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What Would I Give as a Wedding Gift, You Ask?

Project by Don posted 804 days ago 1633 views 6 times favorited 33 comments Add to Favorites Watch

Last week my dear wife told me in no uncertain terms that since I love small wooden boxes so much, it only made sense to give a box as a wedding gift to friends who are getting married.

Well, I was in no mood to argue, but I really didn’t want to interrupt my creative justices on this box, and a couple of times I went into my shop with every intention to start a new box but ended up tinkering with the one that was already in process.

So yesterday, I finally got off my duff and started the wedding gift. I am using Australian Blackbutt as the primary wood. I’ve used it before and wrote about the wood here. This is wood left over from that project.

The design is quite simple. The box walls are 1/2” thick Blackbutt, and the top and bottom is 3/8” Huon Pine. The dimensions are 10.5” x 6.5” x 4.25”. The lid is hinges with wedged dowels, and the bottom of the box floats in a rebate held in place by bamboo strung from front to back on both ends of the box. This idea is a continuation of the wedges used in my Joinery Comp entry. This joinery method will allow the solid bottom piece to expand up to 1mm in both directions.

I used Dovetail joints for the box, but did not concern myself with the knots and pitch holes that interfered with the dovetails. I had to cut the top row of dovetails off as they crumbled when being cut through some wood that lacked integrity.

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


33 comments so far

View Rob's profile

Rob

112 posts in 808 days


posted 804 days ago

Don, that is a spectacular box and what I aspire to.
Blackbutt is such a beautiful timber, it reminds me of English Yew to an extent. (Should we tell these Jocks that we use it for flooring here?)

-- http://www.damnfinefurniture.com

View Lee A. Jesberger's profile

Lee A. Jesberger

3709 posts in 858 days


posted 804 days ago

Hey Don;

I like how you have the bottom! Great idea.

You can add to your quote:

“and large wooden toothpicks. LOL

Very nice work Don.

Lee

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

View Don's profile

Don

2590 posts in 1055 days


posted 804 days ago

Close, Lee; they are meet skewers.

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

View Robb's profile

Robb

356 posts in 812 days


posted 804 days ago

Beautiful box, Don! The knotty exterior might give the casual observer the idea that the box is simple, but it has your usual intricacy and thoughtfulness in the details. Great work!

-- Robb

View TonyWard's profile

TonyWard

284 posts in 1206 days


posted 804 days ago

Don I love small wooden boxes, I think you should get off your butt more often as that is a nice box, a gift that will be treasured ~ well done grandfather !!!

t.w.

-- Bandsaw Box Plans

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

14090 posts in 1039 days


posted 804 days ago

and the “lid opener” very unique. What a beautiful gift.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

View snowdog's profile

snowdog

806 posts in 861 days


posted 804 days ago

Well done, it looks great. And your photography skill are not missed either.
Did you cut the dove tails by hand?
”..might give the casual observer the idea that the box is simple..” being new to the finer side of this wood cutting thing, I am finding that nothing is as simple as it looks.

-- "so much to learn and so little time"..

View Thos. Angle's profile

Thos. Angle

4015 posts in 840 days


posted 804 days ago

Gosh, Don., I wish I was getting married again just so I could have one of your neat boxes. That is a dandy!

-- Thos. Angle

View Buckskin's profile

Buckskin

484 posts in 866 days


posted 804 days ago

Very nice box.

View TomFran's profile

TomFran

2501 posts in 872 days


posted 804 days ago

Don,

Don’t ask me why, but I suspected that you might make a box to give as a wedding gift.

Beautiful work and wood!

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

View Karson's profile

Karson

25271 posts in 1278 days


posted 804 days ago

Great Box Don. You wrote about dovetails but these joints look like box joints.

Did you replace the one with the other?

Very unique bottom attachments

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

View Obi's profile

Obi

2191 posts in 1115 days


posted 804 days ago

I love looking at your boxes. Each one is so unique. And each one has little things in it that make me look at as much detail as I can get in the pictures you submit. The skewers, the knots, the handles… I’m sure glad I stumbled in here when i did, because, there is no way I could look at all of these pictures now that there are almost 2500 projects at an average of 3 pictures per entry, that’s 7500 pictures I’d have to look at and then there would be no time to play in the shop.

Thanks for the privelage.

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

View VTWoody's profile

VTWoody

95 posts in 935 days


posted 804 days ago

I love the handle or knob or whatever it is that you would like to call it. Very inventive.

View Gary's profile

Gary

437 posts in 1202 days


posted 803 days ago

Don,
That’s a lovely box. The DTs look suspiciously like box joints though.
Really pretty work. I should make a few more boxes but the LOML gets on me more for boxes than pens.
;p
Gary

-- Gary, Florida

View Branden's profile

Branden

320 posts in 1014 days


posted 803 days ago

Love the handle! This is a true artistan’s box!

-- Branden - Sacramento, California - www.ShopDogUSA.com

View jockmike2's profile

jockmike2

7222 posts in 1125 days


posted 803 days ago

Hi Don, Did you use a natural knothole as a place to set your top handle in place. It just looked that way to me. I agree about the box joints, sorry. But who cares its a beautiful box and much better than anything I could make. Love ya guy, mike

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

View Bob Babcock's profile

Bob Babcock

1808 posts in 964 days


posted 803 days ago

Great box Don…as usual. I feel Obi’s pain….having a real hard time keeping up with all the posts these days.

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

View cajunpen's profile

cajunpen

5970 posts in 944 days


posted 803 days ago

Don your boxes serve as an inspiration to me (and I’m sure many others). When I start a project now, I tend to think about your work and it inspires me to put in a little extra thought and effort. I’ve always been one of those woodworkers that want to start a project and knock it out. As a result, most of my projects look like I just “knocked them out”. Since I found the LJs\forum I’ve learned to slow down, and take more pride in my projects, as a result my projects are beginning to look like someone put a little effort in them and I have more pride in displaying the project. For that Don, I thank you, and so many other Artisans on this forum

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

View jembo's profile

jembo

105 posts in 892 days


posted 803 days ago

Beautiful work don, love the lever-handle, reminds me of some krenov pieces or pieces produced by students of Krenov or the college of the red woods.
I work as a chef and have used meat skewers to secure joints and to hide drill holes, my local DIY deos’nt have dowel rods that small..but my kitchens do.

-- James - Geneva, Switzerland

View Max's profile

Max

13957 posts in 1151 days


posted 803 days ago

This is a very nice box. I really like the way you have done the lid. I have never seen anything quite like that. Really like the combination of wood also….

-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT

View dennis mitchell's profile

dennis mitchell

3785 posts in 1192 days


posted 803 days ago

View DAN 's profile

DAN

6396 posts in 861 days


posted 803 days ago

Great box. Beautiful work ! very creative handle design … the way it contects with the knot in the face board

think I’ll take a break from the living room and go-make-a-box !!

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

View Don's profile

Don

2590 posts in 1055 days


posted 803 days ago

Quote Dick: You wrote about dovetails but these joints look like box joints. Did you replace the one with the other?

Dick, Mike & Gary, no, they are dovetail joints done on my Incra Jig.

Quote jockmike2: ”Did you use a natural knothole as a place to set your top handle in place?

Well spotted, Mike. Yes, the knot was particularly loose, so I knew it would have to go. At first I was going to trim the whole box down, but I decided this was a better option.

**
Thanks for the very supportive and encouraging comments everyone. They are very humbling.

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

View jockmike2's profile

jockmike2

7222 posts in 1125 days


posted 803 days ago

Nice dovetails Don, mmmmmmmmmmmm this crow is good, what about the top, was I right about there being a knot there? mike

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

View Don's profile

Don

2590 posts in 1055 days


posted 803 days ago

Hey, Mike, read immediately above your last post.

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

View CharlieM1958's profile (online now)

CharlieM1958

7459 posts in 1096 days


posted 802 days ago

You are the box-god, Don! Always beautiful and creative work. Thanks for inspiring me.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

View Danette Smith's profile

Danette Smith

125 posts in 1158 days


posted 798 days ago

Oh how I would have loved to burn something on the top of that box!! I love it! Dannie

-- Dangee's Pyrography by Artist Danette Smith

View schroeder's profile

schroeder

508 posts in 1003 days


posted 796 days ago

I just found this box Don, I don’t know how I missed it! – You do such nice work Don! I hope the happy couple understands what it means to get a box from you!

-- The Gnarly Wood Shoppe

View scottb's profile

scottb

3391 posts in 1205 days


posted 796 days ago

another beauty Don…

Nice to see some more blackbutt from down under ;)

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

View RobS's profile

RobS

1231 posts in 1184 days


posted 794 days ago

Careful there Scott, that sounds like something from one of your t-shirts….

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

View mot's profile

mot

4901 posts in 914 days


posted 794 days ago

Don, posting a small box? I can’t believe it! Great box!

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

View YorkshireStewart's profile

YorkshireStewart

779 posts in 779 days


posted 776 days ago

I’m only just beginning to work through these thousands of projects and am drawn to boxes. This is very much the style I often find myself aiming for all these miles away. Thoie dovetails look so tight and right despite the crumbly nature of the wood. Perfect!

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems

View trifern's profile

trifern

7890 posts in 645 days


posted 511 days ago

I love your lid design.

-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.

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