Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)
over a month ago I made something with the 5/4 quarte sawn sycamore that I found. In the process I ended up with half a dozen cut-offs that I just couldn't bear to toss out. So one day I found some purple herat cut-offs that were meant to go into bowls but instaed I glued them together and cut them at 22 1/2 degrees and glued that group together and then that to a piece of 1/4” luan.I've been moving it around for several weeks and finally decided it was going to be a lid for that box I hadn't made yet. Then I realized I had 3 pieces of sassafras about 12” long that I had inlaid some 1/4” square walnut strips that were cut-offs from some other job. It was decided that would be the body but first I had to laminate a purple heart strip to accept the lid that was already made. I had already decided that the lid would be a lift off seamless lid.
The purple heart box is 8 1/8” long x 4 3/4” wide x 3 1/2” high. I mitered the corners but the body walls are only 3/8” thick and I couldn't see a pleasing way the add splines so I drilled and installed 1/8” dowel rod for corner support. I put a piece of dark blue velvet in the bottom in the hopes it would go ok with the purple heart.
The second box is pretty much the same story except the lift off lid is butternut inset in a rabbit with the unknown wood as a handle. The body ( walnut ) and the lid are resawn pieces from the Giving Hands Tree I made last year and the handle is a piece of the orange wood I acquired last week. This box is 8 3/16” long x 4 11/16” wide x 2 5/16” high not counting the handle which makes it 1/2” higher. This box got a piece of red felt on the bottom and with 1/2” walls I used 1/4” dowels for corner support and has the seamless lift off lid.
The only thing I can say about the orange handle is that it cuts easy, shapes well, sands beautifully and feels like waxed glass with a finish. Even tho you can see plenty of grain configuration there is no grainy feel at all. smooth like babys well you know.here's a couple body pics
Purple Heart corner
walnut/sassafras box
Thanks for looking and I'm still searching for a species name for the orange wood.
Comments and build help is always welcome.