Jewelry Box #1: Shhhhh! Xmas present for Mrs. Slappy! Don't tell!

Well, wife has used the same cheapie jewerly box for about 17 years. I originally bought it for her from a department store, way back in the dark ages, and I guess it serves its purpose. But it isn’t even wood – it’s made of fabric wrapped around who-knows-what.

So this year I am going to build her a huge jewelry chest. The production-line gift for relatives is going to be something else, but under cover of that project I have begun working on the chest.

The primary wood is goncalo alves (tigerwood). Will finish to reddish brown and polish up like satin. The show panel in the top, and the panel in the bottom, are going to be quilted maple. I got a truly spectacular showpiece slab on ebay. A full 1” thick, 14” wide, 24” long, and flat as a sheet of marble. Accent wood is wenge. All of the trays are going to be wenge, lined with black suede (again, ebay is my lifeline! You can get an entire hide for $20 or less….)

I’m still struggling with the design a little bit. Part of me wants to do a non-traditional chest, which would be square, about 13×13, with a lift-off top. But part of me thinks I should go ahead and make a normal rectangular box with a hinged lid. I’ve begun dressing out the lumber, so it’s time to make some decisions, I guess.