First attempt at woodworking

[Tom Spring]

Hey guys... this is my first real attempt at making anything nice... it's a dog urn for a friend of mine... his favorite dog died last year and the vet gave him back the ashes in what his wife described as a "tin candy dish". So I offered to try to make a more fitting urn for them (plus it gave me a chance to learn and try different things). It's really nothing fancy, 3/4 oak, that I dovetailed using my Rockler dovetail jig (I've read all the bad reviews of that jig here on the forum, but it worked fine for me)... the top is glued on, but I didn't like the seam that was left, so I ran the seam over my dado blade and inlaid a 1/4 inch strip of Purpleheart. I lined the interior with black felt and left the bottom removable. I plan on finishing it with tung oil and maybe a topcoat of clear poly. (By the way... those aren't feet in the pics... the box is just sitting on top of my MDF :-)

One question... a few of the dovetails didn't fit perfectly and left a tiny gap (you can see it in the pictures)... what's the best way of filling these gaps? I worried that wood putty (or similar) will leave visible marks when I put the tung oil on... any help would be great (and of course, please comment on my "handiwork?"

[Paul Steiner]

For the gaps I see I think woodputty would be fine. My students make boxes and they use wood putty. Use the elmers putty that is tinted. The natural or oak colors match well and use it sparingly.

[Stephen Edwards]

Very nice first piece. Congratulations on a job well done. I'm sure you're friend will be very grateful for what you've built.

Sorry, I don't know what to advise you on the dovetails. I'm sure there are plenty of others here that can tell you the best way to fill the small gaps.

Again, Great Job!

[Larry Fox]

Nice piece. For filling the gaps in the dovetails you could make a very skinny wedge, very sparingly coat the sides with glue and tap them into the gaps. Plane flush when dry. Need to make sure that the end-grain of the wedge is showing and it should blend nicely.

[Jim Becker]

What Larry said relative to filling any gaps around the dovetails. Slivers of wood inserted at an angle become pretty much invisible once sanded and finished. Wood putty will nearly always be visible as such.

Nice work!

[Bill Wyko]

What Jim said. Nice first job though.

[Allan Froehlich]

If that is your first project, I think you are going to find that you are full of potential in the near future.

[Chris Tsutsui]

That's a cool box and that Purple heart is nice.

I also love bloodwood, and when we go to the lumber store, I like to check and see if they've got a nice board waiting to be purchased.

[keith ouellette]

Wish my first real project came out that good. Nice looking box.

[Tom Spring]

Thanks guys... I appreciate the comments. I think I'll try to get some small slivers of oak into those gaps... I'm anxious to get it finished and get it to my friend. I think I like this woodworking stuff :-)

[John Thompson]

Very nice jog Tom, set off by the purple-heart. You already got answers on filling the DT gaps.

Sarge..

[Eric Roberge]

Very nice work! Glad to have you aboard, welcome to SMC!
E-

[Ed Walter]

I'm not sure I would finish it with toungue oil then poly you may have adhesion issues with the poly.

I like the idea of putting it up on feet it looks good the=at way nice job overall

[Prashun Patel]

Wonderful. If I were you, I would skip the poly, and just finish with tung oil finish - not straight tung oil - or danish oil. Poly is a redundant and unnecessary step over Danish oil on a piece that won't get heavy use.

Another fine choice would be shellac.

[Jacob Griffith]

Great work...as already mentioned, the PH looks great.