Some Jewelry Boxes

[Joe Jensen]

Here are some jewelry boxes I made for gifts.  I gave one to each daughter, my wife, my mother, my sister-in-law, and I donated 2 to charity.  I used some awesome curly maple, graded AAAAA.  The wood was expensive, but each box only used a couple of bd feet.  Here are a few pics.  Eight boxes in total.

 

[nickao]

I love them, fantastic job!!!

Is the Dark wood Wenge?

Did you use roll or spray on for the black velvet look on the inside drawer bottoms?

Did you use a table saw to make the dovetail splines? Which jig if any? Lots of ways to do it,  Kehoe jig , etc.

Did you choose the drawer lock bit out of convenience, design preference or was there just not enough room for Dovetails for the small drawers? How did you like the drawer lock bit?

Can we see the inside of the box? What did you use for a rail in the box to guide the drawers, Maple? The drawer reveals look great too!

I only ask because I am impressed with your work, nice, simple, clean design and you let the wood do the talking!

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Joe,
Amazing work!  If you can, share more of your design an building steps.

Also, for readability, I'd suggest going in and adding a space or two between each of the photos so we can all see each one better.

Thanks for posting,
Matthew

 

[robtonya]

great job, I love that wood too.

 

[ROb McGilp]

Really pretty. Great stuff!!

 

[Joe Jensen]

I love them, fantastic job!!!

Is the Dark wood Wenge?

Did you use roll or spray on for the black velvet look on the inside drawer bottoms?

Did you use a table saw to make the dovetail splines? Which jig if any? Lots of ways to do it,  Kehoe jig , etc.

Did you choose the drawer lock bit out of convenience, design preference or was there just not enough room for Dovetails for the small drawers? How did you like the drawer lock bit?

Can we see the inside of the box? What did you use for a rail in the box to guide the drawers, Maple? The drawer reveals look great too!

I only ask because I am impressed with your work, nice, simple, clean design and you let the wood do the talking!

The splines were cut on a table saw with a home built jig, nothing fancy.  I Wenge for the splines, and I used the same stock for the pulls.  I used the drawer lock bit because I wanted to maximize space in the cabinet and I wanted the sides flush with the inset doors.  I have to thank my wife for the velvet inside.  We took thing cardboard and covered the top and edges with a high quality black velvet fabric.  The velvet was one of the trickiest parts of the project.  The velvet wraps from the top and around under the piece of cardboard so that the carboard lays flat.  The dividers are just a slip fit and not glued to the compartments can be customized.  I used some dark scrap to make the runners for the slides.  I just routed a 1/8" wide and 1/8" deep groove for each slide in the side of the case and the sides of the drawers. (lots of measure 10 times and cut once on that step). The slides are held in the sides of the case with glue on just the front 1" to allow for wood movement on the case.

The numbers for this project really added up.
8 boxes
32 drawers
like 300 drawer dividers.
Building was fun, but sanding and finishing was almost overwhelming.  Too many parts.

I've reached the point in my hobby where I have too little space for more finished projects, and too little time in the shop, so I've decided to use only the best wood whenever possible.

I'll try to take some pics of the insides and post later.

 

[nickao]

Using the best always, I agree. I love all curly woods and really I specialize in that unless the customer is adamant that they do not like the curly or highly figured woods.

Finishing is a hobby unto itself and you nailed it!

Being a hobbyist where the heck did you get time for that and working? I am lucky my work is woodworking or I fear I could never make anything!

You must have great time management skills, mine stink!

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Joe,  what did you use for the finish coats?  I can see the finish is quite clear, but what?  I agree with you and Nick that finishing is a major part of any fine woodworking job, often taking much more time and effort than building the project.

Dave R.

 

[BarryL]

Joe

Great looking boxes...looking forward to more pictures.

It looks like the top panels are bookmatched.  How thick was the stock to start with.  Did you cut on bandsaw?

What did you use to soften the edges of the boxes. 

These boxes display outstanding attention to detail!  I have never built anything to that level but aspire to...great work!

 

[Joe Jensen]

I started with 5/4 stock and resawed it on the bandsaw.  The pieces were between 5.75" and 6" wide to start.

The top coat was my first attempt at french polish.  I did the finishing in Dec and it was too cold to spray lacquer outside.  I must have started over 6 or 10 times.  Eventually I learned that the pad needs to be almost completely dry.  Once I figured that out, the french polish went well.  But, with sooooo many drawer and all the small dividers, finishing was really a core and no fun..joe

 

[Warrior]

After reading the coments I wish I could see the pics. All I get is a red X.  :-[

 

[Forrest Anderson]

After reading the coments I wish I could see the pics. All I get is a red X.  :-[

Eiji

The photos are linked to the on-line photo hosting website Photobucket.

If you go to the Photobucket album at http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w99/AZEngineer and look at pages 7 and 8, you'll see the boxes.

Forrest

 

[butzla]

Joe, Hubba, hubba, hubba!  Very nice!!

 

[Jim]

Absolutely gorgeous!

Jim