Watched these FWW videos by Michael Cullen and liked his approach so decided to take a stab at something I'd never done. I like the look of the box he makes in video #6 & 7 so dug in. I'm no carver and with arthritis making it's way thru my hands decided to skip the carving and go for my personal favorite, Bush Oil. BTW, I think these videos are available to watch without a subscription.
I had a perfectly QS cedar 4x4 for my first victim. I do love QS grain so decided to cut off one side to make the top. That was my first mistake. As I went thru the process I got to the point of fitting the top and realized that from the side the top looked like it came from a different piece of lumber. Grrrrrrrr.
[attachment=29306]
I should have cut the top from the actual top of the piece, then it would have looked like it belonged with the box. Bugged me so much I got out a rattle can of black and painted the %%$#@@ thing.
[attachment=29307]
My next victim was a chunk of douglas fir 4x4. This one faired better but still has it's issues. To start with I was cutting on a 1/2 hp band saw which made for pretty slow going in the harder wood, even with a 4 tpi blade. Michael recommends 6 tpi which I'm sure would give a much smoother finish. He doesn't appear to sand the inside of his boxes, the ones I make sure need sanding.
Making these is sort of counter intuitive as you cut out the inside first. I didn't leave enough material on the outside so ended up with flat straight ends instead of a vertical taper like the sides of the box. Also, I decided to paint the insides of the box black to disguise some poor cuts. Unfortunately I painted all the way down the sides before gluing in the bottom so ended up with a fugly paint bleed line. Another Grrrrrr.
[attachment=29308]
Here's the end showing the sides do taper bottom to top.
[attachment=29309]
In order to a) hide the paint bleed and b) raise the bottom to add a shadow line and c) disguise a sanding round over I added a piece of black self adhesive plastic padding to the bottom. This shows the inside of the top painted as well.
[attachment=29310]
Here's a couple more photos. The knob is kingwood, first time I've ever used it in any way. It is wicked hard but turned well and took a great finish with Behelen's friction polish.
[attachment=29311]
[attachment=29312]
These are fun to build, starting another tomorrow. Thanks for looking,
g
I had a perfectly QS cedar 4x4 for my first victim. I do love QS grain so decided to cut off one side to make the top. That was my first mistake. As I went thru the process I got to the point of fitting the top and realized that from the side the top looked like it came from a different piece of lumber. Grrrrrrrr.
[attachment=29306]
I should have cut the top from the actual top of the piece, then it would have looked like it belonged with the box. Bugged me so much I got out a rattle can of black and painted the %%$#@@ thing.
[attachment=29307]
My next victim was a chunk of douglas fir 4x4. This one faired better but still has it's issues. To start with I was cutting on a 1/2 hp band saw which made for pretty slow going in the harder wood, even with a 4 tpi blade. Michael recommends 6 tpi which I'm sure would give a much smoother finish. He doesn't appear to sand the inside of his boxes, the ones I make sure need sanding.
Making these is sort of counter intuitive as you cut out the inside first. I didn't leave enough material on the outside so ended up with flat straight ends instead of a vertical taper like the sides of the box. Also, I decided to paint the insides of the box black to disguise some poor cuts. Unfortunately I painted all the way down the sides before gluing in the bottom so ended up with a fugly paint bleed line. Another Grrrrrr.
[attachment=29308]
Here's the end showing the sides do taper bottom to top.
[attachment=29309]
In order to a) hide the paint bleed and b) raise the bottom to add a shadow line and c) disguise a sanding round over I added a piece of black self adhesive plastic padding to the bottom. This shows the inside of the top painted as well.
[attachment=29310]
Here's a couple more photos. The knob is kingwood, first time I've ever used it in any way. It is wicked hard but turned well and took a great finish with Behelen's friction polish.
[attachment=29311]
[attachment=29312]
These are fun to build, starting another tomorrow. Thanks for looking,
g
I've only had one...in dog beers.
"You can see the stars and still not see the light"
The Eagles: Already Gone
"You can see the stars and still not see the light"
The Eagles: Already Gone