Andar Proibido

Andar Proibido – Walking Forbidden

We live in the countryside and we have mice.
Mice in the fields (a lot), mice in the roof (a few but noisy), mice in my shop, and we have mice in the kitchen.

Now, we have 2 rather splendid cats…

Depending on your viewpoint, they are either completely useless (because we do, you recall, have mice), or just imagine how many mice we’d have if we didn’t have them!

Anyways, it was decided that we didn’t like mice running over our cutlery. We have not a single drawer in the kitchen, else that would have be an easy solution. So I was commissioned (although I have still no idea what the payment will be) to make a box for the cutlery that the mice could not walk over, and this is it. She’s been nagging at me (sorry, strongly enjoining me) to make this for a while.

I was instructed to use pine – the left over pine floorboards from several years ago. In measuring it became apparent that I’d need 4 boards, unless, brainwave, I left the groove of the floorboard when I joined them together. Ive done that before and it doesn’t work very well. So I grew the groove, removed the tongues and grooved that side too. A mahogany (maybe, I found it on the dump) spline later and, bingo, 3 boards make the right width. I’d hoped to see a bit more spline on the curve, but it didn’t work out that way.
This is my third attempt at a home-made rotating hinge now, and they’re getting better, but still not great – a single millimetre off and it doesn’t work.
Still – I think it came out pretty well, and it’ll do the job.
She who commissioned it is happy, which we all know is the main thing – now she’s going to put plastic dividers in!

It’s 43cm x 30cm x 12 cm (17”x12”x5”) – finished with Danish Oil and wax.

All comments, positive or negative, welcomed.

-- "Do not speak – unless it improves on silence."