is this box MANLY or not. Your opinions wanted

[Tony Shea]

Looks like a perfect place for a man to store his collection of ear rings and bracelets.

J/K, I think it would look great on top of any gender's dresser. Very well done.

[Jim Matthews]

Is that a Tsubo motif, out front?

The whole is busy, with so many elements.
If you consider men uncomplicated, it's less manly.

FWIW - I think you've got the elements of three different boxes incorporated in one:
The sword hilt emblem
The raised base
The inlay in the lid

Build two more boxes, of the same size and transfer the lid onto one, the base onto another and make two plain lids of a related style.

[ray hampton]

this BOX are too small to hold guns unless you own petticoat pistols

[Jim Becker]

I certainly would enjoy owning and using it! And last time I looked...I was male...

[Shawn Pixley]

Nice box. Definately not overly feminine.

[Tim Janssen]

Looks heterosexual to me!

Tim

[Bill Edwards(2)]

All I could think of was how some samurai would have cherished this thing, for it's grace and beauty,
and we know how girlie they were.

[Kent A Bathurst]

The problem is of your own making. Not the box - that is great. The problem is you apparently sought an opinion, you got one, and you got it from a source from whom you cannot hide.

My personal Good Husband Points Account is so hopelessly upside down that I don't even worry about it any more.

[Carl Beckett]

I would be suspicious. This is exactly the type of 'hint' that if ignored, could get you in trouble...... . ( ya, I think she probably wanted it for herself!)

I'm joking of course. There are a wide variety of men out there, with a wide variety of tastes.......

[David Keller NC]

Personally, I can see your wife's point. I'm a box-builder, and I typically incorporate curves, cartouches and surface embellishments (like inlaid birds or flowers) into boxes that are intended for women's jewelry boxes.

However, I think the ultimate result depends greatly on who you intend the box for. If the particular man that it's going to is into asian/japanese motifs for his personal possessions, than I think it's perfectly suited. If it's destined for a man that goes for western-US, "cowboy" stuff, then maybe not.

[Carl Babel]

+1 for what David said, although I had to look up what cartouche meant (oval with a horizontal line at one end).

If the intended recipient says "Da Bears" a lot, then probably the wrong design .

Oops, mean to add: whether or not this design works for the intended recipient, that is one beautiful box! And this from a guy who says "Da Bears"!

[bill kaminski]

Nice craftsmanship...but not my style tho...IMHO agree w/your wife

[Michael Moscicki]

It's a really nice box.

One important question. Unless the man has some nice watches, be they wrist or pocket, what will he put in the box? Isn't that the purpose of a box, to fill it with something?

[Matt Meiser]

I tend to agree with your wife. I think asking here is a little distorted view too because woodworkers are going to appreciate the form and craftsmanship. A lot of people won't. You need to figure out whether the recipient would.

I think the interior directs it more toward a female too--I'd bet if you ask 10 random people what it is, at least 9 will tell you its a jewelry box--generally a feminine item. With a different interior, and maybe without the embellishment on the front it could be a box for a prized pistol, knife, etc.

[brian c miller]

I think that for an American male, it's probally "unmanly" however it's got lots of asain influance and for a Japaneese male maybe it's great?

I used to own the fastest production Subaru available in the US... and it was FULL of bright pink parts, badges, emblems. To make matters worse, everytime you went to buy an aftermarket go fast part, it was bright pink too.

See below:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...%28logo%29.png

The Subura Impreza WRX STI's signature color has traditionally been pink aka "Cherry Blossom Red" as it is seen as a masculine colour in Japanese culture.

So is a dude in car with bright pink stickers manly?