A box for Mary

Super cool design. Love the natural following lines that wrap the box. Nice job man!

-- Live, think, breath wood...

Great design. I really like the way you incorporated the natural beauty of the wood.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Just beautiful box.
Very well done.
Like the choice of wood and the splayed mitered dovetails.

Welcome to Lumberjocks community , the best woodworking community on the internet!

-- My woodwork blog : http://www.isetehtud.pri.ee/blog/

Very nice! I like the joinery you chose.

-- Hutch ...Montana

Great use of grain patterns. I’ve always wanted to try that joint. St. Roy did it on a tool box. Very cool.

-- - You begin thinking less, and feeling more.

You have worked the wood pattern to perfection and the joinery just adds more to it. Very nicely done.

-- I can so I wood but why are my learning curves always circles

Beautiful.. I love how you centered the spalting on the lid and sides.

-- Ron,R.A.Shepard Woodworking,Massachusetts

So cool….

-- Regards, Woodworm - KL, MY.

Beautiful Box Woodjoint!!!

-- Dennis Zongker

beautiful box. I love the dovetails and the handle really adds to the look.

-- Kate, http://www.wooden-box-maker.com

Very Beautiful !

-- ??? My mistakes heat the house. It's very warm in here. ???

That’s fantastic… Love the grain and handle on the top.

Are the dovetails hand-cut?

-- Ryno

spalted Maple and Birch…..............one of my favorites and you “captured”it quite nicely.

Did you know that the word “Spalted” and “Spalting” dont exist other then in the lingo of woodworkers. “Spalt” is a word found in most dictionaries but the other two…...........nadda happening.

Strange that Webster and Oxford cant keep up with Jocks

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

simply masterful.

Thanks everyone. Glad you liked it….

-- Charlie Mastro Waha, ID www.mastrowoodworking.com

Looks great

-- Shawn, I ask in order to learn

Beautifully done Woodjoint. Those joints are a delight. Richie’s Pizza must look resplendent too!

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems

Absolutely beautiful! Love the dovetails, the top, and that spalted wood.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

That is just fantastic! What a present. Truely fine workmanship.

Steve

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Got here late so I have to ditto all above. Very elegant!

-- mtnwild (Jack), It's not what you see, it's how you see it.

Terrific box!! I like everything about it, esp the spalt! Awesome, somebody got lucky getting that as a gift.

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17) †

Just beautiful all around! The dovetails are great and I particularly like the handle and the spalting on the top.

-- Brian, Folsom, CA http://www.brianfullerdesigns.com

Great Job

-- Jim, Kentucky

Wow, beautiful design, smooth sleek lines, wonderful grain wrapping around and the handle is perfect as well.
The dovetails are great, they add to the whole package…........ I have never tried them, someday maybe
I’ll have the guts…............

Thanks for sharing

-- Gene, Majestic Eagle Woodworks, http://majesticeagleww.etsy.com/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/majesticeagle/

wow again the semitry is one thing ,cool as it is but .. ah that just fine ,very fine

-- "when you think youre going to slow, slow down just a little bit more" .... Pop's

I just now discovered this box, and if you have seen my postings, I don’t comment on average pieces.

Your attention to the grain direction and bookmatching the top etc is excellent. I like the subtle top treatment how it appears almost dished on the ends.

The splayed, mitered dovetail is beatiful. And the little foot detail is nice. Bravo.

Now, here is some critique for you if I may be so bold. If you want crisper dovetails, there are a few things you can do to get that last little bit of perfection. First and foremost, stop using a pencil to mark your shoulder lines, use a rolling marking guage (I tell you this improved my dovetails dramatically). Second, use a paring block cut to whatever angle you do your tails at then use it to guide your last cut into the pins (you DO do pins first right? :) ) This will leave you only one surface to botch (the less the better in my case!), and third, before cutting anything, take a VERY sharp chisel, and snap it into your shoulder lines and press straight down just a bit (NO ROCKING!) then come in from the side to remove just a tiny sliver of material. I guarantee this will amaze you in how tight your tails will be after this step.

Then, only two things I noticed, maybe reducing the thickness of your sides on this box….I think it would be in better proportion to the delicate top. And the final comment is purely research based. I’ve seen some asian style boxes like this with turned corners on the lid….this box would be amazing with that treatment.

Hopefully this did not come off as preachy, it would be hard to improve this box, but a few tiny adjustments would make your next one flawless. Please, stop by and critique my work anytime…..

Excellent work!

JC

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

JC

I think you’re right about the sides, they could be thinner. The turned up edges would be nice too but would involve a lot of carving and I had a time limit on this one. I have more wood with the strip in it so maybe next time.

By the way I i use a marking knife and marking gauge but often darken in the cuts with a pencil so I can see them better.

Charlie

-- Charlie Mastro Waha, ID www.mastrowoodworking.com