Mansized keepsake / jewellery box in oak.

you’ll do well my friend…. Nice box

-- Brian's Table Top Toys http://home.mountaincable.net/~bgraham/

Gorgeous box Stewart.

-- Andy Stark

another masterpiece ! looks great stewart

This is a great entry, Stewart! I love the theme, the inlay and its concept and the split lid with that amazing figure. Very, very nice.

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

wow !!!! is this one-fired-up box. really nice !

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

Nice work there Stewart. Great piece of burl. Original design. Well done

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Goodness gracious, Stewart, that is awesome!!! This is one unique and beautiful creation. Congratulations on a fine job!

The next time your doorbell rings, it will be TomFran showing up in Yorkshire, on the coast of the North Sea, to begin the apprenticeship ;^D

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

You do good work my friend.

That top is great Yorkie! Fantastic job.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

That’s certainly not just any box Stewart! Beautiful and worth waiting on! Awesome job.

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

Stewart A great box and very inventive on “Drilling” the hinge pins. Way to think outside the box.

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

Very nice!

-- Paul, Texas

Yep, Stewart, that’s a good’un.

-- Thos. Angle

Beats all, Stewart. Even better than the first natural edge box posted here and on the Flickr site. Keeping two raw edges and having the lid meet in the center while maintaining grain continuity is a considerable feat, but to add wooden hinge leaves is Herculean.

Add the Sectioned Cephalopod to fill the knot hole and display like an escutcheon at the middle focal point of the front, and the pyramidal pegs, and I can’t see how you would lose. Hope Martin has the extra dough for ocean fare for the bandsaw.

If I hadn’t seen the pictures of work in progress, I would have thought you stole this en masse from The Great God Pan.

=:^•

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Well, I won’t try to top Douglas’ glowing description of your project – but suffice to say that it looks FANTASTIC!! Well done Stewart, you have wowed me once again with your talents.

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

Once again, thank you very much Gentlejocks.

It’s a fair cop Douglas. Of course Pan is associated in our minds with his pipes (erroneously). Your little known historical picture clearly shows him consoling his figleafed chum Daphnis over his badly cut dovetail pins. Thanks so much for that – absolutely brilliant!!

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

(that’s funny—not pipes – dovetails!)

First I was going to say “WOW THE LID!!” but then I want to say “WOW THE HINGES” and then “WOW THE WOOD” and “WOW THE INLAY” and “WOW THE INSERTS” and oh, I can’t forget “WOW THE HISTORY” and “WOW THE PLANNING”.
Fantastic box YS.. fantastic

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

I’m not sure what to say other than simply stunning. Well done Stewart, a magnificent box.

-- Colin, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. "Every craftsman was once an amateur"

Stewart – that’s a great box – worth the wait to see it in full.
The lid is really original – well done.

Stewart, your are just a foutain of creativity aren’t you. What you did with this lid bowls me over. It’s perfect.

-- I've cut that board three times and it's still too short!

Stewart – your work is so masculine. I just love this small wooden box!

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

Once again,you let the wood express itself Stewart.I like the organic feel of it.The fossil works very well with the design,great idea.Spot on!

-- " If I can make it,so can you" Andy in Oregon

Fantastic, Stewart! You even stirred Don out of his silence with this one! Your work is such a great combination of imagination and craftsmanship.

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

Unique design. It… well… just goes together. I like this out-of-the-box!

SUPER is all I can say at the moment. Keep up the good work.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

This came out really nice. I love the color of the oak there.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

Stewart! You do come up with the most fantastic projects! You have really taken the spirit and the intent of these challenges to heart! Way to go!

Tom

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

Wow. Lotsa wow. That’s a great box – the top is great. As someone else pointed out, getting the halves to meet like you did is quite a feat.

Kerry

-- Alberta, Canada

Ah, Greaaaaaaaaat job as always, Stewart. I love your style. This is one of the coolest ones yet. It’s definitely got the most character, as you put into all of your work. Your details are exquisite! You’ve put yourself ahead of the rest. Good luck on the challenge.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

Very nice.
I like the way you did the top

-- don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things

Thank you, thank you, thank you ALL! It’d take forever to respond individually, but I’ll just say, Don – it’s really good to hear from you again .

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

The lid is tops! Love the old fossil to!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

This is verry nice and original box.

-- Jiri

A box fit for a king, that’s for sure. Very well done indeed.

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

Wonderful!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

I really like it, it’s one of the top contenders.

There are so many nice boxes, it’s going to be hard to chose No. 1.

Good luck.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

incredible …love it !! iI will be using the hinge idea on my next box …thanks great blog !!!

I look forward to seeing that, Jimboe!

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

I just have a quick question. I am makeing a jewlery box with a tray that goes on the inside much like yours, and I wanted to do dovetails on te edges but I can’t make them look good, do you have any kind of advice to makeing them. What method did you use? Thanks.

-- Tyler, Illinois

Hi Yorkie,

I don’t know how I missed this when it first came up but I am glad that it came back around. This is a lovely box. I have recently began to appreciate the look of a natural edge. Before I would simply have removed it as a defect rather than viewing it as an asset. The bog oak pegs and ammonite fossil add nice details to the box as well.

Well done.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Thanks for your interest Tyler – This will take you to a blogette that shows part of my dovetail cutting.

It’s really a case of practice makes perfect. It’s too much to hope for perfection with your first attempt. I cut the tails first & used a fine Japanese pull-saw. Then I marked the pins with a surgical type of scalpel. I spaced them, and set the angles by eye as they’re so small. Make sure you saw just on the waste side of the line & use ultra sharp chisels. You’ll find endless info on the web and in magazines.

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

Stewart, you are a TRUE inspiration.

-- If we learn from our mistakes, I'm getting a fantastic education.

Yet another inspirational piece fom the Master Box Builder !!! Fantastic craftsmanship

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

Thanks Dusty56. I think MBB would look good after my name! <g>

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

I’m just discovering your work. This box is just breathtaking! And the way you photographed it! This box is so far beyond words, I’ll just be quiet now.

-- Scott - Katy, Texas