Raven inlay Jewelry and Make-up Boxes-Part 4

Hello,

Welcome back for part 4 of the duo of boxes! In this part I will be veneering the bottom piece of the make-up box and I will also cut some stopped grooves and through grooves on all box sides using only a single blade in the table saw.

Before I cut the grooves to house the bottom panel of the box, I first veneer the bottom panel to determine the width of the groove to ensure a nice snug fit. Here I use a fairly straight grained walnut veneer sheet to be glued to a baltic birch substrate. I use baltic birch because it is a high grade plywood product that is flat and stable. I wouldn't for instance use a highly figured piece of fir ply since the grain will telescope through the thin veneer sheet.

To ensure a full veneer to substrate contact I employ quite a few clamps, some thick cauls as well as beefy glue bases. I do prefer to use white glue because it has a thin glue line and it also offers a longer working time.

After the bottom piece is removed from the clamps, I simply use a sharp utility knife to cut away the excess veneer along all sides. I then measure the thickness of the piece to determine the width of the grooves to be cut on the table saw.

I make sure to cut stopped grooves on the tail boards and through grooves on the pin boards. Stopped grooves are essential to prevent unsightly holes on the outside of the box.

One negative aspect of stopped grooves is that you have to square the ends to ensure a perfect fit of the bottom panels. This is easily done with a few sharp chisels and wooden mallet.

Well that is it for part 4! Please join me next time when I will show you how to shape the bottom of the box sides to add some flair!

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan

Raven inlay Jewelry and Make-up Boxes

Hello Everyone,

Please join me for another custom request. My client requested a jewelry box to keep all her large beaded jewelry and rings & things, so this box is going to be larger than usual. She also requested a custom make up box so that she could have easy access to all her make up.

With these boxes I will try something that I haven't tried before and that is an inlay technique. I will be inlaying a raven design onto the lid of the box. This raven image has special meaning to the client, since she took the the photo of the raven herself.

As usual and with good practise, I start out with the design process by first making a few sketches of what the box will look like and a drafted drawing. I also made a very quick and rough mock-up of the box, to easily visualize the proportions of the box. I gave my client three choices of box styles and she ended up choosing the more traditional prairie style box design. This design will have a shaped bottom, dovetails for the joinery and a lock. The make up box will essentially be the same design, but instead of a lock, this box will have a simple latch.

After I have made all the necessary drafting and was happy with all the proportions of the boxes, I jumped right into preparing the boards for the construction of the boxes.

After all the boards are broken out into the final dimensions I prepared to make the dovetail joinery, by laying out all the necessary lines. Accurate layout of the lines are very important, because all your cuts will be determined by these lines. An easy way to lay out these lines is with the aid of a dovetail marking gauge. The beauty of this gauge is, is that you can mark out the angle of the dovetail as well as the 90 degree lines in one motion, so no more fumbling with your bevel gauge and square. A marking gauge easily marks the thickness of the corresponding piece.

In the next part I will be cutting the dovetail joinery by cutting the pins by hand and I will also use the table saw to cut the tails.

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan