Smallest woodworking project for me

[LCHIEN]

https://www.facebook.com/loring.chien/videos/2514830921949225/


This is a music box from the 1950's - my mom had it long before I moved to Texas in 1961. I loved it as a kid, It played silent Night and lit up and was kind of cool tracing the intricate church features with my fingers. .
When she moved to a retirement home I inherited it but somehow in the cleanup the little metal gold cross on top was lost - it was always removed and stored separately to prevent breakage.

So without the cross it just didn't look right and sat in my garage for 15 years or so.

I got it out the other day and it was missing a stained glass window insert, the light was missing and the music didn't play. It was covered by a half inch of dust and of course the cross was still missing.

cleaned it all up and repaired everything, oiled the music box movement and got the bulb (C7 are hard to find now)

The cross: So I measured the hole and it was right at 0.1"
So I proceeded with my smallest woodworking project ever. A 1.5" long cross.
Ripped some scrap wood to .1 x .1 using the BT3000, whew thank god for zero clearance insert and micropositioner..
Then I made a half lap joint in the .1" material!
Yes, I used a real fine Exacto hobby saw to cross cut both to .05" depth. Then I puzzled over how to chisel that .1 x .05" piece out. Finally found a jewelers screwdriver just the right width and used it for a chisel! Worked great. Glued it, Some silver paint (my gold was all dried up).
Finally it has a cross again.

Such nostalgia, for me anyway.

[cwsmith]

Loring,

It looks beautiful !

Very nice that you can bring back to life a treasured family gem like this.

Best wishes for the holidays, to you and your family,

CWS

[Slik Geek]

Very nice. Enjoyed the details on the technique.

[capncarl]

Items like this, treasured gems really have a place in our hearts. Nice job.
My wife was upset last week when she discovered that she had inadvertently thrown out the Toy Story blanket that she used for the Christmas tree skirt. It was a gift from a long gone relative who had used it under their tree. when our children were still little crawling bugs.