| Project by Jim | posted 320 days ago | 1761 views | 6 times favorited | 13 comments |  |
 |
Melissa heard I did a little hobby woodworking. She wanted to surprise her husband with a custom-built mailbox for their Craftsman-style home. She found one online, but the $200 price tag was a little too much for their limited budget. I offered to build it for the price of materials (I wanted some practice with quarter-sawn oak).
Fortunately, the online drawing included some rough dimensions. I was able to utilize my new Powermatic jointer and planer to mill the wood to the custom dimensions needed.
Melissa provided a template for the “post” on top and I routed it with a small trim router and then cleaned it up with a chisel.
I wanted the finish to look like an older arts & crafts piece and found a great article on FWW. (Original Arts & Crafts by Nancy Hiller)
I did most of the finishing before assembly. Final cost was about $100 ( I went thru a lot of oak learning about tearout…)
-- Jim, Boise ID - Attitude is everything
13 comments so far
clieb91
home | projects | blog
681 posts in 832 days
posted 320 days ago
Nicely Recreated.
CtL
-- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."
3fingerpat
home | projects | blog
910 posts in 565 days
posted 320 days ago
Nice job Jim, this looks great!
-- "You get what you inspect, not what you expect"
Tim Pursell
home | projects | blog
389 posts in 680 days
posted 320 days ago
Very nice!
-- http://www.grandprairiewoodworks.com http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6453794
Bigbuck
home | projects | blog
1366 posts in 561 days
posted 320 days ago
Very nice, I am sure she was pleased with it
-- Glenn, New Mexico
WispWoods
home | projects | blog
41 posts in 324 days
posted 320 days ago
AWESOME! I am researching Arts and Crafts right now, and this piece is a great! Way to Go!
-- - You begin thinking less, and feeling more.
Todd Thomas
home | projects | blog
4831 posts in 346 days
posted 320 days ago
good looking mailbox….very much with the A/C style looks great
-- Todd, Oak Ridge, TN, Hello my name is Todd and I'm a Toolholic, I bought my last tool 10 days, no 4 days, oh heck I bought a tool on the way here! †
DanaA
home | projects | blog
29 posts in 348 days
posted 320 days ago
Very nice. How long did it take you to make it?
-- Dana
FlWoodRat
home | projects | blog
586 posts in 807 days
posted 320 days ago
Jim,
Nicely done. Did you incorporate ‘anti-junk mail’ and “bill rejector” mechanisms into it? Perhaps that would be too futuristic for the Arts and Crafts motif.
-- I love the smell of sawdust in the morning....
Douglas Bordner
home | projects | blog
3427 posts in 961 days
posted 320 days ago
Looks like a crafthome.com item. Lot of great designs there. But no matter, this is your handiwork Jim, and it looks great! I’m sure Melissa is quite pleased.
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
jim1953
home | projects | blog
1613 posts in 739 days
posted 320 days ago
Great Lookin Mailbox
-- Jim, Kentucky
dennis mitchell
home | projects | blog
3791 posts in 1212 days
posted 320 days ago
Very nice.
-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com
Jim
home | projects | blog
29 posts in 687 days
posted 314 days ago
Hey Dana, I’ve been remodelling a rental along with my regular job, so I kinda worked on the mailbox a couple hours here and there as the schedule allowed. I spent a lot of time experimenting to get the finish correct. I guessing 20 hours…
-- Jim, Boise ID - Attitude is everything
FJPetruso
home | projects | blog
163 posts in 607 days
posted 284 days ago
Great Looking Oak Mailbox! Oak Craftsman & Mission projects are favorites of mine. I especially like the font that was chosen. It reminds me of my brand that you see in the corner.
-- Frank, Florissant, Missouri "The New Show-Me Woodshop"