Aspen box completed

[Bombarde16]

Seen nearly completed over in the project journals, here finished and with hardware installed:

Dragonfly inlays of quartersawn maple and wenge. Design borrowed from popular "wallflutter" ornaments. Top panel raised by cove cutting on the table saw.

Basic small box lock from WoodCraft via Amazon. Hinges from the borg, darkened with gun blue. Small tabs on the side made from flat steel bar stock and blued as with the hinges.

As I said over in the

aspen isn't a particularly rewarding wood to work. The boards were an impulse buy because they looked unique and I needed to practice sawing to a line. Aspen is, however, forgiving in its softness: Bashing out the mortises for the hardware wasn't nearly the chore it would have been in a harder wood.

Had I to do it over, I would start not with the wood, but with the hardware that will ultimately adorn the wood. The lines of the piece and light straw color of the wood came out with a clean, modern feel while the key cries "old". Moreover, the dark bronze of the latch doesn't match the blued steel. Individually, each of them works with the aspen and they are separated enough that the color mismatch isn't a catastrophe; but it's something that a little foresight would have prevented.

[duckkisser]

looks good your dove tails look good. what finish did you decide to use?

[fransikaner]

Well done, Rob. There is a trick to blending traditional and contemporary elements and I don't think you missed it.

[Bombarde16]

what finish did you decide to use?

It's almost impossible to do anything with aspen without first gluing it all together with some sort of sanding sealer. So, several thin coats of shellac during sanding, then linseed oil cut in half with paint thinner.

[duckkisser]

wait you put oil on top of the shellac? how is that possible wouldnt the oil just sit on top? even after sanding wouldnt it still seal the wood to the point that it would not absorb a oil.

[Bombarde16]

wait you put oil on top of the shellac? how is that possible wouldnt the oil just sit on top? even after sanding wouldnt it still seal the wood to the point that it would not absorb a oil.

I know, backwards, but it worked.

The shellac (Bullseye Sealcoat, actually) was barely a 1# cut and the wood is a sponge. A spit coat after each of the coarser grits was sufficient to persuade the fibers not to turn into a furball when I came through with the next grit. By 150 or so, I could skip the shellac for the rest of the sanding schedule. As for the oil, there's not that much of it and it was only a single coat. The wood was still thirsty even after rounds of shellac.

[duckkisser]

hmmm thinking i would hate aspen wood. wonder if it would be a better wood to take the project and sink it in a tub full of oil and let it absorb it to its heart content. perhaps high pressure to force the oil deep intot he wood grain. anyone know if its a wood that can be worked well on a lathe or for carving?

here is a guy who makes lots of turned pieces on the lathe http://www.robertgraystudio.com/portfolio.htm i wonder if its that pale or if it has been bleached?

rob do you have a lathe? if so can you stick a small scrap on the lathe and see how well it cuts?

[Bombarde16]

Sorry. No lathe here...yet. As for the oil, why? About the only positive I could fathom for aspen would be its creamy white color as a use in inlays. It's even lighter than maple and, while it's not as white as holly, neither is it as expensive as holly. Saturating it with oil would tend to push it into yellows and ambers, no?

Anyway, I wouldn't read too much into this or let it distract your muse. My conclusion: Aspen is a cheap, paint-grade timber that's at its best in cheap, paint-grade applications. Like poplar, but far softer and somewhat fuzzier.

[duckkisser]

hahaha this is my muse i like to experiment and make messes. i was thinking that the oil would keep it from fuzzing as much so i could turn it. kind of like when they boil wood it makes the wood cells explode and makes it easer to turn with less breaking. i like the idea of having a white bowl of wood but i cant aford or find holly localy. the one tree i know of is in someones yard and i think they will be unhappy if cut down there tree

[Bombarde16]

hahaha this is my muse i like to experiment and make messes. i was thinking that the oil would keep it from fuzzing as much so i could turn it.

Fair enough.

Strictly speaking, a thin coat of any finish can serve as a sanding sealer. So, soaking it in oil would do the trick in theory. It'd also limit your options in terms of color (less of the pure white you desire) and future workability. (Glue won't stick to oil-soaked wood) Bear in mind also that, if you're carving and shaping, you don't need to worry about controlling errant fibers until you get close to your final shape. Until then, hog away and who cares?

In my case, the rough shaping of the coves on the table saw could proceed apace, along with sanding at 40 grit to get out any blade marks. The thinned out shellac only came into play between 100 and 150 grit. After that, I was in the clear.

[duckkisser]

good to know. thanks

[CessnaPilotBarry]

Nice work!

The inlays really make the box.

[duckkisser]

hey rob i tried turning some wet aspen and i will never try doing it with green aspen again maybe dried but never green. it stinks when its green and the wood tends to catch and gouge. no matter how softly and sharp my tools were they still would catch and dig deep into the wood. boards might be different because you not cutting into the end grain as much but rather are riping it down.