Veneered Lid boxes

Some firsts for me here. I was inspired by Tom Adamski's work, great stuff.

First time veneering and marquetry
The lids are 1/2” MDF, the undersides are beech, topsides are beech for the one with the Fleur-de-lis marquetry and the other is lacewood.

First time making and using banding
The inlay banding is shopmade from sapele scraps and pine veneer, though in a couple areas, the light color of the pine darkened which kinda screwed up the look. Oh well. These were just prototypes for some humidors I will be making as soon as I score some spanish cedar and suitable veneer.

The boxes themselves are 1/2” thick, made from some resawn ‘who knows what’ slabs from a flooring company dumpster. It was very coarse, brittle, and oily, though not that heavy. If anyone knows, I’d be interested. A test with some tung oil left it sticky for days. It just would not dry on top of that oily wood.

First time ruining a finish with shellac
I bought some Hock flakes which I have had good luck with in the past and while in my garage, it hardened into blocks. I broke them up and now they will not dissolve properly. I think it cost me $40 on two bags of shellac to learn the lesson of keeping flakes indoors and not out in the South Florida heat. :( Bummer.

After exhausting my supply of Seal-Coat, I attempted to use the partially dissolved shellac (3 days in the alcohol) and it gummed up my most excellent pore filling job. I had to sand and sand, nearly cutting through the veneer. I was quite angry at myself for even attempting to use that junk. Final finish was 4-5 coats of blonde shellac and wax rubbed in with 0000 steel wool.

First time pre-finishing the interior of the boxes
I will do this on all of my boxes from now on. What a piece of cake, I can’t believe how much easier it was to finish all the parts while they were flat. Duh.

All in all, I think the lessons I learned will really help elevate my boxwork in the future. Now please excuse me while I go look at Tom’s project gallery for inspiration on my next project….

JC

-- Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -Carl Sagan