Traveling Dungeons and Dragon Dungeon Master Box

[Blair Swing]

Normally have been posting over in the turning area, but had a commissioned piece that fits more in this area. This piece is too be given away at an upcoming Gamers Convention and is modeled loosely after the famous Thomas Jefferson lap desk he used to write the Declaration of Independence on. The work was challenging to me, mostly a turner, and had me doing a lot of new things, what with the mitered and rabbeted corners, adding locks, and allowed me to finally use that dovetail jig (Pic. 6) I bought on sale at Sears 20+ years ago (the wife questioned me that day I bought it, when all I had for tools was a table saw, why I needed it, and of course I knew this day would be just around the corner....)

The majority of the wood (pics 1-4) is reclaimed from a building at TCU, and is extremely dense and hard oak, vintage 1940, which made my planer really upset (and neighbors too). The drawer bottom is a piece of birch plywood I had lying around.

The brass that will adorn the top and sides (Pic 5) came from a plaque purchased one of my last days in Korea in 87', it was laying around in the garage, and believe that re-purposing the pieces fit this piece and the Dungeon theme perfectly. To make the wings level, I debated long and hard on what too do, and ended up making some purpleheart plugs that project slightly near the hinges, and remain fairly unobtrusive without subtracting from the beautiful grain of the oak by adding another band of color.

The drawer, with the angled side (Pic 9) I needed something to keep it from flopping around inside, so to hold it down, I utilized a wooden track system, angled/dovetailed so it would stay in place, yet slide easy (Pics 7 & 8).

There is a separate divider piece that prevents the gamers from seeing the dungeon masters book, that fits in the bottom of the drawer for transport.

The black and white inlay was a piece found at Woodcraft, and adds a touch of flash, and with the dark, café color stain planned, should dissipate further, but add a nice touch to the piece.

All that is left is drilling the holes for the brass studs, a bit more sanding and finishing, and can't really remember how many hours I have in this thing, however, thought I would pass along the pics at this stage for comments and critique.

[Bert Kemp]

Normally have been posting over in the turning area, but had a commissioned piece that fits more in this area. This piece is too be given away at an upcoming Gamers Convention and is modeled loosely after the famous Thomas Jefferson lap desk he used to write the Declaration of Independence on. The work was challenging to me, mostly a turner, and had me doing a lot of new things, what with the mitered and rabbeted corners, adding locks, and allowed me to finally use that dovetail jig (Pic. 6) I bought on sale at Sears 20+ years ago (the wife questioned me that day I bought it, when all I had for tools was a table saw, why I needed it, and of course I knew this day would be just around the corner....)

The majority of the wood (pics 1-4) is reclaimed from a building at TCU, and is extremely dense and hard oak, vintage 1940, which made my planer really upset (and neighbors too). The drawer bottom is a piece of birch plywood I had lying around.

The brass that will adorn the top and sides (Pic 5) came from a plaque purchased one of my last days in Korea in 87', it was laying around in the garage, and believe that re-purposing the pieces fit this piece and the Dungeon theme perfectly. To make the wings level, I debated long and hard on what too do, and ended up making some purpleheart plugs that project slightly near the hinges, and remain fairly unobtrusive without subtracting from the beautiful grain of the oak by adding another band of color.

The drawer, with the angled side (Pic 9) I needed something to keep it from flopping around inside, so to hold it down, I utilized a wooden track system, angled/dovetailed so it would stay in place, yet slide easy (Pics 7 & 8).

There is a separate divider piece that prevents the gamers from seeing the dungeon masters book, that fits in the bottom of the drawer for transport.

The black and white inlay was a piece found at Woodcraft, and adds a touch of flash, and with the dark, café color stain planned, should dissipate further, but add a nice touch to the piece.

All that is left is drilling the holes for the brass studs, a bit more sanding and finishing, and can't really remember how many hours I have in this thing, however, thought I would pass along the pics at this stage for comments and critique.

I'm getting a crooked neck from twisting to look at the pictures. LOL very nice work

[Blair Swing]

Bert,

Thanks for the comment, and I am sorry about the crooked neck, I have looked at the box over the last two weekends in so many positions when putting it together and sanding, clamping, etc..., that it didn't phase me to post the pics that way as I have seen it in the position shown at least once previously.... I will attempt to do better when I post the final version after staining!