The Burl Box

That was worth the wait. Very elegant, Joey! I especially love the lid design.

Thanks Charlie. I was frustrated trying to figure out how I wanted it to look. I tossed a piece of burl on the lid and this is how it landed. So I have to give credit to dumb luck on that or I may still be scratching my head trying to figure out what would look good. LOL

Simple and subtle beauty

What Monte said, plus a bit of Wow!

Very nicely done.

Oh waw, definately worth the time!

Thanks,

I forgot to mention that pic number six is of one of the interior corners. There are several miter keys that were put in before the carving for the inlay. You can see it here because I exposed them. This is the first time that I have covered my miter keys. Normally they world be out of a contrasting wood, In this case, I used the same walnut. I like the way this looks a lot, and my try to incorporate this into future boxes somehow.

Vert excellent Joey… This is one beauuuuutiful box….
600 ideas for a handle…and I thought I was bad a selecting stuff…
I have been wondering how burl would look if it were sculpted since I started looking at burls on the Oregon burls website… but I do not see any burl pieces that would come in a 48" x 5 " board so I could wrap the grain.

Fine looking box you have created! Good going, Joey!!....................Jim

Thanks Greg, I was thinking that burl would be nice for sculpting also. I know one thing, it would be a smelly business indeed. Man does this stuff stink. I don't know that just burl would have the integrity to hold together, but I am thinking on a sculpted box with deeper inlays of burl. That may work, as long as I don't go through the inlays.

Check with Oregon Burls. They may have something that will work for you. I am looking forward to the day I can order a few pieces from them. I've got so much going on right now it would be a distraction I simple can't afford at the moment. Maybe after the Christmas rush and fall shows I will be able to think up something new.

Thanks Jim

Beautiful box!

Very nice. I really, really like the way you did the body of the box. I am definitely gonna borrow that idea. Beautiful job JG !

Looks great. You have obviously put a great deal of thought and work into a superb box.

That turned out absolutely beautiful and I agree that a handle would detract from the overall look. Not sure the green microfiber will be an improvement as the inside is awfully nice as is.

Now Andy, you know the client is always right and the client wants emerald green, so emerald green she will have. I do like the inside of the lid. I plan to use this style again in the future.

@Jim, feel free to borrow, but only if you give it back. LOL. If you do use it, the maple inlays on the corners are 45ed. I just cut out my thin inlay strips and ran them on the tablesaw with the blade at a 45. I have to say, while I did practice safety, it felt anything but safe. Cutting thin strips like that can bounce and curly maple likes to shatter when it bounces. Thankfully I ran a little extra.

@everyone else. Thanks for your kind words. I am glad to have this one done. Now on to the next one.

Joey, I see half the world beat me to making comments again, so I will just say that planning and patience seems to have paid off here. The details make a great box. I have a question about the burl. Is it all Maple? Some looks like walnut. I'm not sure I like where the top is divided from the bottom, but I certainly think that overall the box looks great.

@Robert, All of the burl is walnut. I used the maple to border it. The lid is divided just under the top strip of maple and above the top edge of the burl. If you can't see it, then I must have done something right.

Thanks for taking a look.

Joey, what a beautiful box. I love the choice of wood and finish….........Good Job!

Thanks for sharing

Joey, you put a lot of work in this box.

It paid off in the end.

Joey, sorry to be late to the party. Had a long day of felling tall trees and cleaning up all the mess. Then there was the Packers-Sea Hawks debacle.

I like what you did on this box. Having the curly maple "capture" the burl is a nice concept, and it lets you use non-matching small burl pieces. Good call. You have to be quite accurate with your corner spline placement or use thick splines to cut into the top and have all four of them show nicely.

I gave it some thought and came to the same conclusion you did. There is no way to include a lift and not have it be a distraction in such a boldly geometric design.

The layered top is a nice innovation and took quite a bit of extra time and effort. The three dimensional diamond is such a nice feature and goes so well with the dimensional top that you might consider this same dimensional look on the side burls…though I know it would be a great deal of extra work, and that enters into thinking about a box you are going to sell. However, an addition like that may make this design into even more of a classic in the old world tradition. As it is, this is box for the ages and has a certain medieval feel to it. It is a beauty.

This is a real example of careful craftsmanship and thoughtful design. The buyer is getting a unique treasure. Thanks for taking us with you on your creative journey. Keep boxing and keep posting.