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Project Information

This box was a present for my Mother for Christmas. Construction details as follows:

Box Material: White Ash
Top Material: Osage Orange
Splines: Osage Orange

Bottom: 1/4" ply
Finish: Danish Oil

Box Dimensions:
Length: 8 3/4"
Width: 8 3/4"
Height: 5 3/8"

Lid: 1 1/2" thick.
Sides: 1/2" thick.

Special feature: Book matched top.

Comments
This was my first time using White Ash. I love the stuff. It machines great and hand planes even better. I went to my local hardwood dealer and got some offcuts of different species to see how they worked and if I liked them. I will definitely use White Ash again.

The Osage is a different story. That came special from Chicago - my friend and I found a woodlot where a tree cutting company dumped logs for firewood. We found some nice logs and decided to take a chance. I resawed them and let them dry for 2 years. I needed something for the top of this box and thought I would break out some of the Osage. This also was my first attempt at book matching anything. I need to tune up my band saw because I had to plane these down more than I cared to to get the resaw marks out. I think the grain came out really nice however.

I tried to get the grain to "wrap" the sides of the box and that came out pretty good too.

What I Learned / Things to Consider
1.) Make sure you include some kind of lift. I didn't because I ran out of time and I really regret skipping this step.

2.) Take the time to figure out how to make the lid stop and not flop all the way open. Again I was in a rush and skipped this step. You could use a simple chain stop or even use better hinges with a built-in stop (I think Brusso makes some really nice ones for ~ $20 or $25 / pair.

3.) Use hand planes as much as you can. I used my new Lie-Nielsen low angle block plane to chamfer the top and bottom edges and what a joy!!! There is something so fulfilling about using hand tools. Practice, practice, practice!

Thanks for looking.

Gallery

Comments

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19,753 Posts
Well done a clean light look
 

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581 Posts
Very nice selection of wood!
 

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1,575 Posts
Great Job, Mr. Wilson!!
 

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632 Posts
Beautiful use of the woods. The white ash is a nice complement to the osage. Nice!
 

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Engr. WWilson.
Nice job and a very imformative words. It looks how the engineer same like me do the writing in detailed technical way. I learned a lot about the ash and Osage orange wood but its not available in the Philippines. Your TTC (things to consider) is a really a must in doing work, specially if you are limited with the materials and tools..
Thanks.
 

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55 Posts
Awesome looking box, Superb work.
 

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810 Posts
Very nice box, looks great..
 

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One awesome looking box, I like how you used the Osage in the lid. What a great gift.
 

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Hi WWilson,

It has been a while since your original post of this beautiful box. I was wondering how the color of the Osage Orange was holding up. I have acquired a bit of this wood to use in a project.

Thanks,

Kevin
 

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Hi Kevin,

Sorry for the delay. I gave the box away as a gift and had to find time to track it down and take a pic. The lid did get a bit darker - most of those brilliant yellows mellowed out a bit.

Here is a pic of the top (exposed to normal light) and the inside of the top (no light exposure). It was not stored in direct sunlight - I would expect that would have darkened the wood significantly.

Top of box:



Inside of the lid:



Enjoy!

-Will
 

Attachments

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Hey Will,

Thanks for going to the trouble to track it down. Looks like it did darken a bit, but it's still a beautiful box.

Best regards,

Kevin
 
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