Small Cherry/Walnut Box

A small cherry with walnut top box for my granddaughter. This was also my first attempt at veneering – the bottom is 1/8” plywood veneered on both sides with cherry veneer. Top was very gray, steamed walnut – I mixed red-brown TransTint dye mixed with Sealcoat shellac to give it some color, followed by four coats of Arm-R-Seal. The body got a dilute coat of the red-brown dye mixed with water to add some tint, then several coats of Arm-R-Seal. I was looking for something different for the pull so I used a piece of curly maple which I think really sets the walnut top off. Feet are glued up with a piece of veneer between two pieces of walnut and the keys are also walnut. The top’s routed edge didn’t quite work as I wanted – because of the profile and the rabbet underneath, not much material was left at the edge; next time I’ll leave the edge a little thicker.

Jim