Despite the fact I long missed the deadline of the original challenge, I continued to push forward on getting the box complete. Now that the weather is warm(er) I am getting out in the shop more. While my main focus in the shop is the hand tool cabinet, and Erick turning pens, I didn’t forget about the box.
In my last post I mentioned that the box was almost completed, that I had an idea to cover the hole left from the wood worm screw from when i used the lathe to make a domed top. What I came up with is a sort of medallion made from a small piece of walnut with my initial “M” on it. I don’t really have any carving tools. I ended up using my trim router with a V groove bit and free handing the M over layout lines I drew on the work piece. I then simply used my bench chisels to straighten out the lines of the M. I then attached to the bottom of the top, resulting in no more ugly hole!
About a month ago I put a couple coats of boiled linseed oil on the box, and I let it set. Since we were getting days consistently over 50 the boiled linseed oil slowly cured. From that point I started wiping on shellac. I believe I put on 5 or 6 coats of shellacs, till I got the look I was going for.
Now that the finish is on and done, I am really glad I paid close attention to the grain of the wood. Where the grain continuing around the entire perimeter of the box wasn’t real noticeable, with the finish, it really pops out. The effect really cool.
As with any good challenge, I learned a lot on this, and strengthened many skills. While my dovetails still have room for improvement, I feel I now have the confidence to use them in more projects. Also worked on my hand plane skills when I raised the panel on the bottom .
Looking forward to the next challenge project. Maybe I will even finish that one on time! Thank you to Roger for hosting the challenge, and thank you to