First Box

Earlier this year my mom was diagnosed with stomach cancer. At first they told her she only had days to live and to call her family immediately. My sister lives close but I am a 14 hour drive away so she called me at work and I left work to prepare. That night I was told to wait because she was to see another doctor. Without going into too much detail I finally did not go to see her until August, about 3 months later, as I had originally planned before I knew she had cancer as the feedback was constantly improving and Kimo seems to be working. Originally she had a 4%-5% chance of a cure and now the cancer has shrunk by 50%. She has a very good attitude and is doing very well. A few days after the initial shock was over and we had a better idea of what we were dealing with I was in a wood shop and found a piece of Brazilian Rosewood. Normally I would never buy wood that cost $38 bdf but as soon as I saw it I said I wanted to make something for my mother. I had a few months to pull it off and what you see is the end result. The last picture one I made for my wife at the same time. The only difference is the handle and there is nothing carved in the lid. In the end I was applying finish 2 days before I was scheduled to leave for the trip. I gave it to her in person when we arrived. It was very well received and now every time someone comes inside the first thing she does says is “Hey look what Rex made me.” This is the first piece that I had the intention of giving away from the time the idea popped in my head to final product. Makes you work/feel a little different; in a good way.

This is my first box, splines, handles, and carving (I carved the outline of the cancer symbol and colored it bleu as that is the color for stomach cancer.) All of the coves in the lid and base are cut on the table saw as I do not have a router that could drive a bit that big. Except for the bleu water based stain everything is done with shellac. The base is attached to the main body with rare earth magnets so as to create somewhat of a secret compartment. The lid just sits on the middle portion. All the light wood is maple and the dark is rosewood.

-- If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!