Neanderthal Jewelry Box

[Roy Lindberry]

A couple of years ago a friend asked me to make her a jewelry box. Her dad owns a local sawmill and she said she wanted to provide the wood: quilted maple and some Koa. When she finally gave me the wood, I started making plans for the box. There was a single plank of highly figured maple that had some spalting and rotting and a lot of wane, so I had to plan the pieces very carefully. The Koa was already sawn to about 3/8" and highly warped, so about all I could think of to use it for was veneers.

Here is what I ended up with:

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This was a completely neanderthal project, except for the woodburning. All of the maple is from a single plank (originally a rough sawn 5/4 board), and I used poplar that I had on hand for a secondary. Drawer veneers were done with hot hide glue and a hammer. The "secret" compartment behind the top drawer is one of my favorite features, and is held in place with a tapered sliding dovetail on the divider. Finish is BLO and dewaxed shellac. I'm still not happy with my shellac skills, but this came out OK.

Thanks for looking.

[Jim Koepke]

Very nicely done.

I have been trying to turn a piece of the quilted maple and it is a pain due to a lot of tear out.

jtk

[Stew Hagerty]

Wow, that is some gorgeous wood!!! I bought a hammer and and a package of hide glue I'm just waiting for an opportunity to try my hand at hammer veneering. Nice job.

[Glen Johnson]

Beautifully done. I bet your friend was very happy.

[Andrew Hughes]

Now thats Quilted maple,Awesome wood and great looking box..

[Christopher Charles]

That's a lovely piece and impressive as an all Neander project. Much more refined than what I first envisioned when reading your title

C

[Reinis Kanders]

Nice jewelry box, that wood really catches attention!
I think I would have tried to do mitered hidden dovetails on the back and half laps on the front otherwise end grain ends up being a bit distracting since figure of the wood is already very busy.

[Frederick Skelly]

That's beautiful work Roy!

[Roy Lindberry]

Nice jewelry box, that wood really catches attention!
I think I would have tried to do mitered hidden dovetails on the back and half laps on the front otherwise end grain ends up being a bit distracting since figure of the wood is already very busy.

Great point. The look of the end grain was not my favorite, but I'm barely at the point where I am willing to try through dovetails on a project like this. I don't know if I could handle full blinds. The box is actually 3/4" shorter than the original plan because I didn't like the original tails, and cut them off to redo them.

One of my really weak points is design. I don't make drawings, nor have I ever done mock-ups. I pretty much start going, and tweak as I go. Sometimes I like the result, sometimes not so much. The base molding on this was originally more detailed and protruded more, but the thing just looked bottom heavy and awkward. The result? I trimmed the molding to a simpler, less protruding profile and gave it a shot. I liked it enough to go with it. And so goes my "design process."

[Jim Koepke]

One of my really weak points is design. I don't make drawings, nor have I ever done mock-ups. I pretty much start going, and tweak as I go.

This is often my approach. I may do a sketch of joinery or sizing to make sure there is enough material to finish a job.

jtk

[Reinis Kanders]

I am also do it as I go type. I usually do not really have enough interest to spend time on computer with sketchup and drawing by hand is not my strong point. Building is the fun part, outcome sometimes can be a secondary goal.

Great point. The look of the end grain was not my favorite, but I'm barely at the point where I am willing to try through dovetails on a project like this. I don't know if I could handle full blinds. The box is actually 3/4" shorter than the original plan because I didn't like the original tails, and cut them off to redo them.

One of my really weak points is design. I don't make drawings, nor have I ever done mock-ups. I pretty much start going, and tweak as I go. Sometimes I like the result, sometimes not so much. The base molding on this was originally more detailed and protruded more, but the thing just looked bottom heavy and awkward. The result? I trimmed the molding to a simpler, less protruding profile and gave it a shot. I liked it enough to go with it. And so goes my "design process."