Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

I haven't made anything forever.
I saw this jewelry box and I need to make a Valentine for Weeze, so here I go.

It's what's called Intarsia. A bunch of little pieces fit together to make a relief. It's cool, but I've never done it. Most guys do it on a scroll saw. They make a pattern, draw it on the wood, cut it all, then sand all the pieces until they work.

I'm not feeling that at all.
I'm going to draft it for my CNC machine, let it do all the shaping of the pieces, do a little finish sanding if necessary, glue her up, stain it, and then learn how to do flocking for the inside.

I've already started modeling it and figured out how to do what I want to do, which took about a week. Not the modeling, the figuring out how I was going to reinvent the wheel part.

So, anyways, I'll post some pics as I go along.
Here's what it's supposed to look like, but I changed that, too. :D

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps06b562db.jpg

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Always enjoy these, Scott. Can't wait to see how this progresses brother.

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

very cool, can't wait to see how this reinvented wheel turns out :tu

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

:tu

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

That is incredible looking!

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

beautiful :tu

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Ya know how I said I reinvented the wheel?
I threw all that out and reinvented all over again after getting some input on intarsia. That came from guys who have actually done it.
I'm drawing the whole thing from scratch so the pieces will fit perfectly, rather than the normal slop that you get when you're scrollsawing and sanding to fit.

I'm hung on whether to extrude pieces, getting all the shapes done on the cnc. I think I might be forced to shape the relief by hand. I'll use a dremel and curse a lot.

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Nice! :tu Definitely can't wait to see how this turns out.

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

I finished all the modeling today. Tomorrow I can dig out wood and render the toolpaths.
I was going to go with black walnut, same as the box in the pic. Weeze likes cherry, though. So cherry it is.
I'll have do make a number of glue-ups and do some planing. I got set up to do that.

All along I was thinking this box would be small, like 4" x 6". It's going to be about 10" high. I'm not really feeling that, so what I'll do is run an outline of the project in foam or some scrap. Then I can carry it off to the bedroom and set it a few places and see if it works.

The most important part...
I called my buddy to see about a string of pearls.
Don't tell Weeze. She's gonna be ecstatic. :D

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Got a get a pic of you giving Weeze the pearl necklace, Scott. :D

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Welp, I'm finally building it.
This mess will serve as the bottom of the box. Once the glue dries, I'll drill some holes, screw her down to the cnc table, hollow out the shape for the inside of the box, then I'll cut the profile.
That'll make the box one nice, solid piece that won't twist or warp once it has a finish applied. That's VERY important. If the base doesn't keep shape, the inset lid won't set in properly, and there'll be gaps.

The walls of this base will only be 3/8" thick. In the world of wood, that's very thin. It'll be prone to cupping and warping.
The trick to keeping thin lumber from doing goofy things is to seal it. Be it shellac (which I think is a poor choice for a finish, but okay for a filler base coat), poly, wax, or vaseline, it is imperative to use equal coats on each side of the project.
You'd think it wouldn't matter, but it does. Very much so. Just the uneven tension of different thicknesses of sealer will twist, warp, and rack thin lumber.

Off topic, but good info...
When building a humidor, it's very important to finish the interior prior to setting in the spanish cedar. That's what stabilizes it and keeps it's fine tolerances. Most guys don't do it because, well, I don't know why they don't.
If the interior isn't sealed prior to installing the spanish cedar, it gets a nice, steady supply of moisture from the inside out. The different densities of the wood take water at different rates, and a box will rack and twist and never hold humidity worth a damn.
Mind ya, we're not talking about the particle board laminated humis like from CI and so forth. I'm talking about real handcrafted solid wood expensive humidors.
High density MDF is a good part glue and the rest is sawdust. It doesn't have grain, making it inherently stable.

That ends the Mr. Wizard portion of the show.
Here's a pic of tons of glue and a mess of clamps...

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psycxelwar.jpg

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

:sl

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

That's why they call him the Hog. :lr

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

You know I love you, Scott, and usually I'm pretty impressed with your woodworking skills. So I hate to be the bearer of bad news, and I don't mean to sound critical, but this:

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psycxelwar.jpg


Looks nothing like this:

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps06b562db.jpg

sorry ...

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

:r :r :r

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Huh. I might need to call in some help, Vin. :D

I'm just now getting ready to cut out the lid and 3/4" petal parts.
While it's cutting, I'll get the toolpaths ready for the rest of the petal parts.
Then, because I'm totally impatient and I should wait till at least tomorrow to cut out the base, I'm going to cut it.

Pics soon.

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Oh Vin, you beat me to it :lr

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Here's a little one minute video so you can see the Shopbot in action.
I was talking, but not loud enough. With the radio, dust collector, air filter and shopbot running, it's a tad noisy. I wear earplugs all the time, cause if I don't, it stresses me out. :)
I'll have pics of all the little pieces shortly.

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

These are the petals and leaves and stem and thorn. Notice that they're all different thicknesses. What I did there is create the shape, cut from the top down subtracting material, leaving the piece at it's proper thickness.
There are 3/8", 1/2", 5/8" and 3/4" thick pieces. Once the pocket is cut out to create the proper height piece, it's then cut outside it's shape, leaving little tabs that hold the piece in place so the machine doesn't eat it.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psgqovytxk.jpg

This is just a close-up so you can see the depth of individual pieces.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psrassmwod.jpg

Here's the box lid. It's upside down. The high part is what will center the lid on the box.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psnxrjde1v.jpg

That's it for today. As soon as this last pass is finished on the shopbot, I'm gonna go hang with my sweet baby. I'll try to finish all the pieces in the morning, then start sanding and assembling. :tu

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

:tu

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Forgot this pic.
It's the box base. It's giving me a little grief because the bit is too short and my dust boot is binding up. I'll need to take it off and restart to finish the last pass. I'm at line 137867.
Remember that for me, I'll forget it before morning comes. :D

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb6zvjzwb.jpg

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

A couple update pics...
I've been shaping the pieces. It's a huge amount of pain in the ass. I initially started shaping and sanding each piece, then realized I'd need to tweak them as I did the next pieces, so I quit sanding until I get them all shaped.
They're looking pretty good.
Once I'm done shaping the rose parts, I need to go to work on cleaning up the base. It's got a big flare on the bottom because I don't have a 1/4" endmill that was long enough to reach through my base material. So I used a 1/2" ballnose and tore the dust foot off the machine and threw chips all over the world. The shop is still a mess.

That's about it. Lots of shaping and sanding coming up. Fun stuff.
Here's a few pics. A couple of the rose pieces and a pic of the screwed up base and poorly fitting top that needs a lot of work, too.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfwe2ix7b.jpg

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps027n3mwk.jpg

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psv8wgwn65.jpg

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

beautiful work scott :tu

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

It ain't nothin yet, Ben. The rose pieces I sanded really look great. I'm excited to get them all done, but I can't seem to get any time in the shop. Tomorrow's not looking good, either.
Soon I'll make some headway. It'd help if Bubs doesn't eat any more pieces, too.

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Okay, so this is finally a wrap.
I took sucky pics, but I'm not charging you guys, so you can't really b1tch.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psgqlkr0ce.jpg

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psqciyex8j.jpg

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psj2x3s06q.jpg

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psrkgnkn8a.jpg

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psdgmt9t2x.jpg

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

That looks awesome! :tu

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

absolutely beautiful. again you've outdone yourself :tu

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

That is beautiful Scott, great job :tu

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Thanks, guys. :)
It really looks totally different in person, and it's really, really big. It looks small in the pictures. At least it does to me.

I'm very close to building my first humidor. Someone was trying to talk me into it earlier in the week and I relented. They've messed around too long now, and my desire to build something that someone else wants has waned dramatically.
So I think I'll bang one out the way I like it, and see what shakes out.

It won't really be the first humidor I've ever built, I've made lots. But this will be the first in what I hope becomes a long line or artwork/heirloom/masterpiece humidors, the likes of which nobody has ever seen. :D

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

your big thoughts scare idealists world round

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

I just finished modeling a Cohiba sign, Ben. It's freakin SICK.
I sure hope it doesn't turn into a cribbage board when I'm grinding it out.

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Awesome workmanship, Scott!

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Beautiful work Scott.

Re: Project of the Day: Rose Box
 

Scott can you do Deez? ;)