It didn’t start out to be round, or oval I guess, it started out as a regular square box, but I thought it was a bit too chunky or something, so I decided to round over the corners at the bandsaw.

The main body of the box is Kingwood, one of those dense, oily tropicals that doesn’t take a film finish well, so it had just one light coat of Danish Oil finish, and some furniture wax.

The lid is cherry, with two slightly curvy strips of walnut running through it. It was cut from a larger piece that I did a while ago just as a proof of concept for a future project, which turned out to be this one.

Here’s a new, small-ish box I made from lacewood and figured bubinga, of which I only have a small bit, and it’s not cheap, so I’ll be using it sparingly like this.

The box is about 4″ x 7″ by 5″ tall, and is finished with Danish Oil Finish and some paste wax, which is my go-to finish these days.

This box is pretty similar in size to the canarywood box I made a while back.

I made a tiny little box today, just for kicks. It’s quite small. I measured it, and it’s about the right size to hold a tape measure.

The box is 3 inches by 4 inches by about 3 and half inches tall. Lacewood sides, Zebrawood on top. Tiniest hinges I’ve ever seen, but they seem fine.

I really like the look of Lacewood’s endgrain, so I left the end grain showing on the front and back, as a feature, rather than mitre the corners like I might normally do.

A small elegant box, the sides are canarywood and the top is purpleheart. First time I’ve built anything with the canarywood, I was quite impressed, I must get more of this. The box is about 5″x7″ and about 4″ tall.

Canarywood Box – closed

Canarywood Box – open

Just finished the third of three large jewelry boxes, which have occupied most of my summer and fall, off and on. Also included here is a tiny little box that took only a day to construct (but then some time on the finishing and flocking). The large box is finished just in time to qualify for free shipping to the client (my wife is driving down to the city next week).

As always, click any photo to view larger on Flickr.

“Say hello to my leetle friend”

A tiny bit larger than the last two large jewelry boxes in this series, this one measures about 9″ x 15″ and about 5″ tall.

Two pieces of bookmatched quilted maple, divided by a walnut strip, make a simple lid design that lets the wood do the talking.

Lots of scope with this large box containing 30 separate compartments of various sizes. The blue flocking sets it off nicely.

Shown here with the upper tray removed.

About 4 1/2″ square by 4″ tall, with the lid. From a test piece I cut while building the larger box, I thought this would make a sweet little box of its own.

Zebrawood lid is just rabbeted to fit, shown here removed to display the blue flocking inside.

All of my recent boxes have employed mitred corners with mitre keys for style and more importantly to improve the glue bond at the corners. Other similar construction techniques were used on all of them, like the way the lids are made, and the way the hinges are attached. Think I need to shake things up for the new year, but not sure how yet.

Thanks for looking! And remember, click any photo to view larger on Flickr.

Just finished this new jewelry box (finally) made of lacewood and purpleheart. Lacewood is also known as Australian Silky Oak.

(As always, click any photo to view larger on Flickr)

Overall view of the box with the lid closed.

Detail of the top of the box… The plugs were cut using a plug cutter, from the same lacewood that forms the rest of the box.

Open view of the box. The tray slides back and forth, providing access to the lower compartments on the side, or may be lifted out to access the central compartments.

Showing the tray removed, for full access. The blue stuff is called “flocking” – it’s like tiny blue fibres blown onto some colour-matched adhesive applied to the box. It’s not a hundred percent cured yet, so some final “grooming” will be needed in a couple of days.

This shows the Brusso hinges, or one of them, and the purpleheart mitre splines that strengthen the corners as well as providing accents matching the lid.

I finally completed this walnut jewelry box. The top is made of pine, and some hard maple was also used for the handle and dividers. The box is finished with Deft Danish Oil Finish, with a few flakes of beeswax melted into the mixture using the microwave. I’m not yet sure what will become of this box — I have another in progress, and I will offer Lynda her choice when they are both done.

As always, click any photo to view larger on Flickr.

Top view: The five dots are just small segments of dowel tapped into shallow holes. A nice easy way to give the otherwise plain top a bit of style. I give credit to my wife for this variation on that theme. I had something else in mind, but this is better.

Inside view: The sliding tray is sized to allow access to the six small compartments on each end of the lower section. The tray may be lifted out to access the larger central compartments underneath it.

Inside view, tray removed: The central compartments in the lower section are sized for larger items. The blue flocking gives it a posh look, kind of. The Brusso hinges are certainly posh.

Corner view: The mitre keys inset into the corners are both decorative and practical, serving to reinforce the glue joints.

Daisy Box, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

A tiny little box with a daisy on the lid. The box is made from Lacewood, also known as Australian Silky-oak. The lid is Padauk. For the painted daisy, I used a stencil based on a printed design and cut with an X-acto knife,

Breadbox, originally uploaded by rgdaniel.

What’s exactly the same size as an old garage-sale breadbox? A NEW breadbox. Handcrafted by yours truly to match the multi-species breadboard I did a while back.

This is a stained-poplar mailbox for my sister. Based more or less on the design of the one they’re replacing. The finish is several coats of Spaarrr Vaarrrrnish, like the pirates use. The hinges are “antique steel” from Lee Valley Tools (Link).