Oval Band Saw Box in Four Woods

January, 2010—Most of my inspiration for band saw boxes has come from books. I was inspired to make this one from Donna Menke’s book, which I highly recommend. I started with a glue-up of four different woods. The top is walnut, then poplar. I do not know what the bottom two woods are. My source for some of my projects is the cut-off pile at an exotic lumberyard in St. Petersburg, Florida (known as “The Beast”). They have a wood shop at the store where they make things (mostly furniture) to order, so naturally they wind up with cut-offs, which he sells by the pound.

There were two new challenges for me on this box. First, my goal was to make it oval and symmetrical – as opposed to free form. That meant I had to cut the wood more accurately, without straying from my lines. The second challenge was the sculpted lid – as opposed to a flat lid. In the end it all worked out OK. I sanded it down to 220. It is finished with three coats of Watco Danish Oil. I sanded in the first coat with 500 grit paper, which really made it smooth to the touch. The bottom is lined with felt.

This was another fun band saw project. And now I have the core of this box to use as a blank for my next box!

-- Art | Bradenton, Florida