Popular Post Denette Posted July 13, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 I made this bandsaw box yesterday, starting from the 2-3" main stem/trunk of a mystery bush that was dead in our back yard when we moved here two years ago. Two years seemed like long enough to let it dry, so why let dry lumber go to waste, right? I started by cutting the wood into manageable lengths - 12 inches or so - then clamped them in a vise and used my hand plane to get them flat on one side. I then placed the flat side down on the table saw and used it as a guide to cut the remaining bark off. What I ended up with were roughly 7/8" square dowels of mystery bush wood with some really attractive figuring and the occasional bug hole. I cut the dowels into the proper length to give me enough to make a bandsaw box, glued up the square dowels into layers of roughly 5"x3½", then glued the layers together to make a box blank. After cleaning up the box blank's gluey rough edges just a bit, I traced its outline on paper and penciled in the profile I wanted. I used double-sided tape to attach that paper to the box blank, then went to the bandsaw! You probably already know the bandsaw box routine, so I'll spare you that bit. After much cutting, sculpting, and gluing, I finished it off with a custom cherry handle glued into place. I got the part of the handle that touches the curved surface of the box into its proper place by putting the drawer in a vise and putting sandpaper over the curve that the handle would attach to, then sanding the handle directly on the spot that it would be attached to - worked like a charm! Finished it all up by wiping on a few coats of Minwax wipe-on poly. Feels good to start from yard waste and end up with something nice! Keepsake_Box_lr.mp4 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeautysBeast Posted July 13, 2016 Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 Looks fantastic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 13, 2016 Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 That's really slick, and qui k! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted July 13, 2016 Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 I totally forgot about bandsaw boxes. I think you just helped me figure out what to make people for Christmas. I don't know why but i haven't met a single person that doesn't like a little box. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted July 13, 2016 Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 44 minutes ago, Chestnut said: i haven't met a single person that doesn't like a little box. Because we all have something to hide. That is a real cool looking box. Who'd a thought that "mystery bush" had such pretty grain. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted July 13, 2016 Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 Very cool project ! I would sign it, date it and label it mystery wood from a dead bush in the yard ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted July 13, 2016 Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 Nice box. Looks like apple. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weithman5 Posted July 13, 2016 Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 so from bush to box in one day 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted July 13, 2016 Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 How satisfying! I like it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post drzaius Posted July 13, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 53 minutes ago, weithman5 said: so from bush to box in one day Sounds kinda dirty. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted July 13, 2016 Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 Very nice! Lots lf work for one day ! Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dknapp34 Posted July 13, 2016 Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 Very nice! I have some bushes in my yard with orange-ish roots/branches that I've considered hacking up to make something. I thought maybe pens, but I like the bandsaw box idea better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denette Posted July 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 On July 13, 2016 at 2:00 PM, Chet K. said: Who'd a thought that "mystery bush" had such pretty grain. I know, right? The pretty red stripe figuring is actually some sort of disease that shot right up the middle of the trunk, and I'm pretty sure that the same thing that makes for beautiful wood is also what killed the plant. Something poetic about that - redeeming that which led to death and turning it into a new kind of beauty. On July 13, 2016 at 2:08 PM, wdwerker said: Very cool project ! I would sign it, date it and label it mystery wood from a dead bush in the yard ! Thanks! That's basically what I did, haha! I'm trying to sell it. I am to the point now where I have more little bandsaw boxes than I have secret things to keep in them. On July 13, 2016 at 2:25 PM, C Shaffer said: Nice box. Looks like apple. Not sure what it was, but I'm pretty sure it's not apple. The plant was dead for at least two years, so I have no leaves to use to ID it, but whatever it was it was held up to the fence with a bunch of metal wires, like it wouldn't have stood up on its own without being supported. Above the level of the fence, it shot up about a foot and then curved back down like it would naturally have been a vine or something. It had long thin thorns on some of the branches. I'm not sure what it was. Now, however, I'm sure it's a box. On July 13, 2016 at 6:33 PM, Dknapp34 said: Very nice! I have some bushes in my yard with orange-ish roots/branches that I've considered hacking up to make something. I thought maybe pens, but I like the bandsaw box idea better. Just make sure they're good and dead and dry before working with them, otherwise they'll shrink unpredictably from water loss and then all your work will be for nothing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 16, 2016 Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 Could have been a really big poison ivy. A museum near me has a display of various lumber samples commercially harvested from the local river bottom. Poison Ivy is one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denette Posted July 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 Could have been a really big poison ivy. A museum near me has a display of various lumber samples commercially harvested from the local river bottom. Poison Ivy is one of them. Wow! I don't expect that is it, given the thorns on my mystery bush, but that's fascinating! What does it look like? Does it retain its poisonous qualities? I could see a dark, dark market for poison ivy-wood pens for enemies... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted July 17, 2016 Report Share Posted July 17, 2016 Pretty sure poison Oak and ivy don't have thorns. The Japanese use sap from plants in the same family in a varnish and it can cause severe reactions for some people. So l would bet that the wood could cause reactions too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted July 17, 2016 Report Share Posted July 17, 2016 Nope, no thorns on ivy. Standing guess would now be Hawthorne. Osage Orange also could have thorns but usually shows more yellow and orange. Black Loqust can have thorns, but usually have them in clusters. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denette Posted July 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2016 9 minutes ago, C Shaffer said: Nope, no thorns on ivy. Standing guess would now be Hawthorne. Osage Orange also could have thorns but usually shows more yellow and orange. Black Loqust can have thorns, but usually have them in clusters. I think we may have a winner! It looked an awful awful lot like a hawthorn tree. I'd never seen one before, but I just googled it and I think you're right. Mystery wood no longer! Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 17, 2016 Report Share Posted July 17, 2016 Wow! I don't expect that is it, given the thorns on my mystery bush, but that's fascinating! What does it look like? Does it retain its poisonous qualities? I could see a dark, dark market for poison ivy-wood pens for enemies... Wish I had a photo. I seem to recall it looking like maple with dark streaks. This place claims to have some: http://www.keimlumber.com/exoticwoods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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