Rough Cut Band Saw Box in Red Oak

November, 2010—About a year ago a friend of mine from Atlanta had some massive pieces of an oak tree that was cut down. He gave me some and they have been sitting in my garage slowly drying out. I decided to take the chain saw and cut off a few pieces. This is my first project from that hunk of a tree trunk.

After the chain saw, i created two “boards” using the table saw. I glued them up into a blank for a box. This is a wave-style box, with gentle curves. As an experiment, I decided to leave some of the bark on the back. You can also see how some of the wood has checked. I filled in the checks and cracks on the top, but left them open on the back.

The drawer is lined with felt, cut to fit the bottom. The handle on the drawer is from the same tree trunk. I finished it off with 3 coats of semi-gloss lacquer. My plan is to gift this to my friend who gave me the wood, as a reminder of that big old oak tree.

Tools used: Chain saw, table saw, band saw, belt sander, drill press.

-- Art | Bradenton, Florida