Well I posted this over in the projects section but thought it should belong here more than anywhere else. It was 95% handtool project, the exception being the grooves for panels being done on a router table. The box wood is Honduran rosewood with a wenge lid panel. The small boxes are doug fir with ebony inlay on the top edge. The bottom of the main box is sapele with African blackwood butterfly keys that are just something I wanted to try to get away from my typical straight line butterflies. They were very difficult to cut the curved walls of the recess, but managed to get it without gaps. The pulls on the lid are also African blackwood carved with a knife, small gouges and sanded smooth.
I thicknessed the woods by hand and must admit that the rosewood was not fun at all. The dovetails in this wood are also incredibly painful. I have a bunch of this wood left in 4/4 and really am not excited to work it. I sharpened as much as I worked it. It blunted edges like nothing i've dealt with. In comparison the wenge was a delight compared to this stuff and the doug fir was like I was on vacation relaxing. The pictures really don't do the box justice as I suck at taking pics and left some finger smudges behind. I also left out the most important shot of all, a picture with the box lid shut (crazy I know!). I finished the box with 5 mins to spare with giving it to my mother for her 50th birthday.
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