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Japanese Modern Style jewelry box

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Project by aurora posted 454 days ago 3308 views 35 times favorited 16 comments Add to Favorites Watch

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then my hats off to my inspiration, BTimmons and his predecessor Ben. I have always appreciated contrasting colors in natural species of wood, and certain design lines are particularly pleasing to the eye (much the way the Fibonacci series is used by Architects). BT’s piece seemed to have these beautiful lines, and I had to build one. While I have done other pieces of this genre (Japanese Modern Style), the lines and symmetry on some of my previous pieces seemed a bit off while the lines on this case seem to be close to perfect, at least to my eye. Japanese furniture is well known for it’s minimalist style, extensive use of high quality craftsman-ship, aesthetically pleasing geometry and reliance on wood grain instead of thick lacquers and carvings.

Here is my rendition in silver maple and ohio walnut with spalted maple drawer fronts from an antique rafter beam I salvaged. Remainder of drawers are local ash. Hand cut dovetails on drawers. I drew the leg radius with a pencil and string, I think it was about a 24” radius. The case was dado-ed to accept the walnut drawer shelf that the drawers rest on. The maple was horrible to hand plane, no matter what angle of approach i used. In the end, I sanded out the grain tears. Band saw and hand sanding the legs actually took less time than constructing the drawer pulls. Couldn’t quite seem to get them right, so ended up doing a multiple sets. Pulls had to run horizontal, to mimic the over horizontally largest dimension of the case, but had to have a similar curve of the legs. Turpentine thinned down polyurethane and boiled linseed oil, rubbed dry on each of 6 coats, then followed with a 2 coats of bees wax, ... for my honey.




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16 comments so far

View LukieB's profile

LukieB

658 posts in 497 days


#1 posted 454 days ago

It’s gorgeous, very nice work. I love the shape of the legs, I thought about doing something similar for the jewelry box I’m making right now (Woodcraft Magazine). But I chickened out and stuck with the plans. This makes me wish I hadn’t. Gorgeous piece, fine craftsmanship. Thanks for posting.

-- Lucas, "Someday woodworks will be my real job, until then, there's this http://www.melbrownfarmsupply.com"

View a1Jim's profile

a1Jim

86997 posts in 1744 days


#2 posted 454 days ago

Coolness personified. Great wood,great work.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

View Tokolosi's profile

Tokolosi

611 posts in 522 days


#3 posted 454 days ago

Really Beautifull box and I love the spalted Maple!

-- “There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.” ~ JRR Tolkien

View BTimmons's profile

BTimmons

1082 posts in 652 days


#4 posted 454 days ago

”If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then my hats off to my inspiration, BTimmons and his predecessor Ben.”

Well, color me flattered! You did really good with this project. It’s always cool to see variations on a theme. Your legs definitely came out better than mine, I like that you used half blind dovetails for the drawer faces, and the shaping of the drawer pulls is really cool.

-- Brian in Arlington, TX - Laziness is the foundation of efficiency.

View kcrandy's profile

kcrandy

283 posts in 1599 days


#5 posted 454 days ago

Very cool! When I first saw it, I thought it was a dresser!

-- Caulk and paint are a poor carpenter's best friends

View Greylion's profile

Greylion

26 posts in 839 days


#6 posted 454 days ago

Wonderful work! Gives me lots of ideas. Thanks.

-- Bill, "GreyLion" ,Montana, Eph 2:8

View moonls's profile

moonls

375 posts in 1153 days


#7 posted 454 days ago

I really like the lines of this box as well as your choice of woods. Great job!

-- Lorna, Cape Cod

View SASmith               's profile

SASmith

1367 posts in 1154 days


#8 posted 454 days ago

Great piece.

-- Scott Smith, Southern Illinois

View Roger's profile

Roger

9191 posts in 971 days


#9 posted 454 days ago

this is really nice. the spalted Maple is very kool. homemade pulls, and design is very nifty.

-- Roger from KY. Work/Play/Travel Safe. Kentuk55@bellsouth.net

View Todd23's profile

Todd23

990 posts in 672 days


#10 posted 454 days ago

View TurnTurnTurn's profile

TurnTurnTurn

414 posts in 1276 days


#11 posted 454 days ago

Really nice!!!! Love the wood selection.

-- TurnTurnTurn

View EarlS's profile

EarlS

135 posts in 515 days


#12 posted 454 days ago

Beautiful lines. Getting the curves just right must have taken a lot of work. Spalted maple is a great wood that is so visually striking against the walnut.

-- Earl "I'm a pessamist - generally that increases the chance that things will turn out better than expected"

View Dennisgrosen's profile

Dennisgrosen

10854 posts in 1282 days


#13 posted 454 days ago

if you ever get tired of looking at it
then let me store it for you …......a life time or two … :-)
very well designed and executed

thanks for sharing
Dennis

View miasmith's profile

miasmith

2 posts in 454 days


#14 posted 454 days ago

I was very encouraged to find this site. I wanted to thank you for this special read. I definitely savored every little bit of it.

Port Canaveral shuttle

View Martyroc's profile

Martyroc

2708 posts in 473 days


#15 posted 454 days ago

Beautiful form, love the contrast between the species.

-- Martin ....always count the number of fingers you have before, and after using the saw.

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