Dilemma Over - Decision Made

Good choice, Oh lover of small wooden boxes. But I am glad you shared the mallet with the foxed tenons, as I have never seen that style of joinery before. Although I have done some garden projects, and they see the light of day everyday, they will likely not be seen through the light of a monitor screen. Maybe the next challenge.

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

Hello Don;

Don’t you hate it when you have to chose. It’s like getting married all over again. LOL

Nice choice.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Don

I think the box has a better chance than the mallet! Well done.

t.w.

-- Bandsaw Box Plans

(Lee: I’m sure there is a story behind those words!!)

The box is lovely – I especially like how you made the lid mimic the side pieces, tying it all together.

Nicely done and I guess a lover of small boxes should enter a small box into the challenge. :)

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Nice work once again Don.
The corners kind of remind me of my birdhouses but then again everything reminds me of birdhouses. lol

-- John in Cranbrook http://www.extremebirdhouse.com ....http://community.webshots.com/user/cranbrook2

Don Great little Box. Good choice.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

a very unique approach. nice work. I especially like the look of the corners. great grain. thanks for the nice comments on my projects

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

”Although I like the Mallet I made with glueless joinery, I think I like the small box more. After all, I can’t claim to be a lover of small wooden boxes without being repaired to be evaluated as a box maker.” - Don

Don, I agree with this logic. You have established yourself as a “lover of small wooden boxes” and in order to maintain consistency with this motto, you must stay with your choice of this “small wooden box.” ;^D

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

Interesting design Don, I like the choice of the bamboo pins taking the place of the glue and the protruding fingers. It’s certainly a change from the machined fingerjoints that sport the indonesian-made little boxes that flood the market nowadays.

Pardon my ignorance but what exactly is a ’”Pagoda” type lid handle’. I can’t really visualize it… and it’s not that I don’t have any real scale pagodas to look at nearby! Now that I think there’s one of many down the street, half a mile away. :o)

I do agree with Tony and the rest: this is a better choice for a joinery challenge.

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://www.japanese-woodworking-tools.com/

Jojo, perhaps using the term Pagoda was overstating my idea. I spent an hour shaping a piece of Ebony as a handle or knob, shaped with upcurved ends similar to the look of the roof-line of a Pagoda. My research indicated that most Pagoda roofs have more than one layer with the layers on top being smaller than the ones under them. Also, most appear to culminate in a small spire of some kind.

I came up with a shape that looked OK, but with the following problems.

My design difficulty, is that a lid is normally lifted from the edge opposite the hinge. This would dictate that the Pagoda-shaped knob be no more that 1/3 the distance from the front to the hinge, but preferably closer to the front edge. However, this flies in the face of the symmetrical nature of the Pagoda. Placing it anywhere but dead centre looked strange.

Also, a spire shape just doesn’t work well on a knob. And even if it did look OK, I wasn’t sure that I could come up with a glueless joinery idea that would both work and look right.

Hence I abandoned the concept.

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

Bravo Don. I think you made the right choice. This box looks even better now with the finish.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

I was unable to see your mallet, but I believe that your box is exceptionally well done and very interesting in its design and joinery. Congratulations!

-- Jesus is Lord!

Good choice Don. I really like this box.

Good choice on not using the pagoda handle. It looks good on a lift top box, but a hinged box would make it look odd.

Good luck.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Don, great box! Thanks for blogging it as well. I love a wooden box. I just have to bring myself to start makin them. I have all kinds of wood devoted to the box. I just haven’t pulled the trigger. I better get on it!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Looks great Don!

Absolutely beautiful and ingenious. You’ve outdone yourself. Way to go. Great looking box. Buds, mike

-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com

Great box Don. I have a couple I made over the weekend to sand, finsih and post. OS, I belive the mallet is here

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/1951

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I support your move to enter the box!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Got it Don, you’re absolutely right regarding your observations on the “pagoda”. Did a great job describing it too, I am able to “see” it perfectly and I think you did the right move discarding it… on this project. Now if your next box lid is hingeless that would be great to try.

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://www.japanese-woodworking-tools.com/

((complicated-er and complicated-er becomes the rules))

A lovely box—both ways.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Beautiful Box Don. I agree with JoJo that you made the right choice on the lid. I love the grain pattern of your wood choice and the finish seems to bring it out well. Great work.

-- Greg - Charles Town, WV

Great job Don! I admire your dedication to the rules. Best of luck in the contest.

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

Good save Don, bet you were happy that there was no glue in the project, which allowed you to take it apart – remove the plywood – and “get legal” with the solid wood. Beautiful box too.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

Yes, a very nice box… the mallet was great too – and while I agree with the others on your choice of submitting the box for the contest – there is nothing wrong with working outside your comfort zone – not that I think any of your non-box projects really could be classified as such.

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

Great job Don. Congratulations. I love this box.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Just a wonderful way to show off you abilities with this box Don. It is just fantastic! Thanks.

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,

Congratulations on your finish Don. Good description of the process.

The one thing about this challenge was that so many of us could learn more techniques we would probably never thought of. I liked you mallet also. Much better than the one I turned.

-- Joel Tille

Hi Don…...........couldn’t be happier. Just clean and to the point of the challenge.

I loved the ability to bring her back into the pit for a quick change….......a great charge at the challenge.

Neil

PS…..I enjoy your writing style.

Thanks for all of the very encouraging comments.

I’m stoked that my entry even rated. Although I love small wooden boxes with a passion, I realize my box hardly compares to the two entries taking first and second. Frankly, I was a little embarrassed with my humble box when I saw these and other projects entered after mine. I’m glad I had the courage to enter mine when I did, because I would probably have not done so after seeing the other great entries.

This is a wonderful community of women and men and I count it a real honor that my small wooden box rated.

Thanks!

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

Don Congratulation on your entry and the vote. It’s a great vote of confidence in your “I just love small wooden boxes!” boxes.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Hi Don;

I guess you picked the right project, or did you?

Again, incredible work, Don.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

I think so, Lee. I find it hard to believe that a project with a single joint would even rate.

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

Don great replacement with the new bottom.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

This is really nice, Don! I love how the lid is part of the box-joint.

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

WOW…...

-- Bruce