spalted maple with oak ply bottom.
Mitered and glued up with bottom installed…
Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Plank


Decisions to make… complimentary woods?, wood hinge? Or not?…top design?
Undecided on what complimentary wood to use. Here's a test piece…I think cherry?

Resawed and glued up a potential top.
Head Wood Trunk Art Pattern


The satisfaction is in the journey!!!
 

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#2 ·
Resaw and prelim assembly

Building a keepsake box for wife's new god daughter .

Material: Spalted maple with oak ply bottom.
Mitered and glued up with bottom installed…
Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Plank


Decisions to make… complimentary woods?, wood hinge? Or not?…top design?
Undecided on what complimentary wood to use. Here's a test piece…I think cherry?

Resawed and glued up a potential top.
Head Wood Trunk Art Pattern


The satisfaction is in the journey!!!
Egad! Looks like one of them freakish goldfish 8^)

Wonderful looking wood, excited to see where to take it!
 

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#3 ·
Resaw and prelim assembly

Building a keepsake box for wife's new god daughter .

Material: Spalted maple with oak ply bottom.
Mitered and glued up with bottom installed…
Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Plank


Decisions to make… complimentary woods?, wood hinge? Or not?…top design?
Undecided on what complimentary wood to use. Here's a test piece…I think cherry?

Resawed and glued up a potential top.
Head Wood Trunk Art Pattern


The satisfaction is in the journey!!!
I think a very white wood like Holly would really set off the spalting.
 

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#4 ·
Resaw and prelim assembly

Building a keepsake box for wife's new god daughter .

Material: Spalted maple with oak ply bottom.
Mitered and glued up with bottom installed…
Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Plank


Decisions to make… complimentary woods?, wood hinge? Or not?…top design?
Undecided on what complimentary wood to use. Here's a test piece…I think cherry?

Resawed and glued up a potential top.
Head Wood Trunk Art Pattern


The satisfaction is in the journey!!!
That's not a goldfish, that's E.T.

Absolutely beautiful wood. I'm anxious to see where this goes too.
 

Attachments

#5 ·
Resaw and prelim assembly

Building a keepsake box for wife's new god daughter .

Material: Spalted maple with oak ply bottom.
Mitered and glued up with bottom installed…
Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Plank


Decisions to make… complimentary woods?, wood hinge? Or not?…top design?
Undecided on what complimentary wood to use. Here's a test piece…I think cherry?

Resawed and glued up a potential top.
Head Wood Trunk Art Pattern


The satisfaction is in the journey!!!
im going with a darker wood to make it pop,like maybe wenge or walnut ?
 

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#6 ·
Resaw and prelim assembly

Building a keepsake box for wife's new god daughter .

Material: Spalted maple with oak ply bottom.
Mitered and glued up with bottom installed…
Table Wood Rectangle Wood stain Plank


Decisions to make… complimentary woods?, wood hinge? Or not?…top design?
Undecided on what complimentary wood to use. Here's a test piece…I think cherry?

Resawed and glued up a potential top.
Head Wood Trunk Art Pattern


The satisfaction is in the journey!!!
Thanks all. I'm really excited about the spalt although I've already noticed that specific wood selection is critical to avoid soft spots.

After planing the ET book match, I chose not to use it on this project primarily because it didn't flow with the horizontal spalt of the sides.

Thank you for thoughts on accent woods. Next step is to make a sample board to have something to see.
 

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#7 ·
Sampling complimentary wood for accents

Trying to determine complimentary wood(color) for accents on the spalted maple box I'm building. Here's the basic box. The original post garnered a range of suggestions from white holly in contrast to the black spalt lines to a dark wood like walnut to make it pop.

Rectangle Wood Wood stain Plank Hardwood


Disclaimer: This is where my wood ignorance comes in.

Below is a Spalted board with a reddish wood (cherry? Maybe), a dark walnut, and a light wood ( not sure what it is, hand planes easy , almost feels oily although it's dry). A couple of observations, I should have inserted them aligned with the grain rather than perpendicular which would be more like the finished product and I used clear varnish which still resulted in the whiteish unfinished wood getting that yellow hue. I like the white of the unfinished so may have to try a different finish.

I didn't have a white wood like holly but may try to find some. Of course I leave for Texas to see the god daughter in two weeks so….

Rectangle Wood Flooring Plank Wood stain


All comments are welcome….
 

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#8 ·
Sampling complimentary wood for accents

Trying to determine complimentary wood(color) for accents on the spalted maple box I'm building. Here's the basic box. The original post garnered a range of suggestions from white holly in contrast to the black spalt lines to a dark wood like walnut to make it pop.

Rectangle Wood Wood stain Plank Hardwood


Disclaimer: This is where my wood ignorance comes in.

Below is a Spalted board with a reddish wood (cherry? Maybe), a dark walnut, and a light wood ( not sure what it is, hand planes easy , almost feels oily although it's dry). A couple of observations, I should have inserted them aligned with the grain rather than perpendicular which would be more like the finished product and I used clear varnish which still resulted in the whiteish unfinished wood getting that yellow hue. I like the white of the unfinished so may have to try a different finish.

I didn't have a white wood like holly but may try to find some. Of course I leave for Texas to see the god daughter in two weeks so….

Rectangle Wood Flooring Plank Wood stain


All comments are welcome….
It's really a matter of personal taste, but I'd go for the darkest wood you can find.
 

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#12 ·
Lid with wood hinge and interior tray

Assemble the lid. 3/8 mortise to attach the handle to the box. I'm thinking something with hard lines to match the overall look of the box. Will be black walnut to match the hinge.
Cut a relief on the bottom to produce a shadow line for visual interest rather than adding an alternate material. After viewing samples, I agree with the suggestion that additional materials could detract from the spalting.
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Plank


Experienced the difficulty of holding a sharp edge on the miters. Whether the level of my skill or the already soft maple that is Spalted, in any case it will have to do. As I've always heard, "you ain't learning if you ain't making mistakes, just wish I wasn't learning so much in this one project. Didn't get a continuous grain all around, ( more learning) although now I've seen how to do it on future boxes.

Wood Rectangle Natural material Hardwood Wood stain


Hinge is from a scrap of black walnut.not as crisp as I was striving for. The soft wood didn't hold a sharp uniform edge. Compensated with a saw kerf after the glue dried. More "learning" on the hinge as I gave no thought to the placement of the segments, glued the outside segments to the base which exposes a gap when opened.
Green Wood Rectangle Plant Water

Wood Grey Wood stain Flooring Floor


Used oak for the tray and doc retainer in the lid. Since this is a memory box for the wife's new god child, thought it a handy place to keep a few favorite pics( does anyone print pics any more?)the tray simply rests on triangular corner posts.

Plant Wood Rectangle Outdoor furniture Flooring

Building Wood Sky Gas House


Following previous suggestions clear poly seems to be the ticket to not "muddying" the spalting, which I'll do upon completion of the pyrography monogram and handle installation.
Will use bluish leather for the bottom and the bottom of the tray. Have latches on the way.

Despite the struggles with the soft maple I am pleased and think the spalt offset any hiccups in the build.

Thanks for looking
 

Attachments

#13 ·
Lid with wood hinge and interior tray

Assemble the lid. 3/8 mortise to attach the handle to the box. I'm thinking something with hard lines to match the overall look of the box. Will be black walnut to match the hinge.
Cut a relief on the bottom to produce a shadow line for visual interest rather than adding an alternate material. After viewing samples, I agree with the suggestion that additional materials could detract from the spalting.
Wood Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood Plank


Experienced the difficulty of holding a sharp edge on the miters. Whether the level of my skill or the already soft maple that is Spalted, in any case it will have to do. As I've always heard, "you ain't learning if you ain't making mistakes, just wish I wasn't learning so much in this one project. Didn't get a continuous grain all around, ( more learning) although now I've seen how to do it on future boxes.

Wood Rectangle Natural material Hardwood Wood stain


Hinge is from a scrap of black walnut.not as crisp as I was striving for. The soft wood didn't hold a sharp uniform edge. Compensated with a saw kerf after the glue dried. More "learning" on the hinge as I gave no thought to the placement of the segments, glued the outside segments to the base which exposes a gap when opened.
Green Wood Rectangle Plant Water

Wood Grey Wood stain Flooring Floor


Used oak for the tray and doc retainer in the lid. Since this is a memory box for the wife's new god child, thought it a handy place to keep a few favorite pics( does anyone print pics any more?)the tray simply rests on triangular corner posts.

Plant Wood Rectangle Outdoor furniture Flooring

Building Wood Sky Gas House


Following previous suggestions clear poly seems to be the ticket to not "muddying" the spalting, which I'll do upon completion of the pyrography monogram and handle installation.
Will use bluish leather for the bottom and the bottom of the tray. Have latches on the way.

Despite the struggles with the soft maple I am pleased and think the spalt offset any hiccups in the build.

Thanks for looking
as many have said the faster you make mistakes the faster you learn.not bad at all looks pretty good to me.i love how you did that walnut hinge.nice work.
 

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#18 ·
Handle and monogram(pyrography)

Little more progress

Wood Wood stain Hardwood Flooring Plank


Brown Wood Art Font Handwriting


Wood Wood stain Font Hardwood Publication


Next finish and latches
Dan,

The wood-burned monogram looks great. Where did you put it?

L/W
 

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