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My wife asked me to make a memory box for someone very close to us who passed away last summer. She found pictures of what she liked and asked me to do one like the one she found. I don't think I"ll do another box with this style of box joint. She wanted the walnut to surround each pin. Now I know these types of joints can be done with a Leigh or even the Porter Cable Omni Jig, but not having the right bits at the shop I decided to improvise. I lined each panel with 1/16" veneer of walnut, set the dado in my table saw to cut a 3/8" gap with a 1/4" pin. I glued 1/16" veneers on to the pins to reduce the gap to 1/4". As any of you who've cut box joints using a dado set may know, the spacing is never perfect, I did have to adjust a few of the pins to get the box to fit together. The lid is walnut with a quarter sawn white oak. I wasn't thinking when I measured the box for the lid. I wanted to have it a 1/4" all the way around smaller then the box and forgot about how to hinge it, so I had to add two little pieces on the back of the lid to allow for them. The final size is 10" x 12.5" x 5". She thought it was perfect.

I've decided to enter this into the Winter contest. I've always liked the idea of useing contrasting woods for added effect. You can see that on several of my projects. Contrasting color can add so much to the esthetics. Here, the accents around the pins highlights an area that normally wouldn't be noticed and helps to define them. With the lid the walnut helps to highlight the quartered white oak and, with the mitered cornors allows the viewer to focus on the grain patterns in the wood. If this box were just oak, or walnut, it would be a rather boring piece (in my opinion), but with the contrasting colors it brings out the best in both woods.

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Comments

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1,083 Posts
Looks very nicely done. And the inlay box joint is not a simple task to do it without using jig.
You did it very well Chris!
 

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236 Posts
Beautiful!
 

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112 Posts
Lovely work. That is a lot of work. But the result is outstanding.
 

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287 Posts
Great job, does sound like a lot of work, but it paid off.
Thanks
 

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Very well done. Nice compliment of contrasting woods.
 

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19,753 Posts
Nice box Chris
 

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192 Posts
I can only see a glimpse of the add ons for the hinges but I think they look good. I like that it breaks up the design and more clearly defines front and back.
 

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17 Posts
Great box joints, great box! Your extra work on the joints really sets this box off from anything I've ever made. We all can see the care you put into it and many of us understand the reason.
 
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