We’ve had the plans for this for over 6 years, having bought it at Lee Valley when we lived on the Mainland. I finally got up the time to make it although as our tastes have changed since we first bought it. It is now a fusion of country and Arts and Crafts – mainly no curliques and more arches. We finished it in milk paint as it seemed to suit it better than the natural finish recommended on the plans.

The inspiration for this came from an Art Deco drawer pull my wife picked up at the Restore in Victoria for 2 bits (for those of you who don’t know, Restore is a part of Habitat for Humanity in which donated building materials – both new and used like doors, windows, hardware, etc. – are resold to the public and proceeds used to finance new homes for deserving families).

It gives the impression of looking down an empty 4-lane highway on the prairies and the way it recedes in the distance. That is what I have attempted to portray here.

Materials used are Black Walnut, Bird’s-Eye Maple, Cherry and Cherry veneer on ply, Cardinal Wood and Iroko. The finish is 2 coats of Varathane Natural Oil Finish and then 3 coats (for now) of wax.

This is a solid cedar box I made as a commission for a lady last year. She had a soapstone carving of Wasgo (a Northwest Coast First Nations legend – Google it if you want the complete story) and needed a stand to display it properly. I was recommended to her by my friend Herb Rice, a local Native carver for whom I make blank boxes for him to carve, as he is not the box-maker type! After discussions with her we settled on this design but to make it practical, it is also being used as a blanket box for some Hudson Bay blankets and Native blankets she has. The carving is quite large and this box measures 28” high x 25” wide and 18” deep. It is all 1” thick clear western red cedar. The kelp is line-carved and painted and there are real polished stones the kelp is attached to and various size abalone rounds to simulate bubbles rising to the surface.

Picture 2 – Sizing one of the 4 panels on the table saw.

Picture 3 – Carcass in the clamps – Gawd I hope I got them square!

Picture 4 – Yep, I did!

Picture 5 – Selecting the wood for the panels and trying to grain match as closely as possible – you just can’t get cedar that wide anymore so there was a lot of clamping to make large panels. As they were over large, I took them to a local custom door and moulding outfit and they ran them through their big sander for me to surface them prior to finishing.

This is the first of a series of jewellry boxes based on a sort-of made up sci-fi mythical place called Enndorr (apologies to anyone who already uses the name – it just sounded cool!). They will basically be boxes using a similar design to this one only with different woods.

This particular design was commissioned by an acquaintance of my wife’s (and was just picked up 1/2 hour ago) and is made of Arbutus for the basic carcass, Birds-eye Maple for the “moon” and drawer fronts, Arbutus for the necklace frames and fir and maple for the drawers and their own ‘mini-box’. The feet are of Rosewood and do not run all the way from side to side but extend in only about 6” from the outside edge.

Yes, Paul, I managed to get the doors to close properly! The next one, which I am already working on, utilizes Black Walnut, Maple (plain and Curly) and Spalted Alder! Sounds like a wierd combo but seems to look good when you put the woods together!

These pictures show just some of the avenues I have been exploring when it comes to woodworking. As you can see, I am mainly interested in making boxes of all types and these are but a small sample of what I have done. Hoefully, I can figure out how to make a Gallery of my work so I can show it all – and soon!