Journey into Woodturning #30: Three Piece Jewelry Box!

Really pushed the challenge meter up a notch on this adventure. I attempted to make a jewelry box with four different pieces of wood. I turned a maple burl bowl, American lacewood inserted bowl, curly maple lid and the finial was supposed to be African blackwood.

Problem 1. The maple burl had a bark incursion I ended up chasing farther then I wanted. Eventually I decided it was going to be a part of the bowl or I might have ended up with a teacup instead of a bowl.

Problem 2. The blackwood is very strong and while attempting to dent it with the drive center it split. I looked at some pen blanks that were burl types of dark red or orange, as a replacement. Unfortunately, they had bark inclusions like the main bowl body and started breaking apart.

Problem 3. Found a dark blackish wood, not labeled on the shelf and thought I’d give it a try. It was like trying to turn a block of black straws that were glued together. I couldn’t get a clean edge on the beads or curves, complete disaster.

Problem 4. Cut a piece of morado for finials and these turned out great, but I made the ring minder finial too tall and did not discover the problem until it was glued in place. I had to sand down the top of the finial and polish it as best I could.

I could go on with the list of problems, but at this point I would be nit picking. Some people may never see the issues that I see. Take away the trials and challenges of making this piece and it turn out nice.

The shelf inside the main body bowl suspends the inserted lacewood nicely. So you can put stuff on the bottom under the ring minder insert tray. The morado wood finials make a great contrast with the lighter wood. The curly maple top is stunning with the 3D chatoyance. What do you think?

Here is this week’s video: Three Piece Jewelry Box!