Sandal Woods - Fine Woodworking & Cabinetry

The Sister, also going to the Silent Auction

And now, the little box has a “sister”, also going to the silent auction. I have been making this one along with the original box with the walnut inlays - I just had not mentioned it, waiting to see how things developed. I share with you both, still unfinished; I just have to remove some glue on the one on the left, sand its bottom, and glue it to the base:

For the sister box I debated what to do about the lid. I have always used hinges to attach the lids, but I wanted to try something different with this box. In the end I decided to hand-sculpt the lid pull, using carving tools and refining the shape with some riffler files:

I spent part of the afternoon today doing a little sanding, and applying the first coat of finish. I like the look of Waterlox on quarter-sawn sycamore, so this is what I used today. After applying the initial coat of Waterlox Original using a wadded cotton rag, the boxes look as follows as they dry on the workbench:

First, the box with inlaid dovetails:

Notice how the Waterlox just POPS the walnut inlays against the sycamore. And the QS sycamore is starting to show its beauty with the first, thin coating.The sister shows off its beautiful grain too:

I am now close to getting done! I hope to have the finished, finished boxes to share by Saturday, if all goes well.

Oh - one more thing.

As I left the shop, feeling good about the progress on these two little boxes, I looked to my left and saw the following, and it made a good day into a perfect day:

Al