[slaphitter]

Shhhhh! Xmas present for Mrs. Slappy! Don't tell!

Well, wife has used the same cheapie jewerly box for about 17 years. I originally bought it for her from a department store, way back in the dark ages, and I guess it serves its purpose. But it isn't even wood - it's made of fabric wrapped around who-knows-what.

So this year I am going to build her a huge jewelry chest. The production-line gift for relatives is going to be something else, but under cover of that project I have begun working on the chest.

The primary wood is goncalo alves (tigerwood). Will finish to reddish brown and polish up like satin. The show panel in the top, and the panel in the bottom, are going to be quilted maple. I got a truly spectacular showpiece slab on ebay. A full 1" thick, 14" wide, 24" long, and flat as a sheet of marble. Accent wood is wenge. All of the trays are going to be wenge, lined with black suede (again, ebay is my lifeline! You can get an entire hide for $20 or less….)

I'm still struggling with the design a little bit. Part of me wants to do a non-traditional chest, which would be square, about 13×13, with a lift-off top. But part of me thinks I should go ahead and make a normal rectangular box with a hinged lid. I've begun dressing out the lumber, so it's time to make some decisions, I guess.

 

[Tangle]

Shhhhh! Xmas present for Mrs. Slappy! Don't tell!

Well, wife has used the same cheapie jewerly box for about 17 years. I originally bought it for her from a department store, way back in the dark ages, and I guess it serves its purpose. But it isn't even wood - it's made of fabric wrapped around who-knows-what.

So this year I am going to build her a huge jewelry chest. The production-line gift for relatives is going to be something else, but under cover of that project I have begun working on the chest.

The primary wood is goncalo alves (tigerwood). Will finish to reddish brown and polish up like satin. The show panel in the top, and the panel in the bottom, are going to be quilted maple. I got a truly spectacular showpiece slab on ebay. A full 1" thick, 14" wide, 24" long, and flat as a sheet of marble. Accent wood is wenge. All of the trays are going to be wenge, lined with black suede (again, ebay is my lifeline! You can get an entire hide for $20 or less….)

I'm still struggling with the design a little bit. Part of me wants to do a non-traditional chest, which would be square, about 13×13, with a lift-off top. But part of me thinks I should go ahead and make a normal rectangular box with a hinged lid. I've begun dressing out the lumber, so it's time to make some decisions, I guess.

sounds like fun

 

[Treefarmer]

Shhhhh! Xmas present for Mrs. Slappy! Don't tell!

Well, wife has used the same cheapie jewerly box for about 17 years. I originally bought it for her from a department store, way back in the dark ages, and I guess it serves its purpose. But it isn't even wood - it's made of fabric wrapped around who-knows-what.

So this year I am going to build her a huge jewelry chest. The production-line gift for relatives is going to be something else, but under cover of that project I have begun working on the chest.

The primary wood is goncalo alves (tigerwood). Will finish to reddish brown and polish up like satin. The show panel in the top, and the panel in the bottom, are going to be quilted maple. I got a truly spectacular showpiece slab on ebay. A full 1" thick, 14" wide, 24" long, and flat as a sheet of marble. Accent wood is wenge. All of the trays are going to be wenge, lined with black suede (again, ebay is my lifeline! You can get an entire hide for $20 or less….)

I'm still struggling with the design a little bit. Part of me wants to do a non-traditional chest, which would be square, about 13×13, with a lift-off top. But part of me thinks I should go ahead and make a normal rectangular box with a hinged lid. I've begun dressing out the lumber, so it's time to make some decisions, I guess.

I'm doing the same thing….under cover of other projects…

 

[slaphitter]

Here's the design - whaddya think?

Well, here we go. It's going to be a large square box, approximately 14×14 (measuring the edge of the lid). The lid will lift off, not hinge. The "handle" will actually be a finger-hole centered through the lid, lined with a wenge sleeve and collar that I will turn on the lathe to fit the hole. Wenge feet.

The case will be filled with 6 stacked wenge trays lined with black suede and plenty of small compartments. I plan to add a couple of ring bars to one or two of the trays.

 

[mot]

Here's the design - whaddya think?

Well, here we go. It's going to be a large square box, approximately 14×14 (measuring the edge of the lid). The lid will lift off, not hinge. The "handle" will actually be a finger-hole centered through the lid, lined with a wenge sleeve and collar that I will turn on the lathe to fit the hole. Wenge feet.

The case will be filled with 6 stacked wenge trays lined with black suede and plenty of small compartments. I plan to add a couple of ring bars to one or two of the trays.

I like it. I prefer a bit of exposed joinery on the box itself, but I think that the mitre's in the case and the lid compliment each other better than other joinery might for this box. Nice.

 

[Tangle]

Here's the design - whaddya think?

Well, here we go. It's going to be a large square box, approximately 14×14 (measuring the edge of the lid). The lid will lift off, not hinge. The "handle" will actually be a finger-hole centered through the lid, lined with a wenge sleeve and collar that I will turn on the lathe to fit the hole. Wenge feet.

The case will be filled with 6 stacked wenge trays lined with black suede and plenty of small compartments. I plan to add a couple of ring bars to one or two of the trays.

I like it. My one thought is that Mama might like it better with hinges of some sort. My experience with women's dressers has been that they are pretty disorganized and finding a place to set the lid might be a real problem. Just don't tell Carleen I said that.

 

[coloradoclimber]

Here's the design - whaddya think?

Well, here we go. It's going to be a large square box, approximately 14×14 (measuring the edge of the lid). The lid will lift off, not hinge. The "handle" will actually be a finger-hole centered through the lid, lined with a wenge sleeve and collar that I will turn on the lathe to fit the hole. Wenge feet.

The case will be filled with 6 stacked wenge trays lined with black suede and plenty of small compartments. I plan to add a couple of ring bars to one or two of the trays.

hmm, 14×14 does seem pretty big for a lift off top. For smaller boxes I like lift off tops, simple, fast, inexpensive, but for a large box taking off a large lid and finding somewhere to prop it does sound like a bit of a hassle.

Looking at the size of the box, 14×14 and it looks at least half that high, 7 inches or more, that's a pretty big jewelry box. You mention 6 lift out trays, will the trays interlock, top to bottom in any order? Once she starts lifting out trays to get to her stuff in the bottom tray she's gonna need somewhere to put the other five trays. So she's got to find somewhere for the lid and 5 or 6 trays, each 14×14'ish. That's a lot of floor/table/bed space. As you lift each layer out it might be nice if you could immediately stack it on the last layer set out, in any order.

The lift out trays sound good when she's "browsing" for what to wear that night, set out all 6 trays on the bed and get one big view of all possibilities. The lift out trays sound like they could be more of a hassle when she's just trying to get to that one piece she knows she's looking for.

Will you be adding any decorative accents, like mitre splines or inlays?

[all my opinions come with a money back guarantee, if you dont like them you can get back what you paid for them]

 

[slaphitter]

Here's the design - whaddya think?

Well, here we go. It's going to be a large square box, approximately 14×14 (measuring the edge of the lid). The lid will lift off, not hinge. The "handle" will actually be a finger-hole centered through the lid, lined with a wenge sleeve and collar that I will turn on the lathe to fit the hole. Wenge feet.

The case will be filled with 6 stacked wenge trays lined with black suede and plenty of small compartments. I plan to add a couple of ring bars to one or two of the trays.

Yeah, those are all good points. For the simple design question, yes, I'm planning to put splines in the corners. Just didn't do it on the drawing.

The lid and hinges…that's the mental debate I'm still having. You guys are probably right about the deep box with too many trays. Hmmm. Keep thinking, I guess….