Artsy Humidor

Outstanding as always Bill. Just beautiful.

-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt!

-- ICN, Bill, (http://www.coachbillcowan.com)

Wow! This is terrific, Bill.

That’s some latch! Need more pictures to understand it better. I’m assuming that when you release it as in the third picture, it lets go of the lighter colored piece that must be a part of the lower portion of the box. Do I have that correct?

Please tell me about the design thinking behind this one.

Why your disappointment in the finish? What do you normally spray and what finish do you use?

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hillsbiblechurch.org/

Thanks!

Don…the latch mechanisim is sort of split horizontally right in the middle of that lighter colored wood. You can kind of see the split in the picture. When you press on the upper portion of the latch or (Lever) where the 3 small maple strips are, it springs back into the cylinder on top of the box. The cylinder is the horizontal wenge’ portion at the top of the contraption :-), with a spring on the inside. There is a piston, so to speak, that links the lever to the cylinder which presses on the spring. When the box is closed, the spring keeps tension on the piston which in turn presses the lever forward, locking down on a pin inset in the front of the box. I’ll snap a few more detail pictures of it.

The design really came from Mr. McDowell although I’ve added a lot of feature myself. I wanted to incorporate this look into a humidor, but really any box could have these features.

I usually spray a lacquer on normal boxes, 6-8 coats, with a polishing afterwards. I also use varnish at times, but I wanted to try wipe on for a change. maybe it’s just my inexperience with it. :-)

-- ICN, Bill, (http://www.coachbillcowan.com)

That is pretty fancy!

Just beautiful.
Why the holes in the inside dividers? Design? Function?

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

Thank you.

The lid is wenge’ and curly maple. The bottom is Jatoba (fancy name for Brazilian cherry). The fins at the bottom are wenge’ and curly maple as well as all of the latching mechanisim pcs. The inside is finished with (removable) spanish cedar fitted so that they form the seal you need when the lid is closed. There is a mortised lock that is accessed through a hole in the front of the lever.

-- ICN, Bill, (http://www.coachbillcowan.com)

lee,...just to be sort of decorative and maybe for a little air flow. Shoot, I really don’t know…just kind of looked right.

-- ICN, Bill, (http://www.coachbillcowan.com)

I’ve seen a latch like that before, perhaps an earlier post you did… You’ll need to post pictures, I read your description, but my brain is still trying to visualize. Quite an intricate mechanism. Looks really cool.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Van Gogh -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

very very nice box! i very much love that latch! great work!

-- "What one can make with good tools is limited only by one's talent" (lucius-hill@comcast.net)

Really cool. I looks so ‘mechanical’ but not cold like something mechanical. Makes we want to open and close it and then do that again. Really nice!

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

Very fine box. Finish looks good from here. Great job.

-- Jimmy

holymoly—that latch is something else!!
and you are going to sand it all down??
beautiful

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I do not smoke anymore…But this almost makes me want to go and start start the habit again. Really nice combo on woods and wonderful piece of art. This is probably way too good for the cigars I can afford! Thanks for sharing.

-- Carpe Lignum; Tornare Lignum (Seize the wood, to Turn the wood)

Don’t give up on the poly wipe quite yet. You’re supposed to thin it a tad with mineral spirits then apply several coats using first lint free cloth then later 0000 steel wool. I get great finishes with it. Very nice project. jockmike

-- (You just have to please the man in the Mirror) Mike from Michigan -