My Fist Boxes.. and it is Obvious.. :>)

[SARGE..g-47]

If you are going to put your fist in there, how can you give them as gifts? And where is the hole for your arm?

Seriously though, great looking boxes! I love the way they photograph, the grain is very unique and does strange things with the camera, in a good way.

See the post to DB I just posted on the grain on that one box especially. I have never seen maple react the way that piece does in 37 years of wood butcher. If you could see it physically at different angles.. it appears to change the entire color back and forth as you move to a different view-point. Wish I had a ton of ambrosia just like it.

[JR]

Nice, Sarge! The hinge-pin thing is very cool, particularly given the price of nice hinges!

JR

[SARGE..g-47]

Very Very Cool

Sarge

Those are great boxes. I am sure both of the women in your life will be proud of them.

As you have indicated, changing scale on project is very challenging, and the smaller the project, mistakes seem more obvious. And it the small project require as much or more time to complete.

Great Job.

It took as long to do this set as it took to build a Mission coffee table two months ago. That required about 36 hours not counting finish time and curing and these took around 26 but.. I did take my time to calculate my next move where the Misiion coffee table was done almost in automatic as I have built many carcass items over the years.

And I did stop to build a double jig that rides my TS fence to eliminate slop for both the miter spline and cutting side angles. One slip up on either would mean disaster for the finished look. And I did have to re-cut one box as I placed the pin too far back on the first attempt. There is no formula here and pretty much an eyeball experience adventure.

But.. with minor details it does take about as long and frankly... much longer if you count the tedious finish process on small parts. That required much patience.

[SARGE..g-47]

Very nice work, I am sure Lisa and Lydia will cherish them.

How did you get the names in the lids?

Thanks

I considered burning them in and did a mock-up run on a piece of ambrosia scrap.. Not consistent enough and the burned results looked a bit too rustic for what was going to be a highly polished finish so.. that was out.

I considered carving them but.. I don't have anything but very cheap carving tools and I cannot make lines flow as I would like. And I was working in maple which is not the best suited species because of hardness to carve. So.. that was out.

I decided to use the DW 788 scroll saw sitting mobile for two years in my back shop. I have never used a scroll saw before but I had intended to use it someday to attempt some small items. That day arrived...

I had to do about 30 minutes mock-up on scrap as again.. I have never used a scroll saw on anything other than to simply cut some inside curves on templates where the finish is not an issue.

I laid out the letters with a 30 mm Old English plastic.. one piece template I got at Hobby Lobby. Drilled my tiny holes and gave it my best shot. At first it was a PITA to remove the blade as you have to do to insert it through each opening to make the cut on those complicated English letters.

But.. after about the third letter... I got pretty quick with blade removal and re-inserting it. And as my confidence grew.. it actually became somewhat of an easy task the farther I got. Good experience here as I was not sure if I could pull it off as some of the things as dotting the I and accent marks are pretty small.

But.. I conquered it and am confident on any future try...

[SARGE..g-47]

Hey Sarge - nice boxes even if you did use your fists

Do you have any detail on the pin hinges, what did you do and what might you do different next time?

Got a little help from Ed Sallee who is about 18 miles up the road from me on the pins. Ed is quite an accomplished small box maker and he gave me some ideas over the phone on how. But.. the conversation ended with there is no real X Y Z formula and you just have to experience it to get the feel of where to drill for the pin.

The pin holes have to be drilled before the box is taken to the TS to get the side angles. That way you are working with square sides which are much easier to put on a DP table than angled as you would have to make and clamp them in a jig you made to get them perfectly up-right. The metal pins I used were cut longer than needed as you have to insert them in an out quite a number of times to get the feel of where the back of the box has to be beveled for the led bottom to clear.

The metal pin is the only hinge and once you finally insert it.. you can leave the hole open.. plug it with a 1/8" dowel or you can use a brass 1/8" rod you purchase at a craft store as Hobby Lobby. The way the back of the box is made it requires no strap on the lid to keep it open or from going back too far. The bottom of the insert on the inside of the lid becomes the stop block so no additional hardware is required for it.

Until you open the lid there is no noticeable way it is held on to meet the eye. I really can't explain this very well as it is just something I had to visulize while staring at the box. It becomes self evident once you give it some open minded thought as again.... there is no real formula depending o size of lid.. how you pin it.. etc.. etc..

Next time I will have a better understanding of just how that hidden pin works.. how to place it and how deep of a recess on the back of the box do I need to clear all components to make them work in unison. Again... more learned from doing than I can relate on paper. Being there is more valuable in this case and I suggest you do a mock up to play with to get the feel.

[SARGE..g-47]

Nice, Sarge! But, how'd you get the worms to spell?

Regards,
Tom

Give them a Dictionary and demand they do their home-work...

You didn't notice but... I will point out not only can the worms spell but they are quite good at putting holes very symetrically spaced around the names on both lids. Take a good luck and notice the worm hole patterns.. If you see 3 worm holes on one side.. you see three almost idenically spaced on the other side on both pieces. The box for Lydia is more worm infested than the one used for my wife but... in both cases the worms were having a symetric day it appears.

Now I can't explain that exactly as some thngs are just a "mystery of life" I suppose. You buy 4 bags of groceries and you take out 6 bags of trash not to mention where those missing socks go. Just a mystery of life thing in this case I guess but.. I will add that Asian Ambrosia Beetles are not the only ones proficient at drilling holes.

Just.. some holes once contained worm larvae and feed off of fungus in the wood that creates the spalting. Some holes may not necessarily have contained larvae.. I can't imagine why it happened this way?

[SARGE..g-47]

Nice, Sarge! The hinge-pin thing is very cool, particularly given the price of nice hinges!

JR

Thanks JR.. about $1.98 at Hobby Lobby so it relates to about $.10 an inch with tax and you can make around 6-8 boxes wiht one 36" rod. Way too much but a man has to do what a man has to do to keep women happy!

Regards..

[footprintsinconc]

simply amazing looking box! i wish my first attempts are 1/4 as good as yours

[lrogers]

Those are fantastic, love the style and combination of color.

[John Hunter]

Very nice.

[gerti]

I decided to use the DW 788 scroll saw sitting mobile for two years in my back shop. I have never used a scroll saw before but I had intended to use it someday to attempt some small items. That day arrived...

The lettering came out very nice and crisp! Thanks for the detailed response.

[drillman88]

The boxes turned out great. The contrast in colors and the ambosia really make for interesting pieces.The scale seems to be spot on as well.I hope they both appreciate your effort and enjoy these for years to come!!

[SARGE..g-47]

Thanks for the comments Omar.. Larry.. John H.. and drillman.

You're welcome Gerti. I was very surprised to get it that crisp after having the time invested in the lid which was already cut... angled.. shaped to the box for pin and sanded at that point. A slip-up would have been a critical no-no at that point as starting again could be very timely.

But.. spending a little time getting the feel for the scroll saw payed off and I am not bad moving curves through as I do it constantly with templates on my smaller of two band-saws. You have to go even slower with the extremely tiny teeth on those SS blades. It amazes me the tiny size drill bit you use to get the through hole for the blade.

I used a Flying Dutchman reverse blade and I had to use a magnifying glass to determine which way the teeth pointed. My old eyes have had too much sun over the years so the magnifying glass came in handy.

'Thanks on the balance drillman.... basically finding balance on these is very similar to large carcass which I have done my share of over the years so that part was not the major issue for me I suppose. All in all I am pleased and actually surprised it came out much better than I realistically expected.

Sarge..

[Radman]

Those boxes are AWESOME!
I'd be VERY proud of them if I were you. I bet that girls loved 'em!

[SARGE..g-47]

Those boxes are AWESOME!
I'd be VERY proud of them if I were you. I bet that girls loved 'em!

Thank you Radman... Both seemed to be elated with their gifts. I may have opened a can of worms on the one for my wife Lisa. She took it to one of her female buddy group meeting and showed it. I'm having to lay low in the shop as 6 of them have already e-mailed or called wanting one. I think putting the name on top made it out of the ordinary as it make the gift very personal it does appear.

So... I"m laying low down in the bunker with a computer desk and hutch working based on a Gustov Stickley side board base and a Liberty & Co. top hutch from one of their side-board designs. I told my wife to tell her friends that it might take several years of 24/7 and I'll get back to them as soon as I'm finished. Are they still hiring on Border Patrol out on the Rio Grande?

Regards...