Neoplastic C

It looks great, Martyn. May I ask - is there any reason you didn't use your usual wax over sanding sealer finish? Or did you just want a change?

Thank you for the wonderful blog on the construction. I always enjoy seeing it come to life!

Sheila

Sheila, its the Padauk bleed problem. It's red colour will bleed over into lighter woods (ie Sycamore) when I apply the sanding sealer I normally use (rubbed on with a cloth). Spray acrylic solves this problem. The satin nature of the finish is about the same. It also doesn't take on fingerprints as wax tends to. I'm not yet sure what will happen with this finish over time but its rapidly becoming a new 'favourite'.

I often wonder how you sand without contaminating the lighter colors of wood. When my partner made baskets of Padauk and Maple, he had a problem at times with the red color getting on embedded into the maple. Any pointers on how you keep the colors so clean?

Sheila

Wonderful.
I think this pattern exploits the ez-miter technique to its fullest. That large Sycamore wrapping is so cool.

Steve

Sheila. This is basically how I deal with the problem. Vacuum clean between sandings. If any colour contamination persists clean off with a clean cloth and White Spirit (Mineral Spirit). You may need to do this several times, each time with a fresh cloth (white paper towel is ideal). Allow to dry before finishing is applied.

Holy Moly!!! I am on the road and just had to sign in when I followed the link in my email. This box is so well done on all fronts. The next time someone pieces together one of those 'coffee table' books on wooden boxes… this one needs to be on the cover.

Awesome work again Martyn! Also I have to say Awesome questions and answers by both you and Shelia as well. I learned some great tips in the comment section as well.

Beautiful indeed.

Martyn,
Great pattern. High impact, yet very tasteful, which is not an easy combination to achieve. A really nice piece.

Sheila: As one who has handled one of Martyn's boxes, I will attest that his acrylic finish is all he claims. It has that "close to the wood" look and feel that permits the padauk open grain to contrast wonderfully with the smoothness of the more tight grained woods. The resulting effect is very nice indeed. None of the "encased in plastic" feel that some coatings give that detracts from the wood and the precision craftsmanship.

Roger

beau-ti-ous! very contemporary..stained glass looking. neato!

Outstanding. Love the pattern that this box made.

Awesome! Now on to Edvard Munch 'The Scream"

You are very talented.
Another great piece.
Thanks for sharing.

I really love the design Martyn. I just added this box in my favorites.

Thanks for sharing.

Martyn - This is the best use of scraps I have ever seen!! I believe this may be my favorite one yet - Love the design. Thanks for sharing!

Jeff

Martyn
Your a box making genius . Fantastic.

Ditto all the wonderful comments above… twice over!
This is a gem!
Ellen

I just knew it would turn out to be spectacular! I agree with Spoontanious…. this needs to be on the cover of a book! Beautiful job Martyn !

What a superb way to turn scraps into treasure, Martyn! It is extra-ordinary!

Martyn, you could be Piet Mondrian reborn. It belongs in a museum. Thanks for sharing your wonderful projects.
Don