Popular Post Sycoline Slim Posted November 6, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 (Photo 1) This is my second project, beyond small pendants and necklaces, since retiring and deciding to get more serious about woodworking. I did fool around a bit in my Dad’s workshop under his tutelage in early life, so I’m not a total novice. My first project (a few months ago) was a rather standard band saw box. With that experience, I decided to build a box based on the natural curves of a root from a walnut tree that fell on my property a few years ago. This fit well with my love of finding things in nature to enhance. The shelf fronts on this side are padauk with pine burl pulls. This project took much longer than I expected, but I learned a lot that will made future projects go faster. Don’t hesitate to make suggestions; I think you can judge my skill level by what you see and what I write. (2) The second photo shows the base of the tree where I obtained the wood (our house is in the background). The inset shows a piece of the root that I used as a starting point (with an arrow pointing to the portion of the tree where the root was growing). I’m sure there are many more treasures waiting to be discovered and I’m in the process of salvaging the rest of the tree now. I have 10 acres here (near Leesburg, VA), 6 wooded. There is a sawmill 2 miles away and I currently have boards of cherry, cedar, walnut, oak, chestnut, beech, and persimmon either air drying or dried and stored in my barn. (3) On the opposite side of the “jewelry” box (I put jewelry in quotes because it is really more a piece of sculpture (sounds better than knickknack) than anything that will ever be used to hold jewelry), I reversed the drawer pattern on this side using the pine bur2. I for the drawer fronts and padauk for the pulls. The drawers will open from either side. For finishing, I used water-based polyurethane (WBP) so as to not darken an already dark wood. More specifically, I used several coats of WBP followed by several coats of oil poly. I suspect it’s my inexperience, but I seem to get a better final coat with oil than water-based. A word of warning – don’t sand through the WBP when preparing for subsequent oil coats. If you do, the oil will reach the bare wood and you end up with dark spots which can only be removed by re-sanding the whole surface back down to the bare wood. I found this out the hard way, but it makes total sense. Note that the top of the box has a gloss coat, while the bottom was finished with satin. I decided to leave it like that for now until I decide which I like most (let me know if you have a preference). There is virtually no difference in how each brings out the grain. I suspect that like paint, gloss is easier to clean, but doesn’t hide defects as well. However, on a piece this small, there shouldn’t be defects and it should only need cleaning about once every hundred years. So, I guess it is just a personal preference of how one likes to see the light interplay. (4, 5) Details of the pine burl drawer fronts: I spotted a burl on a dead limb of my neighbor’s pine tree and asked if I could have it. He readily agreed but with a “lack of understanding” look on his face. I have yet to show him the finished product. The black color is a result of spalting, of course, and adds a lot to the overall look of the wood. I prepared this 4 photo collage (5) to show people on my Facebook site who don’t know what a burl is. (6, 7) This is a crosscut piece sanded and finished with no shaping. Note the beautiful pattern of overlapping bark “plates”. The insets show pendants that I made from the portion of the bark the arrows point to. If you aren’t familiar with walnut, the light band is the sapwood. In the furniture business, it is generally only the heartwood that is used. I like the variation in color that the sapwood and bark provide as shown well on the back of the box (6). How the root got that way: Hollow roots are not all that unusual along the creek. Here’s what I believe often happens. The creek eroded away the dirt from around the root by cutting into the bank from the side. During the hundred years or so of this trees growth, the creek exposed a large portion of the tree that had been underground. Those on the water side were then quite susceptible to being smashed by logs coming downstream during a flood. The upstream side of the root could easily lose its bark to the collision. This would not necessarily kill the root but could allow admittance of fungus (“basidiomycota” causes root rot). As the heartwood died away, the sapwood continued growing in an attempt to “close the wound.” Since the wood was hollow, the bark began curling around the edge of the wound and eventually began covering the inside of the sapwood. I posted this story on Facebook as well, but explained it in terms that normal people would understand (not that woodworkers aren’t normal people….. wait, let me think about that!) https://www.facebook.com/terry.dyroff/posts/10209283529859628?notif_t=like¬if_id=1478367413458416 You will probably have to copy and paste into a browser. You can see my 1st band saw box at https://www.facebook.com/terry.dyroff/posts/10208226738240498 Please respond if you have any, suggestions, criticisms, witticisms, syllogisms or just plain old comments. Terry 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Edgar Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 What is used to get the 'red' effect on the left side? Very nice. What finish was used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 Cool work, Terry! I like the little cherry (not the wood, the fruit) drawer pulls. Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sycoline Slim Posted November 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 To Rex Edgar: This is just padauk wood's beautiful red color (Google it). Unfortunately, I am aware that over a few years the beautiful red fades to a reddish brown. When this happens, I plan to add a little red dye to some poly and give it another coat. I've attached a photo of a yin yang pendant I did a few months ago. I filled the inside circles with red dyed epoxy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 Impressive. I like your work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sycoline Slim Posted November 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 Thanks Lester. Here's a shot that should answer your question. The drawers are made of redwood that I "rescued" from an abandoned house. The box is 7" high, 6" wide, and 3" deep. The drawers are made to pull out from either side. Slim 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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