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

Another box for a silent auction at a local churchIf you have been following this blog, you already know that Sandy made a box on the band saw. She will donate her box to a local church, which will hold a silent auction in a few weeks. Of course, the box will go to the highest bidder.Now it is my turn – how can I NOT donate something for this local auction? No way. I HAD to also make something! Doing this makes me feel good, as all donations will go to a worthwhile charity cause. The short version of the story: I made this little box from one board, using quarter sawn sycamore and inlaid walnut dovetails. The base is also walnut. The board I selected had some truly nice grain; I decided to resaw a 1/4-inch thick piece to use as a captured bottom for the box, and use some with similar grain for the lid. The finish will be Waterlox – I will post an update when the finish has been applied, and the wonderful quarter sawn grain is much more obvious. This is the box as it stands today, sitting on the workbench; in other words, a work-in-progress (WIP). The dimensions are: 3 inches tall, 5 inches deep, 8 inches wide; the sides are just under 1/2-inch thick: Background – inlaid dovetails and bow ties: On a daily basis I frequent various woodworking forums, and learn a lot from them. I also try to contribute in whatever way I can. I use the Leigh D4 dovetail jig to make boxes with dovetail joinery. I love making boxes, and especially boxes with dovetails. The D4 comes with a terrific User Guide; and Technical Bulletins supplement and augment the information in the User Guide. The Leigh procedure to make inlaid dovetails and end-on-end dovetails can be found at their Customer Support page. In preparation for a much larger project, one day I was playing with a prototype with inlaid dovetails, and also with end-on-end dovetails. I wanted to get comfortable with the technique. Using walnut as the inlay, I developed what I came to call “bow ties”, as can be seen on the lid of this prototype box: I shared these photos in various forums , as I was excited with the results. Eventually, my wife and I decided to give this little box as a Christmas present to my aunt. As luck would have it, a person at Leigh Industries read my post at a major woodworking forum, and contacted me to request permission to post the photos at their Inlaid Dovetails Photo Gallery . At this link you can view the rest of the photo Gallery, and also the larger versions of these photos. Some time later, at another forum, I inquired whether some members might be interested in a tutorial on HOW to make the inlaid dovetails, and especially the end-on-dovetails. The answer was a resounding YES, there was quite a bit of interest. I will develop the photo tutorial in the near future, using the Leigh D4 dovetail jig. Please, leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Al