Project Information
With very little thanks to me, this big old box came out pretty awesome. I made more than my usual amount of mistakes, but was able to disguise or overcome most of them. I won't remember them all, but I'll outline a few of my bigger ones.
The box is 18" x 10" x 10 1/2". It has a big tray and a top cut from the same board. It is made of a unique piece of boxelder. The splines are walnut. It is heavy and the lid is heavy too, so I used two chains instead of the usual one. The hinge is cut from a 48" piano type hinge sold by Rockler.
As some of you know, hinges are my Achilles heel. I cut the channel too deep, or not deep enough. Hinges just give me fits. I feel like I'm getting better, (I should, this is my 99th box) but this one help showing a gap in the front. I formulated a whole basketful of ways to fix it, and settled on a shim under the bottom hinge. It worked! If you look hard you can see it, but I discourage hard looks at my projects.
This board had bark patches that run all the way through. It looks cool inside and out. If you like perfect, smooth wood you wouldn't like this one. It is smooth, but there are lots of the bark patches and some have holes all the way through.
When making a box this big, there were several unexpected issues. Putting splines in was particularly tough. The box sat too tall for me to see over it when lining up the marks, and I had to stand on a chair to push it through the table saw. I don't recommend that. Then when pushing the tray through to cut the first spline, it wobbled… cutting a hole twice as big as intended. Now all the splines on the tray are extra big to match the first. It looks great though.
The splines on the box are OK, but I reversed the box in my confusion balancing myself on the chair, and got it reversed on one spline, resulting in an uneven spacing. I won't tell anyone if you won't.
The box and tray have fine pigskin suede bottoms. It feels great and looks great. That's thanks to my wife. She also finished the boxes after I get them built and sanded. She uses a coat or two of Minwax Tung Oil and three or four coats of Minwax wipe on poly… usually satin.
The box has a pretty pink streak running through it. If I sold this box I'd ask probably $400 for it. I think I'll keep it though. It's a neat conversation piece that dwarfs my other boxes. Here's a shot with a soda can to illustrate the size.
Hope you guys like it. As always your critiques and suggestions are welcome!
The box is 18" x 10" x 10 1/2". It has a big tray and a top cut from the same board. It is made of a unique piece of boxelder. The splines are walnut. It is heavy and the lid is heavy too, so I used two chains instead of the usual one. The hinge is cut from a 48" piano type hinge sold by Rockler.
As some of you know, hinges are my Achilles heel. I cut the channel too deep, or not deep enough. Hinges just give me fits. I feel like I'm getting better, (I should, this is my 99th box) but this one help showing a gap in the front. I formulated a whole basketful of ways to fix it, and settled on a shim under the bottom hinge. It worked! If you look hard you can see it, but I discourage hard looks at my projects.
This board had bark patches that run all the way through. It looks cool inside and out. If you like perfect, smooth wood you wouldn't like this one. It is smooth, but there are lots of the bark patches and some have holes all the way through.
When making a box this big, there were several unexpected issues. Putting splines in was particularly tough. The box sat too tall for me to see over it when lining up the marks, and I had to stand on a chair to push it through the table saw. I don't recommend that. Then when pushing the tray through to cut the first spline, it wobbled… cutting a hole twice as big as intended. Now all the splines on the tray are extra big to match the first. It looks great though.
The splines on the box are OK, but I reversed the box in my confusion balancing myself on the chair, and got it reversed on one spline, resulting in an uneven spacing. I won't tell anyone if you won't.
The box and tray have fine pigskin suede bottoms. It feels great and looks great. That's thanks to my wife. She also finished the boxes after I get them built and sanded. She uses a coat or two of Minwax Tung Oil and three or four coats of Minwax wipe on poly… usually satin.
The box has a pretty pink streak running through it. If I sold this box I'd ask probably $400 for it. I think I'll keep it though. It's a neat conversation piece that dwarfs my other boxes. Here's a shot with a soda can to illustrate the size.
Hope you guys like it. As always your critiques and suggestions are welcome!