Archive for July, 2010
Almost Déjà vu
About 11 years ago, I got side tracked and started making Post Office lock box door banks. I made up about 15 of them, gave one to each one of my kids, a few friends, and set the rest on a shelf in the basement and forgot about them. A few years later, my wife gave one to a nephew, with a little money in it, and precedence was set. Now all the nephews and nieces expect one of these coin banks when they graduate.
My wife mentioned the other day that we were down to two boxes and still have seven nieces/nephews to graduate. The next one doesn’t graduate for another four years, but I prefer to be proactive. The original boxes from way back were built using red oak and walnut with a few using cherry and walnut. This time around I opted for white oak and walnut. I had 6 Grecian doors from the 50s and 60s sitting in a cabinet, so I went ahead and ran a batch off.
This is the first time I have used white oak in any project and I really like how it looks. It doesn’t have the reddish hue of red oak, but more of an antique look when finished with the oil-based clear finish that I use on all my projects. I never use stains on my projects and let the natural color and figure of the wood stand on its own. What makes these boxes a little unique is the dovetail joinery. Most woodworkers who make these coin banks use 45 degree miter edges to join the corners which is quick and easy. Not being the person who takes the low road, I prefer to spend more time and dovetail them. The results are much more dramatic.
My plan right now is to add these as a new product for my shows. Unfortunately, the six I finished yesterday have already been sold through the power of customer email notifications. I have a show in a couple of weeks, so I’ve got to get moving to get more ready.
The custom engraved coin slot really makes this box.
It takes a big mallet and a lot of clamps to get the dovetails together and glued.
Too Pretty For Anything Else
By looking at my products, one will deduce that I like to mix different woods to make each piece interesting and eye catching. However, every once in a while I get a hold of a piece of wood that beckons to stand on its own without any further help from me. Such is the case of my recent lazy susans.
Since I buy my lumber rough as it comes from the saw mill, it is sometimes difficult to see what the wood actually looks like until I run it through my planer. I had some walnut that I planed down with the intention of using it for another project. But, when it came out of the planer, I just couldn’t bear to cut it up into small strips. The creamy sapwood streaks mixed in with light chocolate heartwood was too pretty to use for anything other than a lazy susan. It worked out so that I could make a 13” and a 16” with matching walnut bases.
