Another one bites the dust, along with a piece of my pinkie

[Bruce Cohen]

I'm naming this box 9.75. The title explains it all.
Even with a bit of self mutilation, I really enjoyed doing this. It's my largest box so far, and at first I wasn't too sure if I even liked it, but as time went on, it grew on me. You can say I put a bit of myself into it.

The box is made of a wood named Beli, with a "Leopard" like figure. Never saw it before, and never saw it again. Got it from Woodworkers Source.

The frame that comprises the lid is Purpleheart, with the inner panel also Beli, and yes. it came from the same board.
One tray is Walnut, along with the circular outer decoration. The inlay strips are Purpleheart.
Both trays are lined with a chocolate colored suede as is the bottom of the box which is also a compartmentalized non removal tray.
The lid has a bronzed beveled mirror, I found a place on line who makes these up and the cost wasn't all that much. Hinges are Brusso that are built to stop at 100 deg.
Hope you guys like it, and even if you don't, just lie to make me feel better

[jabe]

Looks great!!! Good job Bruce!

[Pappy]

Beautiful box with some interesting grain patterns to the wood. My initial thought was that all the trim and accent would have been better in Purpleheart, but then I looked close at the figure in the Walnut disc. That is fantastic!

[cabinetman]

Nice job Bruce...well done. It's got real character, and good materials choice. If only there was a drop or two of blood on it.

.

[chopnhack]

Bruce, the piece is unique - in a good way! Very interesting uses of woods and inlay on the front. Love it. I hope the injury was minor.

[Richard in Smithville]

Great piece....I love the walnut disk in the front.

[pelligrini]

That is very cool, extremely striking.

I really like the jointery. The extended fingers and miter splines certainly do look good. All the little details work well too. The wood choices are well matched to the style of the piece.

When I first saw the thread title, I was a little worried. I thought something happened again...

[footprintsinconc]

amazing! beautiful....you've always done an superb job at making these boxes.

[Larryl]

Bruce, my first reaction was that is an interesting box but the more I studied it all the beauty of the woods and all the little details became apparent. You really thought outside the box (pun intended) on the design and joinery on this project and it is certainly something to be proud of. Great Job!

[Bruce Cohen]

Bruce, my first reaction was that is an interesting box

Larry, that's exactly the way I felt as I was making it. For all sorts of weird reasons, it wasn't looking like it was suppose to and I always make a full sized mock-up out of foam-core board before I start cutting wood. But just as you said, it started coming together and looking waaay better than I expected it to.
It was almost worth the loss of part of my pinkie.
Bruce

[ironhat]

Boy, the more you look the more features there are so, yes, there's more to it than what initially meets the eye. I don't know how you even drew this up or even conceptualized it. Or did the concept grow as the project came to gether? Either way, pretty darn nice!

[Bruce Cohen]

Chiz,
Thanks for the nice words. As I said earlier, at first I really wasn't in love with the way it was taking shape.

Even though I do make a full size mock-up, for some reason it went another way. I almost was going to scrap it, but the Leopard figured Beli was just too pretty to relegate to the scrap box.

What I was trying to do was a take off on a piece of Greene & Greene furniture, the square ebony (Walnut) pegs, the proud finger joints. Although G&G designed exclusively with Mahogany and Ebony, I didn't want to just replicate their style. Therefore, the Purpleheart, Walnut and Beli. And lo and behold, somewhere prior to the mini-amputation, I really started liking it.

Its bigger than any other box I've done, and has double removable trays and putting a mirror in the lid sort of came as an afterthought.

In the end, though, I guess it worked out, I'm happy with it, don't know if I'll ever try another one using that style, but who knows?

I do know that then next one will have a definite Asian look. I'm researching Japanese, Chinese and Korean temple photos to get a feeling of the architectural lines. Although, it may just end up looking like a Mosque or a Synagogue.

Bruce