| Project by Greg3G | posted 651 days ago | 625 views | 0 times favorited | 13 comments | ![]() |
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Its been a while since I have made a box.
This box is made of Mahogonay and Wenge. I picked the Mahogany from my regular hardwood dealer, someone had brought it back for some reason and he gave it to me for a $1. The Wenge on the other hand he charged me quite a bit for so I guess it all evened out.
I started with the design from one of my Woodsmith mags. It had been a while since I had built a box and this looked like a good starting place. The one thing that bothered me about their design was that it was a bit too angular and didnt’ see to flow too well. I desided to make the ends more flowing and put a curve to them. I did learn one big lesson. Wenge is hard as heck to plane, sand or shape.
It is finished with mineral oil and walnut oil. I put a number of coats and would wet sand with the oil as well.
My wife has already laid claim to the box…I have another that I have not put together yet. (did that on purpose since I always forget to take in progress photos.

Sorry for the quality of my phots…I’m not sure if its operator error or if my camera just is a piece of junk. I think it may be the operator.
Also, I did find one mistake…I forgot to change the date on my branding iron.
-- Greg - Charles Town, WV































13 comments so far
Karson
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25271 posts in 1279 days
posted 651 days ago
Nice looking Greg. Looks like great Mahogany to me. How much wood was there?
-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
GaryK
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9497 posts in 867 days
posted 651 days ago
Good looking box. I like the wenge ends.
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Greg3G
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770 posts in 964 days
posted 651 days ago
Thanks Karson, with all thats been going on, I wasn’t sure if I would finish in time. On the Mahongany, not much…about 3 bf.
-- Greg - Charles Town, WV
Richard Williams
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140 posts in 671 days
posted 651 days ago
Hi Greg, love your work. Your craftsmanship is shining through. Mineral oil and walnut oils. Wow I have a lot to learn from you guys. Bye the way, doesn’t anyone use pure boiled linseed oil anymore? That is all we were allowed to use on our wood M1 Garand rifle stocks. We had to rub it in with the palms of our hands. Many hourse were spent doing this for that glass like shine. Protected the wood mighty well also. Great work there Greg. Thanks for sharing it with us.
-- Rich, Nevada,
rikkor
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11338 posts in 753 days
posted 651 days ago
Very nice box.
CharlieM1958
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7466 posts in 1097 days
posted 650 days ago
Good looking box, Greg!
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
mrtrim
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1700 posts in 759 days
posted 650 days ago
great looking box greg
MsDebbieP
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14090 posts in 1039 days
posted 650 days ago
love the ends!!! nice
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
Russel
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2032 posts in 817 days
posted 650 days ago
Nice box. I like the sides and the way the top fits.
-- When you give someone a chance it may well be their last.
Dick, & Barb Cain
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6991 posts in 1178 days
posted 650 days ago
Great looking Box Greg, Welcome to the competition.
Suggestion on photos. Maybe you were to close for the the focal length of your camera.
with some cameras, you can’t get to close for good focus. Your center picture came out fine.
-- -** 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
lazyfiremaninTN
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528 posts in 831 days
posted 650 days ago
Nice Box Bro, BUT I WILL BUILD ONE BETTER FOR MOM. Seriously, nice work. I like the flow. I hope that I can eventually get up to your level some day.
-- Adrian ..... The 11th Commandment...."Thou Shalt Not Buy A Wobble Dado"
Lee A. Jesberger
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3709 posts in 858 days
posted 649 days ago
Hi Greg;
How did you like working with the wenge?
That wood has a bad attitude, but is beautiful once a finish is put on it.
Nice box.
Lee
-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com
Greg3G
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770 posts in 964 days
posted 649 days ago
Lee,
I found the Wenge a bit difficult to work with. It is very hard and brittle extream difficult to work without very shrape tools and it dulls tools quckly. (and that’s a problem for me since I’m not very good at sharpening.) It reminded me of the railroad ties we used as corner posts on our fences when I was a kid growing up on Oklahoma. It is also difficult to sand due to it being so hard. I could sand for hours on it and it would bearly make an inpact on the wood.
But…. I would do it all again. I love the look of the wood. It takes an oil finish very well. Perhap we need to start a forum topic on working with difficult wood and which methods work best.
-- Greg - Charles Town, WV