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Ok so this is the second jewelry box I have made. This was made for my girlfriend, the sunshine in my life.

Started in May, ended in October.. (2012)

I learned alot from my first attempt and decided to go both bigger and plan out a better look. (last one seemed to have very odd dimensions)

Materials:
- (1/2") Curly Honduran Mahogany (3 boards 1/2×3 x 24) As seen in picture 5
- (1/2") Curly(Quilted?) Maple (1 board 1/2×3 x 48)
- Poplar (2 boards Dont know the thickness since it was to match the sanded 1/2" boards x 5×24)
- Quilted and birds eye maple veneer
- Quadrant hinges (x2)
- Push button lock
- Premium Black Velvet

Since my last box proved to be a very unique piece(def was handcrafted if you know what I mean) I decided to try and take some time and make this one alot more difficult and precise. The mahogany was ordered from rockler woodworking with the ability to actual go into the store and look at each piece for the curly figure.

Once again I worked with miter joints since the looked of end grain is not as professional when finished(in my mind). This time I was using thicker wood which I had learned from my previous experience as well as a smaller tile miter saw, converted with a new fine tooth blade.


I used this for each of the joints. Now the complexity came into play when combining the corners, made of mahogany, and the centers which are made of maple. the corners are only 1.5" wide and required some thought and finally a solution. I ripped the 3" mahogany boards to 1.5" and then glued one side to one end of the maple boards. Then taking the L shapped pieces i cut the 45 degree corner joints on the saw.

This was done to all 4 ends of the 4 maple pieces. The next part was the tricky part. Since the miter saw's cutting range was right at about 6", the 45 degree cut made just enough to cut off and have a second mahogany corner piece already made. This was the biggest issue since the 1.5" wide piece if only 3" tall would be impossible hold onto and cut at a 45.. Now I didnt have to worry about that or my fingers!

Next I used slight force to glue the other side on and also to be very careful not to mess up the 45 edged corners. This can be seen in picture 6. One by one the sides were mounted and fitted tightly together!

Then sanding! I was doing at first by hand when I later found out we have a large workshop at school and so using their tools I finished the box.

The Quadrant hinges were cut in using a router and a guide cut out of plywood (which came in handy later) and fitted snugly into the box with an almost perfect fit.

Next came the inlay using maple veneer and lots of time. I used a ruler with an exacto knife and cut each piece and fit it into place. The sunrise was to represent my girlfriend which is why her name is not on the box.

The box is finished with premium black velvet and I used something new and learned from my last project. I tear a piece and then using super 77 spray glue, glued it to card stock and cut off and folded over the corners. This gave me a solid piece of nice velvet with clean edges and no fraying. Velvet is very very messy and the edges unravel if not properly done! Then making the bottom, top and 4 side pieces, I spray glued them into the box.

Also added a custom makers mark on the bottom using an epilog laser printer.

Stain is red mahogany with fast drying high gloss clear poly. Brushed on with foam brush!

Cost: Around $215

$75 for the mahogany (3 @ $23)
$23 for curly maple
$5 for the poplar
$35 for veneer starter pack
$10 for the hinges
$11 for the lock ($3.10 but $7 for shipping!)
$35 for the velvet
$8 for 1/4" straight shaft router bit
$10 spray glue

About 60 hours..

Side Thoughts:

Had planned on having the top piece of velvet embroidered with something nice but ran out of time/money

Sadly the stain ran from the mahogany into the maple at the joints.. Need to protect the light woods next time.. Also painters tape doesnt work which I had known about but forgot when actually doing that part..

The fuzzys from velvet stick to you like crazy! It doesnt help to add to the problem with aerosol glue!

Dropped a piece of velvet which had glue on it and got glue onto the bottom piece of velvet in the box, next time protect bottom…

The joints came out amazingly!! In the final product before staining, the corners for the sides were perfect!! (showed to the workshop techs and friends)

Here is a gallery of all my pictures from the project in their full resolution. Pictures

Gallery

Comments

· Registered
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39 Posts
You have a bright future in box making since this is just your second one. Congratulations on your ambitious project. It turned out beautifully.
 

· Registered
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20,030 Posts
Beautiful box. Well planned out.
 
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