"Fire in the Hole"

[TomFromStLouis]

I might be reaching the stage where a title for something I made seems less pretentious, somehow  appropriate. All I know is that when I thought this box might be called " Fire in the Hole" and it stuck with me for the final month of the build, well then I guess it has a title. Box is roughly 15x9x5 of cottonwood burl and Osage orange:

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Very nice. I assume that is veneer???  Lots of beautiful figure. Thanks for showing.

[Steve N]

Wow!! That burl walks and talks, and that Osage is certainly a contrast to it. I love the burl, not so sure about the Osage with it. I think a deep reddish colored wood, and I would be dragging out my wallet asking howmuch. Yet if I were judging a show, I'd give this high marks. I'ma guessing that is the mark of a really good piece, makes you think about it.

Wow!!!

[RonB1957]

Not pretentious at all. Beautiful piece. Makes me want to dig up that monster Cotton Wood I have in my yard.
The Osage blends well. Will be interesting to see how they age together. What type of hardware did you use?
Best wishes

[BrokenOlMarine]

Beautiful. I love graines that look like they are in motion.

[overland]

Beautiful work, and beautiful wood. What a delight to see someone use local woods so well.

[TomFromStLouis]

I am still not sure myself whether the osage color works very well, but I knew all along that after a couple of years it would look more like this mallet does in color, which I do think will work. Picture taken before I cut the top off.

[TomFromStLouis]

The veneer was shop made from a dry burl face that was not much larger than the top of the box. The sandwich came out less than 3/8" thick, so this has a delicacy that I hope the osage keeps together. Joinery is mostly careful gluing so no woodworker points on difficulty. All miters are saw kerf keyed. No hardware, hinges are made of osage, like the feet. I will post a photo of them when they are finished. I remade both hinges once and may again remake one.

@Ron: Your cottonwood tree likely has this figure in a crotch or maybe even in a root flare. But nice big trees look best standing up.

[Ken Vick]

Tom, I really like this.  Can you show a picture from the back?  Is the Osage Orange color stable?  How is the shelf supported?  Very nice indeed.  Ken

[TomFromStLouis]

More pictures when it is complete, which it ain't yet.

Very few woods are color stable. Osage turns a golden brown over time like the mallet shown above.