Can you tell what it is yet?

[StevieB]

OK, this is my entry into the competition. Since I have not published any articles, nor won anything (I havent even entered anything before) I have put this in the beginner category. If you could see it in the flesh you might appreciate why!

The initial idea was obviously to include man made material into the project. Since MDF is a little dull I decided to use birch ply, and since it is going to be the aim of the project to include it I decided to make a feature of it. This meant showing the edge to give a stripe effect. Since I dont have much experience, I decided to make a box - 4 sides, a base and a top, what could be simpler?! I also wanted to include some proper timber, so I decided to frame the ply, and got some American black walnut for the purpose. Thus to summarise, a box with edge ply showing, framed in walnut. Since I wanted to be a little ambitious I decided to use mitred top and bottom rectangles of walnut for the lid and base.

The first photo is the in preperation photo, showing the box sides clamped up for gluing. The base and top mitered squares are in the foreground and in the background is , erm, well it should be a tidy work environment but ho hum

After final glue up and assembly of the base and top it was time to finish the piece with Danish oil. Or so I thought, but my Danish oil seemed to have mysteriously disappeared (possibly via SWMBO lending it to a friend for their wooden worksurface but that has yet to be proved!) so as time was tight and I had no opportunity to get any more I had to use whatever varnish was in the cupboard. Thus the box is finished in a mix of walnut varnish (for the black walnut obviously) and clear varnish for the ply. The inside of the box is lined with ply to give a smooth surface, and the lid is a piece of ply with ply on edge to form a decorative banding round the inside of the walnut frame.

While I was quite pleased with the contrast between the two stains, it does rather take away from the fact that its black walnut underneath the darker stain. THe undersie of the lid is trimmed in walnut again, and the top hinged on two decorative butterfly hinges in brass. The top surface of the birch ply edge is also stained in walnut to match the lid when opened. Box size is approx 9" x 5" x 6", with no purpose other than to look decorative. However SWMBO now wants to use it as a jewellery box so I need to make a tray to go inside at some point too.

Cheers,

Steve.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Steve

Well done, it looks excellent.

If you look bottom left in your glue-up photo you can just make out the Danish oil. :^o

Good luck.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Alf]

There I was thinking "erm, if you edge band it in walnut then you won't see the ply laminations..." and then all was revealed. That's clever; I like that a lot. =D>

Cheers, Alf

 

[dedee]

Steve,
I like it too - More ideas for future projects - thanks

Andy

 

[Chris Knight]

Steve,

I like it too - looks very nice, I'm not surprised the LOYL wants it.

 

[Travis Byrne]

Steve

Nice looking box. I have also let the edge of B ply be exposed. I think it looks good in some cases.

Side note: I had a nice box made for competition but the dog ate it and now there is no time to make another. :twisted: :twisted:
Wonder if the competition could be sliped forward. :twisted: :twisted:
Now back to cellar.

Travis

 

[wizer]

There I was thinking "erm, if you edge band it in walnut then you won't see the ply laminations..." and then all was revealed. That's clever; I like that a lot. =D>

Cheers, Alf

Sorry if I missed it in the explanation, but how is this look achieved?

 

[StevieB]

Thanks for all the comments and encouragement people!

Wizer, do you mean the ply lamination effect? Since the brief was to use a man made material I decided to make a feature of it rather than just put a ply bottom on the box. This really meant showing the ply laminations edge on. Since I only had 6mm birch ply, I cut multiple strips approx 10mm wide and glued them on top of each other to get multiple laminations when seen side on. I then trimmed them to length on the chop saw and to height on the bandsaw (table saw would have been better but I dont have one). Then I added the walnut pieces to the ends to form the corners of the box. Since I didnt want the laminations to be seen inside the box I then lined the inside with birch ply face showing.

If I was to do it again I would use thicker than 6mm ply though, each piece was too flexible and the clamps I used applied uneven pressure, leaving a dipped surface (hence the trimming on the bandsaw). If you have to use 6mm ply then clamp between two bits of hardwood to give an even pressure distribution.

Cheers,

Steve.

 

[wizer]

ah I understand now, very clever.. I like it!