Gary Rogowski Jewelry Box


kevinmallick

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Picked up some cheap hinges at Johnson's down the road.  Not the best, buy affordable and my expectations are low.  I laid out the recess or mortise for the hinge.  Started by establishing a shoulder and then started pairing away.  After getting a good fit, I drilled holes for the brass screws.

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Once I got everything done, there was a pretty small alignment issue.  I put the hinge on the box first and then had a really hard time lining up the lid properly.  Next time, I would attach the hinges to the lid first, then transfer the lines for the box mortise with the lid on properly.  I went ahead and added a chamfer to the fingers of the lid, not the whole lid.  

 

Biggest lesson of the project confirmed once again.  NEED a sharpening system ASAP.

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Well.  With the box part pretty much complete, I went ahead and put some finish on the box to get ready for the handle and feet portion.  Finishing is an area that I need to explore much more, and for now I am going with the finish for Mere Mortals.  I went with Spray Can Lacquer, in a Matte as I don't want too shiny.  I won't layer too many coats as I want a relatively close to the wood finish.  I will also only put on 1-2 light coats before the handle and feet are added.  That way I can get a nice smooth surface to finish before adding the handle.

 

No good pictures here, sorry.  I simply got the spray lacquer, went outside and sprayed.  It darkened a little, but not much.  You will see the box soon with finish!  (-:

 

I had an odd shaped piece of Wenge laying around and decided that would serve as the handle.  I took a while and drew out some designs, most of them mimicking Gary's design.  After a while I gave up, downloaded the Sketchup model, took a screenshot and printed it out.  Then just used some spray adhesive to stick it to the wenge after cutting it down to size.

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Here is the piece of wedge sitting in place on the box.  Just to get a feel.

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The plans called for the handle to be 1/4" thick.  I thought that was a little too thin.  So I resawed it to 1/2" and figured I could re-evaluate that decision and always cut it more if needed.

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Here it is fresh off of the jointer.  Beautiful wood.  Wenge is one of my absolute favorites!  I love that dark brown marbled look and the grain!

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Here is the handle stock with the template printed and stuck on.

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After cutting to shape, I brought it over to the spindle sander.  I used a small spindle for the tight curves on the underside of the handle and then switched to a larger diameter for the top curve.

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Here is a look with the handle sitting where it will ultimately rest.

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I used the same bamboo skewers that are in the finger joints for the dowels that will hold the handle on.  Not sure if it's the best choice, but it was in the shop and it's too late now!  Haha.post-17000-0-34099300-1436313258_thumb.j

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I used some blue painter's tape to mark the depth that need to drill.  That should prevent me from drill through my top.

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Well... it would.  If I could do proper math.  But, luckily just as I was about to drill into my top, I thought "this looks wrong".  Then realized that I measured and marked 1/2", and my top is 1/2".  Soo... back to re-measure the drill.

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That's better.  A drill press would come in very handy here.  I knew this would be a potential problem.  I'm sure there are jigs out there to help you hand drill a good 90 degree hole, but I just eyeballed it.  Probably not the best decision.

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My thought was, get the dowels in the handle, and then if they are a little off, I will just correct for that with the holes on the top.  Again, probably not the best.  But it works out.  

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The dowels were a bit long after getting them in the handle.  So I just trimmed them back a bit.

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So I got the handle where it was going to be, and marked the spots and angles that I thought the dowels were going.  I was pretty close, but when it went in it was definitely a little off.

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So with the dowels a bit off, my handle was 1/8" off on the "left" side.  It turns out that keeping that handle a bit wider at 1/2" would probably help to cover this mistake up.  So I drilled next to and widened the hole on the left which allowed me to straighten the handle out.

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Got some glue in there and got the handle in place!

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Here is the box with the handle glued on, and 2 thin coats of spray lacquer on the body.  The handle does not have finish yet.

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Next I need to cut the feet and get those glued in place and then get some finish on the rest!  I will likely put another 2-3 very light coats on the rest of the box and pay attention to get enough on the handle.

 

I have also decided that since I cheated out and didn't get stop hinges, that I need to get a brass chain and connect the sides on the bottom of the box to the lid so that it stops at about 95-100 degrees.  I'm hoping to have that done here by the weekend and be able to put this box in the Showcase!post-17000-0-78183700-1436314182_thumb.j

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Really looks great..  Nice job on the handle!

Thanks!  It was fun.  

 

Great work! Really nice...especially with one board!

Sure you want/need to add a chain stop? I don't think the Brusso hinges recommended on the Marc plan have a stop...

Plus, assuming it might sit on a dresser against a wall, the lid would stop there...

Thank you!  I was worried about not having extra lumber, but it all worked out.

 

I have been thinking quite a bit about the chain stop.  I don't think the hinges they recommend from Brusso are stopped, but i feel that there is too much pressure on the cheaper hinges and the brass screws.  My hope is that the person never lets the lid fall back all they way, but if they do it may pull the lid out over time.  I think I will feel safer with the chain on each side for support.

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