A Box for Dallas makes four

[FLWoodworker84]

This is Dallas. She is a 15 1/2 year old mixed breed that is mostly Collie and German Shepherd. She is a wonderful dog and was part of the package deal I got with my lovely lady friend, Jen.

   
At the end of last year, Dallas got a terrible cancer-related prognosis and was not expected to still be with us at this point. However, she is still kicking strong. She walks an average of 2 miles a day - she recently did 4! I asked Jen if she would be accepting of an urn if I was to build one. So, I went in my shop 2 weekends ago and just looked at the wood I had on hand and started building with no plan. The maple for the top came from the same slab of maple I used for the tops for three jewelry boxes I had already gifted to Jen and her two daughters. Think of it as the next two pages of book-matching. 


This shows the cherry board that I used for the box and the maple piece I re-sawed for the top panel.

     
I did something I never tried before to give base some character. I made the decorative cutouts on my router table as a first step. I basically had 11" and 5" slabs of cherry that I ran perpendicularly (relative to the fence) through a cove bit positioned about an inch from my fence. I made 4 passes progressively raising the bit. I then switched to a straight bit and progressively nibbled away between the coves. It worked pretty good other than the cove bit burning the cherry. I then ripped the slabs and mitered the corners to form the base.


This shows the box before I started finishing it. I put 2 coats of tung oil on everything. Then, several coats of matte poly on the top panel over 3 days (sanding each morning)

   

This is the front of the finished box

   

This shows the bottom. Note the base screws to the rest of the box. 

   

   

   

This shows image shows how the grain travels around the box. I took special care when laying out the cuts on the cherry board that the far left and far right edge would meet in a pleasing way. The joint between the back and the left is the one that came from pieces not next to one another.

   

The sister boxes that were completed in Dec 2018

   

Unlike the first three boxes, I hope that number four stays empty for a long time!

[KC]

Those are beautiful.  

[Arlin Eastman]

Those are beautiful.  

Taken the words right out of my mouth.  5 thumbs up if I had that many.

[hcbph]

Beautiful.  I made an urn for Lily, our Black Lab that passed away a few years ago.  I kept it simple, making it from Oak with a walnut cross in the top.  I'm sure your friend appreciates the work you're doing.

[jamesglenn]

That is stunning!

If you had not pointed out the grain pattern and the care you took, I would have thought you developed a way to wrap a board and match up opposite ends. Meaning, without real close examination, the grain matches up beautifully and looks continuous around it.

[Bill Holt]

Oh my gosh, beautiful!  I've been able to wrap the figure on three corners, but never four, great job!

[TomFromStLouis]

There is a way to get all four corners to always book match perfectly: start with a thicker board and carefully cut it to length, then resaw it into two. The two board faces from the cut you just made will now book match side to side and also end to end. Mark these matching faces and use them as the outside of the box, cut each board into an end and a side and miter the ends and voila'. I do this often and have learned to be very careful laying out the cuts (when ends and sides are different lengths) and labelling each joint so the glueing phase is less prone to error.

The OP fortunately was able to come up with an incredibly nice match without the above. Nice box.

[BrokenOlMarine]

It's a shame to need a box, but a beautiful result.  I have made a couple myself.

[GeeDub]

Wonderfully done. I like the use of the sapwood in the cherry as a feature.

[FLWoodworker84]

It's been almost a year since my original post. I am sad to report that Dallas had to be euthanized two weeks ago. But, we were very happy to have almost another full year with her given the vet didn't expect her to make May of 2020. She enjoyed the things she enjoyed until her last days. She was spoiled until the end. Her remains made it back to us and respectfully placed into the box today. I added one more touch. I took the name tag off of her collar and mounted it to the box. I nipped and bent a finishing nail into a U shape. I drilled pilot holes on the front of the box and tapped the U in snugly. I thought about just screwing it to the box. But, I liked the idea of the tag hanging loose as if it were still on a collar.