I received a sample piece of Brazilian Purpleheart ( Peltogyne spp. ) wood, and tried my hand at a small keepsake box. The combination of the Purpleheart and Poplar make for nice contrasting colors. I used the mitred corner with spline and routed out the top with a door panel router bit. In hindsight, I would probably done a blind hinge, but the brass works okay with the deep colors of the Purpleheart wood.
I did learn many lessons from this piece, for example when working on small projects like this box which is 6" x 6" x 5", using very hard dense wood like the Purple heart is a challenge, additionally when using the mitre and spline joinery, use a hard wood for the splines, otherwise you end up crushing the splines when you pound them into the mitred corners.
Scrapbook Case
Scrapbook Case
A Home for My Gr. Gr. Grandfather's Scrapbook
A Home for My Gr. Gr. Grandfather's Scrapbook
A Late 1800's Treasure
A Late 1800's Treasure
I received my Gr Gr Grandfather's scrapbook from my aunt, and the book is about 20" x 16" from about 1887. Needless to say the paper pages were quite brittle and the binding was beginning to crumble.
First rule of carpentry
First rule of carpentry
When measuring for a specific item, make sure to measure the INSIDE dimensions! I carefully measure the book, twice, and measured and cut all my wood, assembled with box joints, glued it all up and, sanded, varnished and added the hardware, to find that the box was exactly the same size as the book it was meant to contain - meaning that the inside of the box was about 2" too small :( . Oh well, good excuse to make another.
A Home for my Printers
A Home for my Printers
A Simple Project Turns into a month-long construction adventure
A Simple Project Turns into a month-long construction adventure
A Simple Bookcase to Hold My Printers
A Simple Bookcase to Hold My Printers
Initially this was just going to be . simple bookcase to hold my laser printers, but once I got going, it morphed into a cabinet to hold some of my family heirlooms. At 48" wide x 21" deep x 35" tall, its a substantial hunk of red oak. (Good thing too. . . it's now loaded up with printers and books, and 60 pound Allen-Wales adding machine!)
Red Oak
Red Oak
I really liked working with the Red Oak, it was easy to handle and cut, and it finishes really nicely. All of the trim and detail were cut in my shop, where it took three of us to move it to my office.
Behind the Scene s
Behind the Scene s
Getting the final varnish and wax polish.