Project Information
Always use a respirator when cutting any shell based material
This was one of my first boxes and I learned a lot. It was a great experiment into incorporating shell veneer into a project. This box has 93 pieces of wood in it. It has walnut, alder, birds eye maple, purple heart, and pine which the abalone was mounted on. I mounted the abalone on the pine and then cut it into 60 degree diamonds. I originally didn't cut enough and really wished I hadn't changed my saw. I used abalone veneer I bought on amazon for $20. One of the issues I ran into was that you can't plane or sand abalone so the lid has a less than flat texture to it but I think it gives it character. I trimmed out the 3d pattern with purple heart and mortised them into the pattern and frame to create splines to cut down on wood movement. The box is alder and walnut with hand cut dovetail joinery. The pattern is on both sides of the lid so you can see it when you open the box. It's lined with felt and my fiance and I use it to store our sentimental trinkets. If you want to watch a YouTube video where I talk about the build here you go: Thanks for looking!
This was one of my first boxes and I learned a lot. It was a great experiment into incorporating shell veneer into a project. This box has 93 pieces of wood in it. It has walnut, alder, birds eye maple, purple heart, and pine which the abalone was mounted on. I mounted the abalone on the pine and then cut it into 60 degree diamonds. I originally didn't cut enough and really wished I hadn't changed my saw. I used abalone veneer I bought on amazon for $20. One of the issues I ran into was that you can't plane or sand abalone so the lid has a less than flat texture to it but I think it gives it character. I trimmed out the 3d pattern with purple heart and mortised them into the pattern and frame to create splines to cut down on wood movement. The box is alder and walnut with hand cut dovetail joinery. The pattern is on both sides of the lid so you can see it when you open the box. It's lined with felt and my fiance and I use it to store our sentimental trinkets. If you want to watch a YouTube video where I talk about the build here you go: Thanks for looking!