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This pair of shadowboxes were commissioned to me by a two-star General's Aide, one for her retirement in February 2014, and the other for her son - the one with just the flag and certificate was flown over Afghanistan for him. The large box with certificate is to be filled with her medals, cord, ribbon rack, and challenge coins, and will be on display during her retirement ceremony.

I purchased the rough-sawn lumber from a wood shop in town that was going out of business, and they told me to look under "Philipine Mahogany" which yielded very little results. After some more research, I believe it to be Meranti, by all of the evidence I see. What a pleasure to work with :)

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wow, the boxes look amazing, great work
 

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Awesome work. What miter angles make up the flag's triangle?
 

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Thank you all! Your kind words do no go unappreciated :)

@GreatJob - the triangle's angles are all 45s! The bottom piece is actualy inside the two side pieces, which makes its' length really hard to get right. Basically I dry-fit the two sides at their 90 joint, and measured with a tape measure to get a semi-accurate length for the bottom piece. From there, I just trimmed the ends down a hair at a time until it sat flush on both ends. Kind of a pain in the butt, however I was a little rushed to get it glued up, and had no quick way of making the 22.5degree angles that one typically sees with those bottom miters.
 

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Wow! Thanks for the explination. I have some stock glued up just waiting to cut the miters. Way to go.
 

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Those are beautiful and well finished boxes. Great design and the wood is gorgeous.
 

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Beautiful job - They certainly chose the right person to commission for this work!

I have some meranti that I am getting ready to use for a project - I am curious as to how you finished your meranti? Did you stain it? If so what color? Is it a polyurethane finish?

Again a great job - They will be proud of these forever.

Reggie Ogg
 

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Hello!

Sorry it took me a month to get back to you, I've been very busy.

I finished it with a simple oil-based polyurethane. The oil (as opposed to water) finish shows the grain much better. Also, it has a natural ambering effect, so it really brought out the oranges and reds in the Meranti. Also, this is one of those woods that gets darker with age, so it should deepen wonderfully over the years.

Thanks!
 
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