| Project by John M | posted 69 days ago | 730 views | 5 times favorited | 18 comments |  |
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This is a gift for my step-sister’s wedding coming up on October 3rd. The box could be used for anything I suppose but I intended it to contain three 4×6 photo albums for the wedding photos that don’t get bound into a wedding book or hung on the wall.
This is my first attempt at an “Andy” type art box. And I would just like to say before I go any further: Andy’s work was not only the inspiration for this type of box but Andy was also good enough to give me tremendous support and encouragement as I stumbled through some very new (to me) techniques. Thank you once again Andy… you’ve got me even more hooked on box making than before and have given new life and purpose to my angle grinder! ; )
For those of you who have not seen Andy’s excellent tutorial, please see it here. It is a wealth of information.
I was not able to shape the lid as much as I would have liked as the lid stock was not thick enough (they only had 1/2” maple in stock) but I am happy with it nonetheless. The frame around the medallion was as the result of a little mistake I made while trying to route out the spot for the medallion. That is one technique that I will be focusing on mastering but I’m happy with how the fix came out.
The wood is walnut and curly maple with spalted birch for the medallion. The lift tab is a piece of spalted ash that I had kicking around from another project.
The shaping was done with an angle grinder with first a 50 and then a 120 grit sanding disc. I used chalk to mark the outline of what I wanted before I started grinding. That helped a LOT.
The finish is sprayed lacquer (4 coats) which I then rubbed down with steel wool and finished off with two coats of paste wax buffed up to a nice sheen. In addition to Andy’s blog and help… I can say that THIS BOOK was perhaps one of the best resources I had to guiding my finishing of this project. I highly recommend it!!
The bottom of the box I lined with self adhesive black felt.
I originally planned on using barrel hinges for the lid but due to the thickness of the lid as well as a need to cover up another small mistake, I switched to the piano hinge. I also added a small chain to stop the lid from going back too far.
I printed out and traced the words on the computer, traced them on to the under side of the lid with graphite paper and then used a wood burning iron to burn them in for a personal touch.
I finished it off with my brand ( one of my favourite birthday gifts ever!) for another personal touch.
Thanks once again to Andy for all the support.
Thanks for looking!!!
John
-- John, Ontario, Canada
18 comments so far
grizzman
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553 posts in 202 days
posted 69 days ago
youve made a beautiful project…i love the design and the wood choice …im sure it will be recived as a welcomed gift…...good job..
-- The Grizzone
huff
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1630 posts in 184 days
posted 69 days ago
John, Your box is awesome. I really like your frame around the medalion(don’t care if it was a design change in mid stream). Andy’s tutorial on the art box was great and has really helped a lot of us. Great combination of woods…well done.
-- John @ Myrtle Beach
a1Jim
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17138 posts in 476 days
posted 69 days ago
Looks good John very nice box
-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture ,maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com
littlecope
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604 posts in 401 days
posted 69 days ago
They’re going to love it, John! Nice Job!
-- Mike in Manchester, NH---Unpleasant tasks are simply worthy challenges to improve skills.
RexMcKinnon
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722 posts in 94 days
posted 69 days ago
Really nice.
-- If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!
dustyal
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447 posts in 374 days
posted 69 days ago
Your box is great… a very memorable gift.
I just happened to have finished reading Andy’s blog… after I finished my third box. Now I need to do another just to get it right—uh, more correct perhaps?
You got it much closer to Andy’s tutorial then I’ll be able to achieve in my first try… way to go. You didn’t make mistakes… you just validated the hand-made quality of product…
nice going.
-- Al H. - small shop, small projects...
kolwdwrkr
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2258 posts in 489 days
posted 69 days ago
cool
-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~
Wingstress
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215 posts in 414 days
posted 69 days ago
Great job! Although it is an “Andy” box, you definitely put some originality into it. Well done!!!
-- Tom, Simsbury, CT
scrappy
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1666 posts in 330 days
posted 69 days ago
Fantastic box. Another “Andy” inspired success. Great design and wood choices. The medallion really stands out.
Keep up the great work.
Scrappy
-- Scrap Wood's the best...the projects are smaller, and so is the mess!
ellen35
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542 posts in 331 days
posted 69 days ago
Beautiful box for a wonderful occasion.
I just love how you “waved” it.
Ellen
-- Ellen on Cape Cod
Bradford
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787 posts in 722 days
posted 69 days ago
Gotta get an angle grinder…
-- so much wood, so little time. Bradford.
Charles Maxwell
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160 posts in 706 days
posted 69 days ago
It’s not just a beautifully crafted box/design…It’s a fantastic idea too! Well done.
-- Max the "night janitor" at www.hardwoodclocks.com
Derrek LeRouax
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127 posts in 193 days
posted 69 days ago
Fantastic box, and I am sure the box will get shown off just as much as the pictures!!
-- Derrek L.
Kent Shepherd
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840 posts in 185 days
posted 69 days ago
Great box—-Thanks
-- Kent Shepherd * The goal is-----More Tools!
shopmania
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50 posts in 81 days
posted 69 days ago
Looks Super!! Thanks for the links to the tutorials! I’ve been wanting to try something like that.
-- Tim, Myrtle Beach, DrTim@ONeillChiro.com- Guys DO like shopping, as long as it's for tools! :)
mcoyfrog
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824 posts in 493 days
posted 68 days ago
Great box, I really dig it
-- Wood and Glass they kick (well you know) Have a great day - Dug
Andy
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571 posts in 807 days
posted 68 days ago
Wow John,you did just great!
I like the picture frame effect on the top.Your finish is very silky looking and works well with the shaping.
I hope to see more from you soon.
Congratulations.
-- " If I can make it,so can you" Andy in Oregon
blockhead
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310 posts in 208 days
posted 67 days ago
Wonderful interpretation of Andy’s Art Box! The changes you made during the build to cover the “mistakes”, were expertly done and the box is beautiful! I couldn’t imagine it any other way. The woods really compliment one another and the finish is gorgeous. I know it will be cherished forever.
Andy was also a huge help with my art box (other than the turorial) and I had fun building mine as well. Again, beautifully done and thanks for posting!!
-- Brad, Oregon- Wood, it's what's for dinner.