The Woodshop Shed

Orchid #1 Miter and Splined Shaped Box

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


This is a mitered and splined box of poplar, cedar and mesquite. It is number 17 in my 2019 Box Build. This one is a bit of a hodge podge of a box. I originally did the intarsia orchid for box number 16, my Soft Dovetail Box, but I didn't plan it out well and the orchid was orginally sideways/horizontal on the lid for that box. When I changed the design to make the panel and the orchid in a vertical orientation on the lid, the lid was too large for that box. I ended up putting the orchid aside and making a different lid for that box.This is the results of building a slightly larger box to fit that lid. I am still on the fence about the proportions of some of the elements on this one.The feet and some of the design features look similar to the Soft Dovetail Box but there are subtle differences. On the curved sides this one has more of an ogee shape and the mesquite splines really accentuate the curves. I put a couple of beads in the lid with my stanley 45. The texturing on the panels on either side of the orchid were dappled with a blunt punch on the outer cedar panels and carved with a flexshaft on the poplar center panel. The frame of the lid and the orchid got a light white wash before the shellac and wax.The feet may look like the ones from the previous box but they were constructed in a different way. The bottom of this box is a captured 3/16s plywood panel in a groove. The feet were attached to the corners of the box then shaped. On the last box the bottom was one piece with a recessed pocket that the box sat in. Those feet were part of that platform.
Much of the curves on the box and especially the feet were shaped with chisels and a gouge then a few rasps before sanding.I have a love/hate relationship with poplar. It is so easy to work and sometimes the tones in the wood are beautiful. What I have been finding though is that it is hard to stain. I still haven't played around with filling grain before I stain and finish my pieces. This got a little bit splotchy but I think it will “mellow” with some time.The finish is a bit all over the place. There is the white washing of some of the lid but then everything got a wipe on blend of oil based poly, mineral spirits and a splash of fruitwood oilbased stain. That was followed with clear shellac and then Johnson's Paste Wax.Dims are 9 1/2 long by 5 1/2 deep and 6 1/2 tall. This box will have hinges by the weekend.Thanks for looking.
Jon

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