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This is a box that my wife will store some garden seeds in. The main body and bottom panel is solid white Ash and the upper edge is inlaid with a 3 part, shop made banding (fir and sapele to be exact). The lid is made from Ash with a veneered panel which contains a 3 part marquetry leaf that happened to be my first test piece from a while back… I had it laying around in a bag of loose veneer hence the odd angle it sits at :)

The lid frame itself consists of Ash pieces laminated with some curly walnut I had, but is probably the biggest mistake on this box. The light/dark/light lid frame does not work with the light panel….I should have used a 2 part lamination, ended it at the walnut and let that contrast against the light panel…..stupid mistake…..and what sucks is, I knew it as I was cutting the pieces!

Veneer keying was done by hand with a dovetail saw and walnut was used for the key material. I regret using the sapele top inlay as the color does not match the walnut, but I needed some practice on inlaying thin, on-edge material….whatever.

The second photo shows a huge error…I was scraping the lid after wet sanding and bit the edge, tearing out a nice sliver…..it was maddening….truly.

At any rate, it came out ok, and I have almost completed its twin with a Wenge top which looks much better, offering the correct lid contrast….will post that soon.

Oh, and hinges were cheap Lowe's brand, nothing fancy needed here, though I did fit them by hand, that must count for something :)

Finish was a good wet sanding with oil to fill the pores, followed by a few more coats with 400-600 light sanding between coats, and a coat of Black Bison wax.

Critique is welcome….

JC

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Comments

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This is really nice. Great details. I especially like the leaf. Did you say you made the leaf inlay yourself? Really nice.
 

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Thanks Blake, yes, I did the marquetry leaf….That was actually the only part that went well :)

If anyone reading has not tried marquetry, I advise you to go out into the garage right now and try it! If I can do it, anyone can and all you need is an xacto knife, some veneer and blue tape! Of all the tiny details I sweat and put into some of my projects, the marquetry is what always draws the comments, no matter how simple it is. So do it! Get some cheap veneer (don't start with Wenge or purpleheart though! DAMHIKT) and go to town!

JC
 

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I like the leaf also !!!!!! As soon as I finish the box I am doing, I will try to do a Marquetry design….maybe!

I can see cutting the leaf from veneer with an xacto, but do you need to make a pattern and then use a router to cut out the relief for the leaf to go into? Obviously I have never done this before!

Thanks for posting
 

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Thanks for the link Caver…......... alot of information there.

When I get ready to start, I will read through it all to digest the info and then maybe try it out. If I have any
questions…............ you may hear from me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Thanks again
 

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Really nice. Thanks for that link. I'm going to have to try my hand at marquetry. You make it sound easy, but I've got 10 thumbs!
 

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That does it, I'm going to do another leaf tomorrow night, and this time I will take pics of all the steps and blog it…...give me a day or so….

JC
 

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Looks pretty good from here. I would have thought it was a great job if you hadn't fessed up :)) I'll be glad to see youir leaf go together.
 

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The leaf really dresses it up. I need to try that. looking forward to the tutorial.
 

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I better put you on the buddy list so i don't miss it.
 

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Great looking box. And the marquetry sets it off.
 

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ooohhhh all that work. Looks real nice, i like the leaf on top i really makes it stand out. I really like the 1/32 corner splines, not too bold but show strength. have you ever inset box hinges? or used hidden hardware like barrell. All that beautiful work and the hinges kinda jumped out.

nice job. I really like it
 

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Hey… I really like this! Have bookmarked for future reference as there's a lot of info here I need to check out. Thanks very much for posting. Great work.
 
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