Dad's Box

This is a 6×4x3 Oak Burl box I made for my Dad for Christmas last year. It is finished with Blonde Shellac using the French Polishing technique. I haven’t known my Dad very long. I was adopted. I was fortunate enough to meet him and develop a relationship. I also have two new younger brothers. My Dad’s name is James and interestingly my first name is also James.

Anyway, we all have a passion for wood and especially burl wood. My newfound youngest brother has a son that was at a youth gathering associated with his church. He noticed someone had thrown an interesting branch from the wood pile into the campfire. He recognized it as a large burl about the size of a bowling ball wrapped around a branch and quickly removed it from the flames. You can see some minor charring.

He gave it to my Dad because he knew my Dad was coming to see me. I have a 17” band saw and he wanted me to resaw some it for him. Below is a thin slice.

I cut several slices about 3/8” thick. We were absolutely stunned at the beauty of the grain. Before my Dad left that weekend he told me to keep a few slices for myself. To this day I’m not sure what happened to the rest of that burl. My Dad isn’t sure either. So I took what I had and made him a box. After all these years it turned out to be the first thing I ever made for my dad. Below is a picture before I started the finishing process.

-- Brent, Johnson County Texas......Resawing is like a box of chocolates, ya never know what you're gonna get.