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2K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  pastorglen 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
My dad recently gave me about 30 linear feet of HIGHLY figured maple door casing. It's far too nice to use to trim a door in our house (and it wouldn't match our bungalow style anyway). So I decided to use it make a quick box.

There's no magic here. I haven't even sanded or finished the box yet. For the sides I simply held the casing on edge (thick side down) and mitered the corners. The top is mitered with the casing laying flat-more like a picture frame. The thicker portion of the lid pieces are turned in toward the center. I made the lid so a 3/4" piece of walnut would fit in for a contrasting decorative handle.

Here's the question: which way does the box look best:

The base of the box larger (Picture A)
Rectangle Table Wood Floor Flooring


or with the base of the box smaller (Picture B)?
Rectangle Wood Floor Flooring Table


The interesting thing is that EVERYTHING else about this box is the same. All I've done is flipped the body of the box.

The right design makes all the difference. I look forward to your thoughts.

Oh, and as a follow up question - how would you finish this to REALLY make the figure of the wood pop?
 

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#4 ·
Absolutely, the second box, B, nicer proportions, better flow to the look. Smart exercise! And a great use of nice wood.

Aren't boxes fun!

You will get several opinions on finishing, and I do not consider it my strong point. But I would start out with wiping on some Watco oil, or any oil/ varnish mix. Wax the hell out of it after the Watco sets up for a few days.

A while back, someone posted somewhere saying hey, no need to run a tack rag over wood before finishing, if you just blew it well with compressed air. I tried it, but I think he was wrong. I still start with a good 'blow job', but I've noticed nicer grain visibility when I wipe the whole thing with a clean rag soaked in mineral spirits (brush cleaner/ charcoal lighter would work for that too). If you don't believe me, look at all the dust in the rag when you are finished. I swear I can see the difference.

30 feet? What else will you build?
 
#5 ·
Zboom, Greg and Dan-Thanks for your input!! And yes, this box project has been a lot of fun!

I like the B Box better, also. It's amazing how important design is! I think the greatest factor in this is the wood! You just about can't go wrong when you've got good material to work with.

Thanks for the thoughts on finishing, too, Dan. I don't want to put an average finish on wood with this kind of potential. So your input is a big help, too.

I've got 36' of 1×10s of the same kind of stuff-all in Maple. Not sure what will come of all these, but I will NOT be letting my 14 year old make Mink Stretchers out of them. ;-)

I'll keep y'all posted.
 
#9 ·
Count my vote for B also. It has more interesting lines. The first one is nice but looks, well, box-y. Regarding finish, if you haven't tried Bush Oil yet, try it on a scrap piece of the material you used. I really like how it brings out the grain of any wood and makes it pop.
 
#10 ·
Well, against my bride's thoughts, I went with Box B (this time). I also did some playing around with water color staining. Here's a progress picture. More to come.

Wood Rectangle Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


Thanks to all the LJs who responded and helped me out!
 

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#12 ·
Thanks, Doug. But a little clarification.

I used the water colors to help the figure pop a little more (black, red, orange, and yellow). It turned out to be a good choice which added a lot more depth than I expected.

After everything dried and I gave it a good sanding, I used Colonial Maple stain followed by multiple coats of Maple-tinted Tung Oil. I'm not sure how many coats I'll put on it, but this is a practice box for others to come.

I'll probably write up some of what I've learned when I do the next one.
 
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