Guild Jewelry Box Wood

[Pwk5017]

Thinking about starting this project soon, but i want help on what to use where. Im not in love with Marc's combo on the outside of the box. Namely, i usually dislike a mixed species frame and panel. I like the interior of the case contrasting with the drawerfronts, and think i will maintain that. For the two swing out doors and drawer fronts, i plan to use walnut like marc. I have some thick walnut crotch blanks that i can do the drawerfronts and/or door panels. i plan to keep the frame, lid, and base pretty basic grain/figure. I have one board of bubinga left over that could be used as a secondary species. I might use the bubinga for the interior case sides, drawer pulls, and maybe drawer sides. I certainly dont have to use it, but i only have one 6/4 board leftover that is 6" by 70". Pretty soon it needs to be used or sold. A small project seems like a good use for it.

 

Has anyone done something different than the plans? 

[Chestnut]

Used or sold, you make it sound like the wood is going to expire like a loaf of bread. Let it hit it's expiration date and then ship it to me I'll take that spoiled bubinga off your hands and dispose of it properly.

I like frame and panel with different species but maybe that is the thing that i don't like about the jewlery box build. I don't like the style or the wood he chose for it, i'm not sure but something just seems wrong. Doing the internal frame from bubinga seems like a waste? you'd have to make the bottom of the case from walnut to stop it from looking goofy and then you'd only see the bubinga when you open the sides or a drawer. For that little bit it seems like using an expensive wood just to use it.

[Chet]

Personally and I do mean that this is just me speaking,  but I sometimes think too much emphasis is put on using secondary species.  Small boxes and something like your up coming project are good places to do this.  But some times I think people get carried away with it.  Just use it as an accent like the drawer pulls.  Even on small projects to much can ruin it.

As far as your bubinga, us it, don't us it, but why think you have to get rid of it?  Pretty soon, if it hasn't already happened, it's not going to be out there anymore and you are going to wish you still had that little piece of joy.

[Cliff]

For the first one I'm using curly walnut with spalted maple for the drawers and side panels. The second one I'm using curly cherry and figured/crotch type walnut for drawers and sides. 

I mostly am sticking with Marc's plan, but ditching the hidden drawer. I'm also not going to do raised panels, I don't like them.On the second, also thinking of using brass pins for the necklace holders and to reinforce the drawer joinery because the piece I plan to use for the drawer fronts has the grain running the wrong direction and will be difficult to dovetail, so I'm just going to do butt joints.

[bleedinblue]

I don't hate his, but I picture much less contrast and some thinner stock, at least on the top and maybe the base, if not throughout.  It's probably going to be my next big build, I was leaning toward curly maple and cherry, but might do curly maple and straight grained maple instead.

[Pwk5017]

Yes, of course it wont expired, but I rarely work on small projects and i only have one board. I have several pieces of lumber that are "some day" pieces, and all of them annoy me in some fashion or another. I have three 20-22" wide 10/4 that are 10-11' wide stacked next to my slider that i continually have to step around or on. The one stick of bubinga is less offensive, but it is with my other bubinga offcuts, mahogany leftovers, and random bits of exotics that are in the swing path of my bandsaw's doors. 

 

You all did convince me to save it for another day, and i ended up making the interior out of mahogany, with an all walnut exterior. The drawer sides, bottoms, and backs will be mahogany too. I havent decided what ill do for the pulls. I might still do them out of bubinga, but I might go for something darker than walnut that i have in small pieces. I have some insignificant amounts of rosewood, ebony, and cocobolo that might work.

[Jfitz]

This are nice looking boards.  You could bookmatch resaw those pieces for small table tops, like end tables.  

[Chestnut]

Those walnut boards look moldy and expired you should defiantly send them my way for me to "properly" dispose of them .

The wood selection is looking great hope that we get to see the completed project.

As for the small wood issue, branch out and make some smaller projects i really enjoy a smaller project here and there because i can usually complete them in a weekend.

[Pwk5017]

3 hours ago, Chestnut said:

Those walnut boards look moldy and expired you should defiantly send them my way for me to "properly" dispose of them .

The wood selection is looking great hope that we get to see the completed project.

As for the small wood issue, branch out and make some smaller projects i really enjoy a smaller project here and there because i can usually complete them in a weekend.

Yeah, i felt like i was flying through this one. I spent a good amount of the morning and early afternoon on it yesterday, and i have the case done and my drawers sized up. I think im going to skip the half bind recessed dovetails. They look cool, and im sure the exercise would be a rewarding challenge, but marc saying it took him 4+ hours to do one drawer was enough for me to find an alternative! Value-engineering out the dovetails, i can crank through all the drawers tonight and tomorrow. There might actually be a chance of finishing this prior to V-day. That wasnt my original intention, but my wife asked me what i was working on yesterday, and after learning what it was, let out a, "awwww is this for valentine's day? that is sweet". I went along with it, naturally.

 

The first impression of small projects is how inexpensive the lumber is! This crotch is off a 12/4 chunk i purchased a set of for $20 a chunk. It was the top of a walnut crotch that some homeowner cut in half(idiot), but my local sawyer sawed and dried it anyways. Each one is 40"+/- wide and maybe 20" long. The sad part is the crotch feather would have extended another 10-15" had the person not cut it in half. Be that as it is, 12/4+ still gives me plenty of crotch figure to resaw into workable parts. In this case, the most intense figure was 10-11" wide by 18". I plan to use the three resaws for the drawerfronts and each side panel. The side panels are bookmatches and sequential to the drawerfront. The fronts have the most intense figure to them and it started to lose some of the intensity as i worked my way through the thickness. Aside from the nice crotch figure in the middle of each piece, the subsequent trunks that converged to make the crotch were 100% vertical grain. I took these leftover pieces and resawed them into my rails, stiles, and bottom. The mahogany stock i used is stuff i almost would have thrown away, so this project is about $20-30 in total lumber costs. Compare that to $350-400 in walnut for two nightstands and im loving the small project. Flip side is the brusso hardware will put a dent in my wallet. That looks like $75-100 for a few teeny tiny hinges.