Christmas gifts this year are small boxes. I'm finding they're incredibly fun and satisfying to make. Not only that, but they can be very simple and still be beautiful!
Oh, and did I mention they don't take much wood and so are fairly inexpensive, to boot?
This one is butternut with a cherry lid and splines. BLO wiped on.
Two questions:
Should I just leave it BLO or should I add a couple layers of satin wipe on poly?
The only way to remove the lid, currently, is to flip the box over and let gravity do the work. Not very useful if there's something in the box. How would you over come my design flaw? I'm thinking about adding a small knob to the center of the lid, a long, narrow handle to the lid, or chiseling out a relief on one end of the rabbeted box so that pushing down on one end of the lid will lift the other. Your thoughts or ideas?
For the finish, I'm not a big fan of BLO as a stand alone finish. I think it gets dull over time and kinda becomes a dust magnet. I would put something on it, probably a Danish oil, because I like the low luster look of that wood.
As for how to remove the lid, I would lean toward a long narrow, low profile handle, made from a contrasting wood. I like the idea of the recess on the edge to get a finger under, but if it's going to be very visible, I would probably just opt for the handle.
In the interests of full disclosure, I don't have much of an eye for the subtle design aesthetics with stuff like this, so that's my $.02 and worth what you paid.
If you are going down a river at 2 mph and your canoe loses a wheel, how much pancake mix would you need to shingle your roof?
Ha! Thanks for the honesty; it's exactly what I need. I have *zero* eye or ability for aesthetics, so you're a step ahead of me in that game. I just toss pieces of wood together and hope it works. Or go with something that somebody before has told me will work.
It was suggested (on another forum) to sand down a bit of the underside near one end to create a fulcrum. I kinda like this idea because it's invisible and doesn't take away from the capacity inside. If that doesn't work I'll start a new lid and this time mill it for a handle like you mentioned.
You could relieve the rabbet along one side so that when you press down on that side it caused the other side to lift. I think it would work, but I have never tried it.
The problem with that is that you end up with finger wear on the wood.
If you Google "small wood box hardware" you will find many vendors. A solid brass, or chrome plated knob would be a simple answer. A glass knob can look nice too.
Or go way upscale and get a Swarovski Crystal knob (for lots of money):
Is the cherry top 3/4 stock? if yes, I'd consider making a bit wider and longer than the box...maybe allowing 1/4" overhang on each side. Then cut a dado on the bottom edges of the lid so it nestles inside the box. Solves the opening issue as well as lightening the look of the top.
Brad, I was a fan of BLO as a kid, then USMCRD M1 rifle, and then as a woodworker to make some woods pop. But as someone else said, it can dull, so I have switched to the MinWax wipe on poly. Very easy and durable.
I do have two 5' walking sticks that are 30 to 35 years old that are beautiful! My son and cut the tree, dried the two sticks, and coated with BLO several times. By now they have received many coats and rubbed to an amazing shine. One or both have been loaned out for stage productions a few times.
"I tried being reasonable..........I didn't like it." Clint Eastwood
I've started waxing the parts of stuff I make where hands will touch the piece. There is a really good feel(soft/satiny) when wax is used. And I use the wax over other finishes. Have done box handles that way and gotten nice remarks. Two coats of a good wood wax.
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