Maple Keepsake Box - Hingeless Lid

This box (with the motor cycle on the lid) was made for a co-worker. I had a booth at a wood art show and brought some projects to work for a preveiw (I work for a large company). A couple people placed custom orders. I brought the cherry box (last 2 pictures) and the buyer wanted a lighter wood (maple is excellent) and then he asked me if I could do a fretwork picture of his Harley on the lid. “Oh yeah, no problem”. It took about 17 hours to cut the bike out. I used maple veneer and sandwiched it between 2 sheets of 1/8” baltic birch plywood. After it was cut out, I laminated a piece of walnut veneer to the box lid and then laminated the motorcycle veneer to the walnut. I had never worked with veneer before. The picture is a Jeff Zaffrino featured pattern in Creative WoodWorks and Crafts magazine from a couple years ago. I had to REDUCE the pattern to get it on the box lid. For the first time, I used the lighted magnifying glass on my scroll saw for the entire project. I used a 2/0 blade (actually a lot of them) and it was tedious. The box is made entirrely of 15/16” maple. This box was in a wood magazine (no plans just a picture) and I liked the no hinge concept and the angled sides. The inside ledge the lid sits on is rounded in the back and the rear ledge is lower and slightly wider than the lid. You press on the back of the lid and it pivots up and stays open by resting on the back. I finished the box by sanding it to 600 grit and hand applying Tung oil. I am delivering it Friday (9-21-12) I hope he likes it. By the way, you rarely get the labor back out of the project (as a non-professional). The material cost for this box was around $20.00. The wood was free scrap from a cabinet shop (both maple and cherry) so I bought the veneer and Tung oil. I didn’t charge enough but I always learn something for future projects.

-- Ted@AGTG WoodCraft