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  • Welcome back!

    We decided to spruce things up and fix some things under the hood. If you notice any issues, feel free to contact us as we're sure there are a few things here or there that we might have missed in our upgrade.

Inlaid wooden boxes.

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broccolini

Well-Known Member
I've got an order for a couple of boxes, so I'll have the shop set up for small box making. If anyone is interested in one, let me know. They are $175, your choice of wood. I usually just ask people if they want a light or dark inlay and then pick the other woods based on what looks good with that. Oh, and I do the inlay by hand, so I can work with almost any picture that would look good as just an outline. These aren't fixed templates.

I'm flexible with the sizes also. Within reason. :)

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broccolini

Well-Known Member
Franklins Mom said:
Those are beautiful! What's the size?
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Uh. I think the one with the light inlay is about 3" high. So the box might be 8"x10"?

The other box is taller and might be 5"x9"-ish.

I make the top first and then build a box that fits and has pleasing proportions. I could make one to a specific size though.
 
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broccolini

Well-Known Member
I cut an inlay last night, it's in the vice being flattened. The next step is to decide which wood I want to use for the lid.

Here are some pictures in case anyone is interested in how it's done.

The dog is curly maple. It's cut from a piece of veneer using a scalpel. Once the finish is on, the grain patterns stand out more. It's really pretty. I set it on different woods until I find one that looks good. I want something with contrast and not a lot of movement in the grain. Otherwise it looks too busy.

The first wood is walnut. I don't remember the exact species of walnut. Maybe junglans australis. Anyway, it's got a really nice, even color.

The second piece is Philippine mahogany. It's not a true mahogany. It has an open grain that I'm not sure I like with the maple. But I do like the color.

The last piece of wood is called purpleheart. It's the only purple wood. Most woods oxidize to a dark brown color. Purpleheart gets more purple as it ages. When you sand it, it turns brown. It's a very dense wood that is used for decking. I always like it with curly maple.

I'm also considering cherry. It ages into a really rich color that goes well with maple.

The last picture is just the dog cut out of the veneer.

Once I pick the wood for the top, I'll flatten it and then cut out the recess for the dog. That takes a while. I'll try to remember to get pictures of that part too.


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mountainfila

mountainfila

Well-Known Member
Could you make wood heads of filas? I am looking for something for my front gate, a nice mahogany lookin type of wood lol, im thinking
 
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broccolini

Well-Known Member
These are backwards progress pictures.

I trace the veneer with a knife to make a clean outline. That is the most important part in doing an inlay. Once that is done, I use a small router to remove most of the waste. Then the edges get done with a small chisel. It's very tedious. Right now, the inlay is glued in and the whole thing is in clamps. I put a piece of foam matting over the inlay to apply even pressure on the veneer. I'll take it out tomorrow and see how it looks.


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ruthcatrin

ruthcatrin

Well-Known Member
I'd love a box, I just have no clue what I'd use it for....

Which wood did you settle on? I can tell its not the purple one lol
 
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broccolini

Well-Known Member
ruthcatrin said:
I'd love a box, I just have no clue what I'd use it for....

Which wood did you settle on? I can tell its not the purple one lol
Click to expand...

Yeah, there's not a lot of usefulness in a small box. Mostly, they're decorative. I mean, I could put the inlay in anything. Like a blanket chest lid, a table top, just a flat piece of wood. I just don't know how many people would want furniture with a dog inlay. :p

So the small box it is.

I have considered doing raised food bowl stands with an inlay, but I haven't gotten around to designing that yet.

I decided to use cherry. I had a piece that was nice and clear and wide enough to make a good sized box top.
 
ruthcatrin

ruthcatrin

Well-Known Member
Lol, well, if I ever get around to deciding we need a new coffee table we'd probly have to go custom cuse most commercial pieces I see these days aren't going to hold up to Apollo, and its WAY to late to try to convince him to stay off.....but thats not going to happen in the near future!
 
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broccolini

Well-Known Member
ruthcatrin said:
Lol, well, if I ever get around to deciding we need a new coffee table we'd probly have to go custom cuse most commercial pieces I see these days aren't going to hold up to Apollo, and its WAY to late to try to convince him to stay off.....but thats not going to happen in the near future!
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I think you need a table with a life sized inlay of Apollo. :p
 
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