Music boxes

[don_hart]

These are two music boxes I built for my two nieces for christmas. The first is for my youngest niece. It is made from cherry and finished with 8 coats of wipe on poly. The music movement is an 18 note sankyo movement from klockit that plays "Thank heaven for little girls"





The second is for the older of the two and is made from tiger maple with 8 coats of wipe on poly and the movement plays "When you wish upon a star"

[monte]

They look great Don! The girls will love them.

[Pappy]

Nice boxes, Don!

[softop41]

Don,
They are beautiful; your nieces are fortunate to have such a talented uncle.
What do you do to the wipe-in poly after the final coat is hard? Sand, steel wool, wet-sand?????
I always have a great shine but I would like the finish to be smoother than it is after drying.
Thanks,
Jerry

[Ken Weaver]

Don - I love the simplicity of this work!!! Great job, they'll love 'em!!

[GeekMom]

The boxes will be treasured by your two nieces - they are beautiful!

[Popeye]

You do real good work Mr. Hart. [8D] Pat

[don_hart]

Jerry this is the process I use. First of all I make my own wipe-on poly it is a 50/50 gloss poly and naphta mix. I use naptha for the quick drying time and I think the thinned poly penetrates the pores of the wood and gives a better finish. I normally apply at least 4 coats before I do any sanding of the finish. You will find with the first couple of coats that the finish dries evry quickly usually in about 5 - 10 minutes and additional coats will take longer to dry up to a drying time of about 30 - 45 minutes. This means you can get 4 - 6 coats on the pice over about 60 - 90 minutes. After I have applied the first 4 -6 coats I will lightly sand the finish with 600 grit sand paper until it is smooth and then apply another 2 coats. Normally the final two coats will go on perfectly smooth. If I am looking to get a deeper wet look finish on the piece I will continue to apply coats up to as many as 10 or 12. If the finsh develops any roughness during the final 4 coats I will sand with a fine scothbrite pad before applying the final coat. This will normally give you a perfectly smooth finish that will always look like it is wet.

The advantage of the fast drying wipe-on poly of course is that you can do this in the time it would take to put on 2-3 coats of normal poly.

[softop41]

Thanks Don,
I definately see the advantage to the naptha and shortening the drying time. Do you start with the already water-thin MinWax wipe-on poly or a thicker product like Watco's wipe-on? And what do you use for an applicator?
Jerry

[LCHIEN]

Don,

Boxes look nice.

I see they are windup movements. are the music mechanisms tied to the opening the cover (don't see an stopper/actuator anywhere) or do they just play when wound up until they run down (3 minutes according to the Klockit site ?

[GPA61]

Those are beautiful Don!! One of these days I will try some of
that wipe on poly.

[toolbelt diva]

Wow, those are really nice boxes.

[don_hart]

To the question about the poly. I ma mixing the naptha with standard minwax gloss poly not the wipe on poly. I apply it with a white paper towel folded up.

The movemnets in these boxes are not setup with stop rods so they run until they wind down.

[Tundra_Man]

Very nice! Love the figuring on the 2nd box.

[lrogers]

Wait a minute Don, where's the clock face? Just Kidding, they look great.