Maple and Walnut Box

Very pretty! Great looking grain.
I agree with your wife but in the picture we can’t tell the size!
Nice workmanship.

-- spanky46 -- Never enough clamps...Never enough tools...Never enough time.

Great little box. The wood is gorgeous, and I really like the shape.

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

Looks great to me!

-- www.responsetolight.com - A Woodworking & Renovation Blog & www.craftedbytim.com - I make. You buy.

Thanks for all the kind feedback!

Spanky46 -ha! good point it’s about 11” x 4” x 3” -about the size of a tall skinny rat :)

Looks good to me. Nice box. That figured maple can be frustrating, for sure.

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

Love the look of the wood … what was the learning at the planer?

-- Steve, http://www.robsonranchwoodworkers.org

i like the design of this one as well as the wood. good job.

-- David - Houston, Texas.

Beautiful wood combination and I love this design. Great job…...
What is the dark wood? Walnut??

Thanks for sharing

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

Thank you all for such kind words!!!

I actually cheated a bit on the contrast, the walnut was stained with “dark walnut” before glue-up, and the maple with a “natural” then after assembly I hit it with some shellac then wax, 300 grit between all coats. not much rhyme to the reason – I certainly haven’t developed my finishing method but I’m pretty happy with the results, but the wood did most of the work :)

Spuds – the jointer lesson was -just because you think it should run through a certain way – it’ll let you know, I’ve never had chunks torn out like that!! It good thing I was planing a whole 1/4 off :) had plenty of learning material…

majeagle1 – yes, those ends are walnut

Nice work, I like the simple design and the contrast of woods.

-- Bill G - West Springfield, MA

Great looking box, with some bitchin’ maple. I like the finger slot for lifting the lid.
Next time out try moistening the maple with mineral spirits and letting it sit a minute before running it through the jointer/planer. With that much figure, you are always going to have grain running counter to what you intuit to be the downhill slope.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

i just planed some tiger maple and through some research found that if you dampen the wood first and then take verry thin cuts there was no tear out as long as you remember to orient the wood the right way!
nice box love the contrast

-- the journy of a thousand miles begins with a single step " Lou-Tzu"

Looks Great! I’m amazed how many different designs are posted at LJ.

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

Thanks Douglas I’ll keep that trick in my back pocket!

Nice looking design, although I see what your wife means. I agree with Doug on the finger pull. I’ve also had pretty good luck with the dampening trick.

-- Chris

looking good, that’s the beauty of woodworking you always are learning, good job

-- john, Moose Jaw, Sask, j.soika@shaw.ca