You should skip the following viewpoints, they will only benefit the smart and good looking ones in the audience.

First off, take a look at Boa and the Art Deco Wing boxes. If you havent done so already, please leave a comment expressing what you do or do not like about them. I always have a few doubts about everything I make
,( especially children ) like all woodworkers do, and honest feedback is very helpful. Praise is good, but specifics are better, they can correct a misstep or encourage a new direction.
I dont like ‘Leading the witness’ as Perry Mason would say. Thats why I dont ask ‘Do you like the new handle?, What do you think about the corner pins, are they too small?, Do these new jeans make my butt look big?’ I hesitate to influence your evaluation by asking direct questions even though I often have several. So, if you have time, dont be afraid of insulting me with a thumbs down on something. I may not agree, but its your view and maybe I will see it your way. Besides, with my Iphone I can find you anywhere and make you look at my vacation photos!
One of the best ways to help yourself develop a new design, or just improve your style is to look at the work of others and break it into pieces. Not literally of course, that will only distract you from your work, plus its hard to assemble a box while running.
For example, look at a box and make a list of what you really like about it, whats just OK, and what you dont like at all. Train yourself to remember first impressions, what caught your eye, and write it down.
Now, use the OK parts as the foundation, maybe it was the wood combination and the proportions. Now add one, maybe two, WOW details, and leave out whatever made you double over with laughter or caused you to have a permanent twitch. Yes, what I am saying in a nice way is to elevate your work by picking apart someone elses and taking the best stuff and using it as your own. This can be repeated over and over, always looking fresh by making a few subtle changes. Its a form of plagairism, and is used extensively in Hollywood, in such classics as, Rocky, Rocky l, Rocky ll, through Rocky 23, though I dont remember any WOW parts.

Its also a good idea to give credit to the original designer if you are able, otherwise you might have some irate dude show up on your doorstep at 3:00 a:m, in a kilt and flippers insisting you look at his vacation photos.
Thats all I have to say on the matter.

This style of box was first made by me using plans from the October 1997 American Woodworker and authored by Dave Freedman.

I made a rectangle box about 12” long x 5 1/2” wide x 2 1/2” tall.
I used miters for all the corners instaed of butt joints as he shows. Nothing wrong with butt joints, they are what I used in the “Palm boxes ”
they are much simpler and plenty strong for small boxes like these. I opted for mitered corners prefering the continous grain wrapping around the box, its classier. Butt joints are more casual, like wearing sweat pants to a wedding, no offense Rick :-)
I wanted these boxes to look their best.

As I have mentioned before, make a test box to try out everything first. This is mine.

Its a bit more difficult to cut away the ends to allow for the lid. With the butt style ends you simply make them shorter in height.

I cut the ends down by flipping the box over and cutting down about an inch and cutting away about 3/8” along the inside edge of the front and back, creating a ledge for the lid to sit on. I cleaned up the saw kerfs using the router.

I pinned the corners with small dowels. I hid the brass hinge pins behind the top dowel and spaced the others equally after getting that one located.

I made my own dowels since I couldnt find anything small enough, 1/8” that is.
I honestly dont remember what I read or saw in my years playing with wood, but something niggled at my brain and let me to come up with a way to make my own. I cant give credit where its due ( sorry Bob )
Anyway, I played with several ways to make a small dowel and came up with this, and it works slick.
I took a hing because its the only piece of thin steel I could lay my hands on, and drilled a 3/8 hole in the counter and drilled a 1/8 hole in the hinge and placed this hole over the larger one in the counter, which keeps the dowel from binding up and breaking off. I sharpened the cutter in the hinge by boring a recess over the 1/8 hole with a larger but which thinned out the steel. I then cut a small notch in one edge using a triangle file. Just play with it until something works.

To make the dowel stock, I ripped strips on the bandsaw down to about 3/16, chucked them in my cordless and rounded them over on the drum sander like this:

Then I sharpened a point on the end and slowly fed it into the cutter like this:

Cut the lid blank to a snug fit, but leave it long until after you fit the handle and cut it in two parts.

Make a bottom frame if you like and add corner blocks as needed to attach screws up into the bottom.

Glue or pin or use mortise and tenons to attach the lid, but remember that when its cut apart a teneon joint will show at the edges, so it needs to be done perfect, or you can line the edges as I did. Rough shape the handle a cut a notch for it to settle down into. Cut the lid in two pieces, straight like I marked out here.

or wavy like this. The line was just to guide me on the entry and exit cut as it went through the bandsaw.

Add accents like these bloodwood strips if you prefer, like these. Final shaping or sanding will remove the chips.

The lid is hinged after its cut in two pieces.
Space it up off the box ends about 1/16, place masking tape as a spacer between the lid faces and tape it all into place very securely. Drill a 1/8 hole at all 4 corners for brass rod. Mark the lid-to-body orientation for refitting into the correct location.
Place roofing nails or long rod stock in each hole so you can easily remove them when fitting the lid.
You will need to carefully round over the bottom edge of the lid so it will swing up and stop just off vertical. Do this slowly and allow for final sanding and for the thickness of finish. You will need to pull the pins and sand a little and retry several times to get it just right.

Sand or shape as desired. Finish with lacquer, its easy and doesnt darken the wood like oil, or use bear fat, hamster milk, paint, or whatever you prefer.

Hope this encourages you to try one of these boxes.
Happy cutting,
Andy

TIP:
Some of you may know about this but many will not. This is my secret to quickly fine sand the box prior to spraying lacquer. I hand sanded down to 220 and then I finish up with green nylon pads. These were bought at the local dollar store. Guess how much? Thats right, a whole dollar. You can buy similar pads at the auto supply store in the paint area, or some hardware stores or Woodcraft. I discovered these for sanding several years ago and use them for my final sanding because they conform to the waves and stay put in your fingers. In a few minutes you can have the wood so smooth it will shine without lacquer. For a finer finish use the burgandy and then the grey. The grits vary between manufactures but isnt that important for wood as it is for auto body work.

I also use them to sand between coats of finish using a well worn one for this task.

These are absolutely the best way to get a good finish sand on your work in the least amount of time!

The photos need work but here is what it looks like.

Thanks for looking and taking time to leave such nice comments. Now go make a box!
Andy

One of the problems with shaping wood to this extent is any flaws show up.

I knew I was getting pretty close to maximum depth in one corner, but I couldnt leave that little black spot glaring at me.

Then I was all the way through and exposing the bloodwood below, nothing to do but add some putty. NOT!! I am joking. Putty was not an option, anything I did to hide this flaw would have been obvious.

So I set up a jig and milled out the medallion and made another.

THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN!!! Aarrghh. I didnt bother to take any pictures this time, I was so disappointed and under a time constraint that I just started fixing it it.
My customer was probably very frustrated too since he has been waiting for a long time to get this box. But he has been very patient with me. I told him that I cant in good conscience send him a box patched together just to get it off my back.
So I made another jig because each time I mill out the medallion I need to go a little wider to clean up the edges, and its about impossible to line it all up exactly anyway.
The problem I now had was that I no longer had a piece of that maple wide enough with any nice figure. So I decided to do a triptych inset panel like I did on this box named Storm.

I taped a mock-up of the panel and sent a picture for the customer to approve.( Another advantage of doing it this way was I wouldnt need to use any black epoxy as a border to fill out the gap. On the previous panels the medallion was to narrow, since its all I had. I had to mill the recess wider because it chipped out in a few spots. )
I split one piece and mirrored it on each side of a piece with more quilting than ripples. I edged it with wenge and bordered the center panel with bloodwood edged with wenge.

It is just setting over the recess, the corners are still square.

He liked the look, so I went ahead and fitted it in. This is slow and tedious. I fit the panel by hand using a sanding block, testing every few strokes. This went in nicely with no gaps.
Here it is glued in and before wiping away the squeeze out.

And here it is after carefully sanding it to blend with the previous shaping. This was a bit of a trial to not go too deep again in the thin areas and not mess up the waves too much either.

Next and last post will be the finished box.
Stay tuned.
Thanks for looking,
Andy

The handle.
I did not like how the handle was looking, it appeared to lack any of the swirling grain that the top inset panel has. That happens sometimes after shaping, the good stuff ends up on the floor.
Also… if you look close, you will notice in the picture below that I sanded too deep into the right corner of the handle and exposed the spline! Oops!

So I made a new one from Black Palm Wood, a first time for me. The black color ties in with the Wenge corner splines, plus I love the weird grain which looks like small straws all bound up together. I want this box to look organic with the shaping, but to have a little class too, since it will be the home of a very nice watch collection.
I think the Black Palm dresses it up. Very cool wood anyway and a perfect place to try it out.

First, I had to cut off the old handle without so much as scratching the edge of the lid or it would change the profile if I had to resand it, meaning there was no way to fix any damage. I cut the handle off close to the edge of the lid and scraped the rest off very slowly with a chisel.

Then I recut the mortise for a new spline. (I just dont trust edge glueing the handle on a lid this large, the spline ensures it wont snap off.)
Very slow and tedious work.

Then I shaped the bottom of the handle exactly like the old one so it would nestle into the wavy saddle I had already shaped in the body of the box. After that I shaped the top edge of the handle to blend with the waves in the lid.

Here are some additional photos of the box with rough shaping and a smoother sanded surface, one with mineral spirits wiped on. (The wetted surface shows up scratches that I mark out in pencil and sand after its dried.)

I still have a lot of sanding and the dividers to complete.
Stay tuned.
Thanks for looking
Andy

The handle is a piece of cut off from the Maple medallion.
I simply slotted a mortise in it and the lid using a 1/8 bit in a table mounted router. I cut a strip of Maple just a wee bit thinner than the slot and pretested it until the handle fit to the body snugly. I marked a center line on both the lid and the handle for alignment.
Tip: make the slot about 3/4 shorter than the length of the rough handle, stopping about 3/8 short on both ends. This will allow you to slide the handle back and forth to align it with the lid. What I am getting at is this: You start off with a handle blank cut to the approximate length, but as you shape it prior to mounting it you may take more material off one end than the other, which means the center line has shifted. The shortened slot will give you room to shape the ends as needed. The floating tenon ( the thin slat that will join the handle to the lid) will need to be a bit shorter than the slot to allow the handle to slide side to side to center it with the lids center.

I need to mention again that some of the pictures and write up are a little out of order. Since this isnt a tutorial I am not trying very hard to lay out everything properly to build a box.

The hinges were cut in by router and finished by hand. I used Brusso 95 degree with the stop built in. They are $30 pair at WoodCraft, very nicely made. Be sure and buy some steel screws to set the hinges. I usually have them in and out a few times and the brass ones break too easy on the harder woods like this Bloodwood.

Here is a picture of the handle and the lid with a little more shaping.

I used 3/16 Maple ply for the dividers, cut slots as needed and fitted them to the box.

I needed a way to cover the raw edge of the plywood and decided to use Leopardwood. I cut kerfs in all four faces of a board to the thickness of the plywood and cut them apart on the bandsaw. The caps will add some interesting contrast, cover the edges and add some needed stability to the dividers.

The first photo shows the caps before they are cut completely free of the mother board (ha) You can see the little strip I left so I could use the table saw to cut most of the material away safely.

And here we have turned the H’s into U’s.

Here we have the caps in place as a test fit.

I will get these fitted better and then on to the shaping.
Stay tuned.

Check out my website and leave a comment on the blog page. I need feedback from anyone who has the time. I would appreciate any criticism so I can make changes as needed. If you have a website you would like me to link to send it along and I will consider it. Also, see if you arent already on the Links page and perhaps one of your comments was used in the Available section. Click on a picture to get a larger view and at the bottom of the page you will find the comments. Check the spelling of your name and let me know if you want any referance to you removed.
http://www.artboxesbyandy.com/
Thanks for your help.
Andy

Before fitting the medallion I had ran a router around the inside of the box and cut a 3/8” x 3/8” rabbit for the lid to set down into.Then I carefully cut both ends of the lid until it fit into recess evenly and very snugly. Later shaping and sanding will ease the fit as needed.
Here is a close up of the rough fit.

To clarify, this is the lid to the body picture, not the medallion.

And after.

I always make a test piece to size the real insert to.

And here is the maple insert prior to rounding the corners which I do by eye on a disc sander and final fit with a sanding block a little at a time.

Stay tuned

I then marked my cuts out for the body on the only piece of bloodwood I had left. I cut the board to the width of all four sides and slotted a kerf for the bottom. Here is a test piece of 1/4” ply.

I mitered the sides and then cut slots for splines to add strength and dress it up a little. I used maple and wenge for the splines.

This is how the splines look after glue up. I am always a little nervous, hoping I dont have any gaps at the back which will show up when I start grinding away.

In September I received an email from a gentleman named Sean asking if I was interested in making a custom box to display his wrist watch collection. I said I typically dont do commission work for several reasons, but if he wanted to send me details I would look it over before deciding.
We worked out the bugs and I agreed to make a box to hold eight watches.

The color of the wood and the grain were important as well as how it would look finished. Bloodwood was selected for its rich color and its non-porous grain which would give a smooth finish. The panel for the lid as well as the handle would be western quilted maple.

Check out my website and leave a comment on the blog page. I need feedback from anyone who has the time. I would appreciate any criticism so I can make changes as needed. If you have a website you would like me to link to send it along and I will consider it. Also see if you arent already on the LINKS page and perhaps one of your comments was used in the Gallery. Click on a picture to get a larger view and at the bottom of the page you will find the comments.
http://www.artboxesbyandy.com/
Thanks for your help.
Andy
Stay tuned.

The top and bottom spoons are Myrtlewood from Oregon, and the center one is Mahogany. Each took about 1.5 hours.The handle of the top spoon is a twist, but didnt photograph very well.
I noticed the recent contest posted by Osageman and was impressed with both his skill and his big heart.
Be sure and take a look at his page and make a guess on that wood.
I couldnt identify that wood, but it got my attention.
It got me interested in making a few spoons this last weekend and I wanted to share my approach. I dont wish to draw attention away from what Osageman is doing on his blog, but rather, I hope this info encourages others to give spoon making a try. If you have never carved anything before then a spoon is a great beginner project, its functional, very straightforward, and is pretty quickly done.
I will start by saying that I have made several styles of spoons and other treenware over the years and many are still in use today.
If I just want a spoon to give as a gift to someone that will really use it as a utensil, then I dont spend a lot of time on design, carving, super fine sanding, etc. I find that people will often display a gifted spoon on the wall if it is too nice.Thats flattering, but I would rather they use it.
So…keep that in mind when starting on your spoon, art or utility.

Wood:
If this is your first spoon,then you may want to start with a soft wood, such as Poplar, Alder, Cyprus…etc.
Soft woods will fuzz,but with a little care they can be used for years. My Alder spoon is over 10 years old and I use it several times a week (I do a fair amount of cooking too)
Starting off with a chunk of Eastern Maple or Bloodwood may discourage you,so be kind to yourself, and get a spoon or two under your belt first.

Design:
Find a spoon you like and trace it on paper, top and side profile. If its for your use then pay attention to grip. Place the edge of the spoon on the flat of one palm and drag it back and forth, the handle shouldnt turn easily or you will have to squeeze very hard in order to use it.
The depth of the bowl depends on if you intend to ladle food with it or simply stir.I tend to make shallow bowls, more for stirring, soups, beans, making bread batter, etc..
Most of the final design will evolve as you do your final shaping.It should feel balanced and smooth.
A spoon is a tool (unless its for Art) so it should feel functional but graceful.

Carving:
I have tried all sorts of ways to make spoons, and I still enjoy just using handtools, the peace and quiet of it all.
But here is my latest approach.
I mark my design onto a blank with a whiteout marker as shown in photo two. It is easy to see at any angle and with dust on glasses :)

I then rough out the blank a little over sized on the bandsaw. Then, making sure the back is flat, smooth, and clean, I glue it directly to a corner of my bench using super glue. I put about 4-6 drops scattered on the backside of the blank and press it onto the counter and hold for a bit. I use the accelerator and spray it directly onto the counter and when I press the blank down, it grabs instantly…no waiting.This is effectively the clamp to hold the blank while I carve out the bowl. It works great.
When you are done,just a gentle rap or two on the side of the blank knocks it free. Seldom does it pull any wood loose.If it does,the final shaping will remove the damage.
I use a straight 1/2’’ chisel to start my rough bowl shape. There are gouges that would work better, but this works ok for me. After removing to a depth of about 3/8’’ I switch to my Scorp, which is used on the pull stroke. Carefully go from side to side and switch end for end with shallow strokes.

Then I use a Dremel with a flap sander to smooth it to a fair surface, checking often.Then hand sand with 100 and progress to 220.

I use an inflated drum sander to shape the backside of the bowl and handle.You can gauge the bowl for even thickness by pinching it between your thumb and forefinger, like a caliper. Its very accurate and fast.

The final work is hand sanding to the desired finish you are after ,then coat with mineral oil, or whatever type finish you prefer.

Or, you can go wild and just use your pocket knife like I did on this one. I cleaned it up with some hand sanding and applied some oil to protect it. This one was made while sitting around camp and visiting.

Thanks for reading.
Andy

I am reworking and rethinking the tutorial. Stay tuned.

Andy

Its popularity and the ones that followed were what motivated me to post the tutorial which was a help to many.
http://lumberjocks.com/Argyllshire/blog/9415

I still get mail asking about this style of box and how to make them, so I thought this would be a good way to say thanks, and answer those inquiries by directing them to these links. Also, take a look at many of the great versions that our fellow Jocks have created, I too have got some new ideas from their work.

Thanks to all of you for making my boxes so popular. I hope that they continue to inspire woodworkers to try not only shaping but taking chances, thinking outside the box :-)

Here are some great versions, some of these members have made more than one, so take a look at their sites:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/25618/scraptacular-contest-winners-announced

Thanks to everyone that voted in mind and deed.
Your support has been overwhelming and encourages me.
Thanks again,
Andy

A maple board and strips 3/4’’.

I made pencil marks across the face to aid realignment after cutting.

This shows the maple board with various thin strips sandwiched in between, ready for glue up.

Carefull alignment and several clamps.

The finished blank trimmed. If you look close you will see that some of the lines arent as fair as others. These areas can be cut around when making candy, corner splines or handles.

Another blank glued and clamped.

Some samples.

I cut the discs using plug cutters, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, and 3/4. The larger ones were cut using a 1 1/4’’ hole saw with the drill bit removed. This can be done on the Lennox style and a few others, which still have a shank to slip into the drill chuck.
To shape the dome on the discs shown here on the front of the box, I simply attached them to the end of a dowel using CA, trying to keep the centered, and hit them with the accelerant spray. Then I turned them against the edge of the inflatable drum sander. After getting the shape about right I turned them on the other arbor that has a #150 grit flap sander, and polished them up. No further sanding was needed. I polished all the candies this way. I could not have safely, nor consistantly made the candy without this tool. I dont have the stand, it sits on the counter and is so heavy it doesnt need to be bolted down. I also use this for making spoons, propellors, etc. You can adjust the drums ability to contour by adding or realeasing air. You can put a drum or flap sander or buffing wheels of assorted grits on either end.
Here is a picture.

And here is how to make an M&M looking candy or border or inlay strip. Simply cut plugs of various woods and drill corresponding holes, insert plugs, and rebore directly through part of the new plug, in effect overlapping the circles or plugs randomly or in a distinct pattern as you wish. To speed up the process you may want to try super glue (Ca) and spray accelerant. (This will cause some woods to bleed pretty badly, such as bloodwood, so try this on a scrap first.) Also, these finished strips are very fragile because there really isnt any long continous grain left, so cut them to size using a fine tooth hand saw.

Thats about it I guess, though I am sure there are many other ways to make inlays and candies.
I hope this answers your questions and encourages you to try these for yourselves.
I look forward to seeing what you come up with,
Andy

p.s. Please let me know of any glaring mistakes or voids in my thinking process so I can correct them.

So, I figured the best approach was to have a plan.

On with the show.
This first photo shows the cutoff mitered ends from making the sides of my boxes. I alternated colors and glued them together, then sanded them flat afterwards, then sliced off strips to make the pieces shown below. Flipping them onto the edge gives a new look to the same pieces.

I also glued up 4 pieces to make a bar and then sliced off thick pieces then drilled a 3/8 hole to insert contrasting plugs.

This photo shows some strips of various woods and thicknesses I glued together. I used some of this for candy but also for the Fat Boy corner spline.

Thats all for now, I need to get to the gym and then work. I was hoping to get all the photos on this page but Flickr no longer allows embeded frames, so using the mini browser is out. I found away around it, but its slower.
One more chapter should do it. Stay tuned.
Thanks for reading, hope this makes sense. Sorry about any typos, I am rushed this morning :-)
Andy

I just entered it in FWW magazines contest ” The Most Scraptacular” and it was selected for the final voting phase which is done by the public. Below is a link if you are interested in looking at all the entries, many are from our fellow Jocks.
http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/25419/cast-your-vote-for-the-most-scraptacular-project

So put this on your Watch list,
Thanks
Andy

Feel free to add your tips this blog.

I shoot with a Canon 20D and a 17-85 Image Stabilized lens, but most cameras now are plenty good

I typically use a tripod and set the self timer, this prevents camera shake. A cable or wireless shutter release is another way to push the button and not wiggle the camera. Most SLR, DSLR and even some others have a setting to lock up the mirror and that is used with the self timer. This simply delays the actual picture taking until everything has had time to stop moving around. There are many styles and prices of tripods available and they are the ticket to good still photos. They not only help prevent camera shake, but they also help your work flow, the camera stays in one place and the project gets moved.
This allows you to take multiple shots from the same angle and changing either the aperature, the polarizer, the zoom, and then select the one you prefer. Get as good a model as you can afford, a sturdy one is a must for a heavy camera like an SLR with a big lense hanging on the end, but a fold up mini is great for a point and shoot. You will need to set the mini on a sturdy table or such, but it will still be a big improvement over most handheld shots.

I select Aperature and try several settings, a small # like f5.6 will focus on a smaller area and blur out the rest,
and a larger # like f16 will make sure the entire box is in focus. Try about f8 and shoot a few test shots, load them on your computer and see what you think.

I take several pictures from different angles using several f-stops.

Avoid a very wide angle to prevent distortion.

Turn your on camera flash off and use two lamps if possible to get enough light on the subject. With a tripod the camera will choose the shutter accordingly. This will take a little experimenting.

Set your focus to spot or single point if possible to ensure the camera is focusing where you want. Most blurry pictures are because of camera shake due to a slow shutter speed, and not knowing when to use a tripod, but can also be because the lens is focused on something past your subject.

I use non shiny, non textured cloth for a back drop. Usually black fleece or velvet, but maroon and green at times. This depends on the wood color of the box. Many studio work is done with a non glare white back drop. You cant go wrong with going to the fabric store and buying a mid-grade black velvet for about 12 a yard, and one yard is a good size for small projects like boxes. Fabric varies in width, but its typically 54’’-60’’.
After a while you will get a feel for what you prefer.

I like to use natural light when possible, strong sunlight filtered through cloudds or fog is best.
I also use a standard table lamp and play the light on sections of the box to add drama. Just experiment a little.

I do basic editing in either Elements or Photo Shop CS3. I crop if needed, remove any lint I missed, add a little contrast, correct the colors as needed and add sharpening. The better prep you do removing lint, wrinkles, and back ground clutter, means you will spend less time editing it out afterwards.
I reduce the size to fit the screen of my computer, and that makes it quicker to upload.
Thats it, no tricks.

You can use added filters for special effects if you wish, but I prefer natural.
I do strongly recommend a polarizing filter and for most cameras a circular style is perfect. Some point and shoot cameras dont allow for screwing them on, but you can probably add a Cokin style setup.

Here are a series of photos taken with my camera mounted to a tripod and the focus and aperature locked. The only difference is how the circular polarize is turned. As you can see, the valleys and ridges in the shaped surfaces of the box are revealed in varying degrees.

Photos #1 and #4 show off the shaping on the lid very well, but the contours on the front and right end of the body are pretty flat looking.
Photo #2 shows off the shaping on the front and right side of the body very well, but the details in the lid are minimal.
The polarizing filter is not a perfect solution, but will do wonders and give you options if you dont have several off camera lights.

This is a very simply outline of my approach, my goal was to answer in general terms how I photograph my boxes.
I have been pretty avid in photography as an amatuer for many years, but like my woodworking I have developed my own style and bad habits along the way, but they work for me. If you would like to learn more about studio photography I recommend checking out YouTube, and even your camera makers members forums. There are many sites than can do a better job teaching you than I can.
I do hope this has answered some of your questions and encouraged you to take the time to learn to take good pictures of your project. After all your hard work, we would like to see it at its best.

Thanks for reading,
Andy