Walnut Jewelry Box

This one has been a long time in coming! I have finally reached a point where I can post something close to a finished project. There are still some sliding / removable trays in various states of completion that need to make it out of the shop and into the box, but you get the idea. I have been dabbling in woodworking for years but my projects since becoming a homeowner have all been deck builds, trimwork and built in cabinets... all paint grade stuff to match the house. I decided to dive back into woodworking joinery, finishing, etc and figured the best way to earn her forgiveness for hours on end spent in the basement was to make something for her! This is the finished (very close) product. The coolest part of this to me is that the walnut I used was from a tree from our family farm in Indiana, cut and milled by my grandfather probably 40 years ago. I've had a stack of it in the basement waiting for the right project. My wife is thrilled to have the jewelry box AND to have the stack of wood that I've stored for years finally going to good use!

Progress shots. First one I have is glue up, so I apologize that I don't have all of the rabbet and dado pictures of the side panels to show how the drawers work. Dovetails needed wedging and tuning, but it got better as I went...

Very nice, Carl! I'm sure you wife will enjoy that.

I built one to hang on the wall in our closet for my wife a couple of years ago and used Honduras Mahogany, Curly Maple, and Padauk - she loves it. But I have plenty of Walnut so maybe I need to try my hand at one like you did.

Again, very nice build.
David

Drawer face process. Ripped to size minus 1/4" in each direction to accommodate 1/8" raised bead detail. Love to hear if anyone has a trick for creating this without gluing up the additional beaded edges. Right or wrong, it worked great and I am pleased...

Just some shots of progress. The rails for the sliding trays and the joinery. The routed bottom rails were a happy accident. I started out routing them thinking I wanted to use them for a skirt or feet. Decided I liked the box better without. When I realized that my roll of velvet was 1/2" narrower than the inside of the box, they became the perfect solution... dont tell... its just like I planned it!

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Originally Posted by David Falkner

Very nice, Carl! I'm sure you wife will enjoy that. I built one to hang on the wall in our closet for my wife a couple of years ago and used Honduras Mahogany, Curly Maple, and Padauk - she loves it. But I have plenty of Walnut so maybe I need to try my hand at one like you did. Again, very nice build. David

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Thanks David!
She does love it, but this may backfire on me.... now she's excited to fill it! Maybe the next one will be a walnut bank!

Nice beading detail and I'm always for things made from walnut. You may have done this in reverse though; once the wife has too much jewelry for her current box . .. then you build a bigger one. :D

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Originally Posted by glenn bradley

Nice beading detail and I'm always for things made from walnut. You may have done this in reverse though; once the wife has too much jewelry for her current box . .. then you build a bigger one. :D

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Thanks Glenn! You are dead on... lack of planning is once again my downfall.

Nice piece of work Carl! I just completed a couple of large jewelry boxes and now which I'd seen yours first to incorporate some of your ideas. Oops! my wife just saw me looking at your pictures and that started her thinking. Gotta be careful when I'm on the computer checking other's projects. Oh well, I do love working in the shop.

By the way, where did you get your ring pad & did you have trouble cutting it to size? I backed mine up with the cardboard backing from a pad of paper & squeeze taped the top to prevent cutting into adjacent material along the seams on my scroll saw. The painters tape separated the individual rows & removed cleanly. Worked well, but looking for other ideas.

Looks great! Did you use any plans?

Al, Thanks so much! I will have to let you know how much trouble the ring pad is to cut... that is going in the next tray under construction! I got mine from Rockler and it already has a pretty heavy cardboard back. I am going to experiment a little before getting it to the exact size, and by the time i am done with the second jewelry box I have just been commissioned to build for my daughter, I hope to be pretty well-versed! Thanks for the tip on the painters tape! Steven, I did a sketch up model just to see how it was going to work, but no real plans per se. The trickiest part was laying out the grooves and dados on the sides to receive the drawer slides and the drawer lock mechanisim; I knew that needed to be drawn out. I will find it and post a copy. Thanks! Edit to attach sketch up of side panel. To further explain, I was shooting for 2 inch high drawers, and there are 1/4 inch splines in the drawer for slides that ride in the grooves in the side panel. The uppermost groove had to be 1/4 inch higher so the front upper apron piece could receive the floating bottom for the upper compartment. The dado on the front is 3/4 inch wide, as are the drawer faces, so the edge of the dado becomes the drawer stop that keeps the faces aligned properly when the drawers are closed. The keyway shown on this panel ended up on the other side of the box, but it simply receives a 3/4 inch by 1/4 inch walnut key that drops through each of the drawer splines to keep them locked closed.

Carl..you did good!!!! nice box. :)