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Hours and hours I spent, outside in the sun since I have no dust collection facility, sanding this guy down to a mirror finish. It was hot, around 36° Celsius, and I'm purposefully keeping my body between the searing heat of the sun and my precious box. I'm wearing an almost full face mask, not only against the dust but to try and catch all those beads (that makes them sound small, they were more like dollops) of sweat before they dropped onto the wood - I know from experience that one blob of sweat is another 10 minutes sanding.
I finish. I'm dehydrated. I'm dusty. My arms ache. My fingers ache even more.
I call upstairs to the other half, who dutifully comes down to look.

"Kind of small for a planter" she says!

Ah - the joys of woodworking!
Anyways. I tried really hard on this one. I (hand) resawed a nice, but simple, piece of beech, and messed it up. So I (hand) resawed another nice, but simple piece of beech. I was looking for a subtle bookmatched "upsweeping" kind of look on the faces. It was kinda strange for me, too, to be dealing with thin wood for a change, let alone trying to joint them into a single piece.
I cut the legs from a single piece of oak - trying to do as much of the work on it as possible before cutting into 4 "leg" shapes. I fumed them before putting it together, so I wasn't able to adopt a "sand it later" approach to the top. But, even the though the beech doesn't change much in ammonia, it does darken a little and I wanted to keep it as light and pink as possible. I thought the oak would go a bit blacker, but it had 48 hours and wasn't getting darker.
As always with these weird angle things, glue up is a challenge. I put the "box bit" together first, using the "wrap it with sellotape" trick. That's more sanding when the 'tape comes off. And then I glued on the legs. I wasn't sure how fragile it was, so I was very careful not to crush it with that one extra turn of the screw.

I'm tempted to make a top - after all, planters don't have tops, do they!

15cm cube. Fumed oak, beech, Tung oil finish.

As always - both good and bad comments welcome.

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Comments

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OMG. Planter? Wonderful item….
 

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6,838 Posts
looks great
 

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Too pretty to be a planter!
 

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It is a bit small for a planter - and also a lot too nice to be a planter. So, I would agree with your assessment of it and call it a beautiful box. I think that it would benefit from the addition of a top. Great job.
 

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Yes, planters don't have tops - that'll show her! I was cringing as I was reading your description of what you went through to finish it.
 

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i noticed a couple of things. First, she's beautiful (the planter…or box….that smallish almost square thing). Second you said "other" half not "better" half, good choice of words. I would make a top and use it for "planting" your woodworking magazines. There …. now its a planter again.
 

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Nicest planter I ever saw.
 

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I can't tell you how many times I've had that experience!

But I have to come to your wife's defense; it does have a planter shape. Don't bother with the lid. Find the right plant to put in it (I think an orchid would compliment the beauty), ask her to find a special place to display it, and tell her that she made a great observation. I think the ROI would be far better than if you made a box!
 

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Angles make everything harder but you did a magnicifent job on this project.
 

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A great observation on your wife's part. I assume the planter is for Artificial arrangement and not for dirt and water.

Give her a surprise.
 

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Great box, and good idea on the usage - would be great for some unique wooden flowers!
 

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Well we know who will win this one. Great box though
 

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Yep! If she said planter, planter it is. That's one of the nicest planter I ever saw though. :)
 

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Nice box, yes! And I understand the work that went into it but think openmindedly, a planter. Like make it a soldered copper box to fit inside and plant a 100 year old bonsi tree in it. Now they would compliment each other and fit your wifes idea as a planter. Ok Ok just a thought, devil's advocate. ok mike shut up , get lost bye
 
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