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I went wood shopping the other day and found a nice board of Swiss Pear. I had never owed any before, but have always admired it from afar. It seems to be less available here in the States. One thing led to another and this box is the result. It was a really pleasurable wood to work with. I did have some trouble with blotching, kind of like cherry. It is a fairly dense wood.

The box is about 6" x 9" x 3.5" deep. I used the resaw method to obtain a four way corner grain match. I wanted a darker wood to frame in the pear, so I used walnut. The medallion on the top is floating in grooves cut into the walnut frame. After gluing the top together, I sent it through the tablesaw to create the bevel on the walnut frame. I then used the same angle to make the handle. It is finished in Danish oil and then buffed and waxed.

I tried to photograph it inside my little light tent. But wow, photography can be harder than woodworking.

Steve

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Comments

· In Loving Memory
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Beautiful box Steve. The wood is very nice too. It has a rather special color to it. The walnut accent looks perfect with it.
 

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Very nice Steve….those miters are perfect! Beautiful piece of wood, the bottom appears to be framed in Walnut….nice touch….like the handle detail as well.

Did you buy or build the light tent? That's a pretty neat gadget….
 

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This is really nice Steve. It has sharp and crisp lines and I like your design decision to add the bevels. Is pear a hard or soft wood?
 

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COOL Box, Steve…

Cool portable Studio for taking pictures TOO… where do you get an umbrella / tent(?) like that?

Thank you!
 

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Beautiful box, Steve. Elegant is what I'd call it!!!!!!!!!!!! I like that light tent,too…...........Jim
 

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Swiss Pear is a fairly hard and dense wood. Really nice color and grain. Krenov had used it one of his famous cabinets and I have been wanting some ever since I saw it.

The light tent was a kit given to me for my birthday years ago. An Amazon purchase. It is kind of nice that it folds up like a bandsaw blade into a nice little package. Google Lite Tent and you will get lots of hits.

Steve
 

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first look said 'puritan'

second said 'elegant'

great design
and woods
 

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Great work all the way around.
The way you photograph your projects is very nice as well.
 

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Not being a woodie I simply rely on what I see, this is so clean & elegant & would comand top spot on any dresser for my money.
Lovely, lovely job Steve,
Pete
 

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Steve,
Very nice…. I like the Walnut trim, it really sets it off…..
 

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Beautiful, Steve!

Not sure what you had in mind for the box's purpose- and not trying to be morbid- but this would make a very elegant cremation urn.

BTW, very nice light tent.
 

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Very Nice Steve,
Great combination of woods.
Beautiful Design!!
 

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Wonderful work.
Love the grain match.
 

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Thanks for the tips Steve….I thought about building a light tent…..but some things are best purchased…....Amazon buy done…........
 

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Beautiful box, Steve. Great design and combination of woods.

As for the photos, they look like they need a bit more fill light, but I have also found that some woods just photograph better than others. And no, I'm not kidding about that.
 

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Thanks everyone. The urn concept has been discussed, but I don't' want to think of it that way :)

Hey Jeff, good luck with the light tent. You can make a career out of using it. As Charlie mentioned, I need more light. And I have three bulbs pointing in the sides, a big florescent overhead, and two bulbs pointing in. It can get real hot if you don't use fluorescents. Then there is color correction bulbs too. Note that the tent is bright white and the close-ups are not. Arrgh - white balance. Frustrating. And this is really cool too: Eye-Fi Camera SD card with built in Wi-Fi reviewed by me here: http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/2571. You can snap away, have the pictures automatically transfer to a laptop, and instantly see them on the big screen.

Steve
 

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I'm so glad to see you enjoying your retirement Steve.
This is a lovely little box.
Simple and elegant are never simple to actually achieve but when the combination is struck as you have here, it just looks "right". Nice combination of lines and colors too.
I just got my first bit of European pear veneer. It is like your box, plain and smooth but with a beautiful feel about it.

More! More!
 

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You're so sick, you make me want to shut down my shop. Just kidding, I'd never do that even though its still at my ex wife's house. No room yet. Everything you create is amazing. You're my mentor. =)
 

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Nice project, and nice photo tent
 

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This has the look of the late 19th century to it. Stiff and upright, a starched collar sort of feel. The top angle and trim is very stately and my, what a shine.
Nice mitres, aren't four corners coming together ever so satisfying?
gene

N.B. For white balance help you can't beat Expodisc.
 
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