Custom Orchid Picture Frames - Part final

Hello everyone,

Well this is it folks! The final part of the custom orchid frames. I had a great time with these and I hope my client will enjoy it just as much. 

Dipping the orchid in a rich walnut dye. Dipping the piece allows all the edges of
all the cutouts to be stained evenly. I had to make a shop made container to hold the dye,
since the piece was so large.

To get rid of all the excess stain, I simply place it face up onto some shop towels. This also prevents
excess stain from pooling and drying up in the corners of the cutouts.

I also stain the back of the frame and make sure to stain the interior orchid. 

After the stain has dried, I get the pieces ready to be glued. To ensure perfect alignment,
I made a simple right angle alignment jig.  

To finish off the frame, I veneer the edges. I simply stain the edges afterward to complete the frame.
To protect the frame I apply 3 coats of a spray polyurethane finish.

This completes the project. I hope you will join me for the reveal.

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan

Raven inlay Jewelry and Make-up Boxes-The Reveal

Hello,

Well, here it is! The finished inlay boxes. It was so much fun to construct. I'm hoping to do more marquetry in the near future.

The jewelry box.



The make up box.

Thanks for joining me!

Roshaan

Raven inlay Jewelry and Make-up Boxes-Part 12

Hello,

In this part I will be installing the lock on the jewelry box. This takes precise measurements to ensure that everything lines up for the lock to function properly.




Before I tackle the lock however, I have to make sure that all the elements are in place, especially on the interior of the box. I make sure to glue the wooden risers in place first. Since it is awkward to use any kind of clamps to clamp the pieces in place, a very simple trick is to use thin strips of hardwood and flex it so that it wedges the parts and acts as a clamping mechanism.

After the glue dries I am now ready for the lock. This lock is known as a full mortise lock, since I have to cut a deep mortise for the locking mechanism to sit in. I made a simple drilling guide to help me locate the ends of the brass plate and the mechanism. The nice thing about this jig is that I can just line up the center line to the center of the base and the lid. This ensures that both brass plates line up perfectly.

Now it's just a matter of defining the edges of the shallow mortise with a marking gauge and using a palm router to clear away the bulk of the material. I use a chisel to clean up the rest.

After I cleaned up the shallow mortise for the brass plate I can now cut the deep mortise for the locking mechanism. I do this by drilling overlapping holes using the drill press. I then use a sharp chisel to square all sides of the mortise. This operation also applies to the lid, but the only difference is the depth of the mortise. The lid only requires a shallow mortise to ensure clearance for the arm of the lock.

Here I am installing both brass plates. Also notice that I have drilled and shaped the keyhole.

Please join me next time for the finale of the box duo project!

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan

Raven inlay Jewelry and Make-up Boxes-Part 6

Hello Everyone!

I think this part is quite exciting since I have not done any inlay or more specifically marquetry before. I have not used one power tool or woodworking machine to do this operation! The only tool that was mechanical was my pencil :) It is strictly done by hand using only a very sharp utility knife, some carbon paper and of course my pencil. Let's begin!




I make sure I have a clean copy of the design...in this case the raven design. I first make sure to make small registration marks to easily align the drawing at each stage. I start by transferring the outline of the raven onto some nicely figured cherry veneer by placing carbon paper under the drawing. I carefully cut out the outline of the raven making sure to keep the knife perpendicular to the surface of the veneer sheet. I then take some nice contrasting walnut veneer and place it behind the cutout shape. After I am happy with the placement, I tape the walnut veneer in place with a couple strips of masking tape. I carefully trace the outline by making a light scoring cut with my knife making sure not to go all the way through in one pass. I then remove the walnut veneer to complete the cut.

After I am happy with the fit of the shape I then use white glue to glue the shape in place. I use a few strips of masking tape on the back of the piece to keep everything in place. I reposition the drawing by using my registration marks to transfer details of the body into place.

Now it is just a matter of cutting out a window by following the lines and replacing the cutout with a contrasting piece using the method used earlier.

After the body is complete, I again use the registration marks to position the drawing to transfer the reeds into place. I chose a contrasting maple veneer to add some depth and interest to the piece. One trick I learned was to reinforce the back of the veneer with masking or veneer tape whenever you are dealing with fragile parts, such as the points of the tops of the reeds.

It's really starting to take shape! Just a few more reeds to go!

I think my first attempt at marquetry was a great success. I had so much fun with it, I think I might sneak in an inlay or two in all my projects from now on ;)

Please stop by next time for part 7!

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

Double Twelve Domino Set - Part 1

Hello Everyone!

First I'd like to wish everyone a very healthy, happy and prosperous 2011!

Like I have promised before, here are a few sneek shots of the double twelve domino set.

All the parts layed out to make the maple top and contrasting walnut bottom. I have grouped 4 tiles together on one rectangular piece of maple.

Using my right angle alignment jig (as seen in my book Simply Wood) to make sure the paper pattern is pefectly positioned on the maple as it is glued down.

At the drill press drilling many, many holes!

Still at the drill press! This time I'm using a countersink bit to champfer the drilled holes to add some dimension to the plain hole.

My gluing station. Gluing the maple top to the walnut bottom using my trusty right alignment jig.

Please return for more sneek shots!

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan

Double Twelve Domino Set Intro

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while since we last met, nonetheless I have been quite busy in the workshop. Since I had to meet a very special deadline for Christmas I have not had the time to really do a full in- process picture documentation of my most recent custom order.

I did however sneek in a few pictures and I will share them with you in a couple of posts.

What I have been working on is a custom set of hardwood double twelve domino set with a sliding lid box. I have done a set before, but it is differs from each other in many ways. The first one only had 28 tiles to make up a double six set. The second set have over 90 tiles to make up a double twelve set. The tile itself is a bit different in the way that the first set had a cut-out line and a dot in the middle of the line to seperate the top from the bottom of the tile. The second set was a bit simpler with only a v-groove line in the center of the tile.

The above photo depicts the double six set that I made. Please check back to see the reveal of the double twelve set at a later stage!

The boxes are different as well. The first set had a maple mitered box reinforced with walnut keys, while the second set had a maple finger-joint box with a divider on the interior of the box for a few pens or pencils.

The double twelve set was meant as a gift to a very lucky set of parents on Christmas day!

I hope they liked it!

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan

Cherry Blossom Sideboard Part 8 final

Hi Everyone,

This is it! The final part to the cherry blossom sideboard. In the final part I will be discussing the cherry blossom cut-out on the door panels and the wood coloring and finishing process.

For the cherry blossom design on the door panel I first drew and refined the full scale design on paper. After I was happy with the design, I placed carbon paper in between the drawing and the wooden door panel and simply traced the design onto the panels. What I was left with was a perfect replica of the design on the wooden door panel.

I then drilled strategically placed blade entry holes, to feed the scroll saw blade through. The panel was a bit large for the depth of the throat of my scroll saw, but with a bit of finesse and creative cutting I managed to cut out the cherry blossom without a hitch.

The above photo shows the contrast between just the brown walnut dye (right door) and the combination of both the walnut dye and the ebony stain (left door). I also masked off the center of the door for contrast, when I attach the cherry blossom cut-out at a later stage.

The finishing process of the completed sideboard, was a very intense and challenging process. It was essentially a 5 step process. First I had to put on a base brown walnut color to the entire cabinet and doors, except the fronts of the door panels. This was left to add contrast to the cherry blossom cut-out.

Then after the dye dried, I then apply an ebony stain to the sideboard, again leaving the door panels. This then completed the coloring process. It was then time for the finishing process. I applied 3 coats of a semi-gloss brush-on poly, lightly sanding between each coats.

Then after waiting for about 3 days for the finish to fully cure, I rubbed out the finish of the entire sideboard, by applying a rubbing compound and then using lots of elbow grease to "rub it out". This process essentially gets rid of any debris and blemishes in the finish and leaves the surface nice and smooth for the waxing process.

Speaking of the waxing process, that came next. I then applied paste wax to the entire surface and yet again using lots of brute strength and elbow grease I buffed the wax out to reveal a nice smooth, glassy surface.

Talk about intense! Phew! It is finally done!

Thanks for looking!

Roshaan