100% Handtool Project #2 Completed

[bob blakeborough]

Hey All!

So I have just completed my second ever 100% handtool only box. While still far from great, it was an awesome learning experience as this one I did by myself without any guidance from fellow woodworkers. I made a ton of mistakes that I had to figure out how to correct on my own which was cool as I learn and retain more this way than just being told what to do from the get go. I had to fill a lot of spots where I chipped out pieces, ran through dadoes for the box bottom instead of stopped, drilled through one hole on the lid installing hardware, morticing the locking mechanism too deep, etc, etc, etc...

The case wood is Mahogany with the top being a piece curly maple with a mahog boarder. The bottom is just a bit of laminated pine. The finish is 5 coats of amber shellac I mixed from flakes. Every aspect of this piece I did with handtools, including drilling the screw holes! lol! Last project I realized wasn't 100% handtool because of this small job so I wanted this one to be "pure"!

Anyhow, all comments and critiques are welcome and appreciated... I hope my postings of these first attempts, however imperfect they are, will give confidence to other newbie aspiring woodworkers to follow suit and show their successes and failures alongside mine!

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[Harlan Barnhart]

Nice. It looks mighty fine from where I sit. Congratulations on being a hand tool addict.

[Chris Griggs]

Wow Bob, that's really nice! Beautiful wood, and very well executed. Small boxes can be really tough since every little imperfection stands out, and the small details really count. I really like making small boxes - they are a lot of fun, very satisfying, and are excellent for skill building.

The amber shellac looks really nice on the maple too! Thanks for sharing.

[Dale Cruea]

bob, it looks good to me. I did not see anything to complain about. Nice looking box. Some day maybe I will be able to make DT like that. Good work.

[Joe Fabbri]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for sharing the photos, you did a nice job. There's something simple and elegant about a homemade box, especially with handcrafted dovetails. I like the pin/tail proportion, I think it's the right size for the style of the box. I also like the lid with the center panel, it's a nice way of making a flat lid, but with some dimension.

Joe

[Jim Koepke]

What mistakes?

You will likely be the only one to ever notice them.

nice work and thanks for sharing.

jtk

[bob blakeborough]

What mistakes?

You will likely be the only one to ever notice them.

nice work and thanks for sharing.

jtk

Haha! Thanks for that but I must admit my wife is good with a camera, so this pics are helping a bit...

Thanks everyone for the compliments! I actually like the mistakes I made, and I am pleased with how well some of the fixes turned out. Filling the through dadoes with small end grain pieces worked out really quite well and is barely noticeable. I am satisfied that it looks handmade. If the day ever comes where I make something perfect where people think that I didn't make it by hand, well I might just have to put a few errors on it just to give it character. That day is a long ways off though! Haha!

[Richard Gillespie]

Very Nicely Done and well presented.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Nice looking dovetails!

[gary Zimmel]

Nice little project Bob. Even nicer that it was done by hand.