This project taught me to check under a good light when sanding. You can see the planer marks from dull blades in the first pic that I had to go back and sand out. It was a neat little box to make with a cool piece of walnut for the top. The inside has sapele wood dividers in the bottom and a tray and dividers made from the same. The dividers are removeable so that it could be used for other jewelry if needed. I cut a relief under the lid to make it easier to lift. One thing I would have done different is trim out the underside with the router to lighten the lid.

I thought I would post a pic of a little project I did a while back. A neat little wall mounted magazine holder out of walnut. It is big enough to hold about 5-6 magazines and is just finished in Watco Danish Oil. The angles were a little interesting to make with the sides and front getting larger towards the top.

Well, while I was working on boxes out of scrap, I figured i would continue on that theme and try out some cedar elm I had milled. There is very little info on this wood out there; so I figured i would just need to try it out. The boards did not dry very straight, and were from small, twisted trees. Rustic lumber to say the least. After some time on the jointer, resawing it, and planing it I had some wood for these boxes. Worked wonderfully, but a little prone to tear out and sanding swirls. It is a very hard and heavy wood. I love its coloring though! After many miters and rabbetted tops later, I ended up with this fleet of boxes. I finished them in different finishes for tests: wipe on poly, shellac, danish oil, and tung oil. The tung oil appears to be the winner so far. I personally like the 3rd one with the included bark, and I left the finish off the outer part of the bark to keep the lichen and moss alive.

I had a lot of scraps laying around the shop and they jus kept piling up. Something had to be done because the wood was to good to toss; so I have been making lots of little boxes from it. Small pieces of curly went on top of some walnut. Some badly warped, thin walnut crotch wood became the top for 2 others. Finally, I drug out some some plain sawn red sycamore pieces and played with a different top orientation and adding a band of scrap brazilian cherry to hide the top’s glue line. These are quick and easy projects for me that get the juices flowing. I can work on them a bunch at a time, or go in and work on 1 when I only have 15 minutes. It is also better than tossing good wood in the firewood bin.