Ring boxes

I can't say the stationery box is finished but it very, very nearly is. Just oiling and waxing to do now.

So I've now started on about 10 ring boxes. I say 'about' - that's because I never know how many I'm going to lose along the way - but so far so good. I've still got 10. When I was talking about the writing slope or stationery box I mentioned gaps that were 0.75mm too big. For the ring boxes the sort of accuracy isn't nearly good enough. I found myself yesterday correcting an error of 0.25mm. Which is just over 3 human hairs thick.....depending how thick your hair is....
By the way apropos of nothing I learnt yesterday that swifts can never land on the ground. They nest in cracks and crevices of buildings and they need the height because when thy take to the wing they fall for two metres before getting enough airspeed to fly!

Car keys

A bank holiday ! It started off as a normal sort of working day -I don't tend to do bank holidays but then Chris managed to get herself (and her 90 year old dad) locked out of the car so I had to go and rescue them with the spare key and then her sister and family came by and we all had some rather good bacon butties and lemon drizzle cake for lunch and suddenly it was four o clock and I hadn't achieved a great deal in the box workshop.
I set to and did an evening shift and now the whole box is sanded, the tray is made and the lid fitted.

There definitely is something wrong with that key Chris - I'm sorry it worked for me ...

Notes to the future me...

Saturday was mostly taken up with making the tray. I do have my own way of making these tiny dovetails but it's not something I do very often so when I came to make them on Saturday I didn't have a clue. Well, alright, I had a clue but I had to consult the notes. There was a time when my notes were on paper or written on the piece of wood with a finished joint on the end of it. I addressed a note once 'to the future me'. When I read it I was very pleased to see it so I wrote another note addressed 'to the past me - thank you very much.' I know - sad. Surfice to say that 'notes' are now photos and are on the computer.
I also got the frame of the box glued up. The end of the tunnel is in sight!!

removing dents

I had to remake the top or pen tray. The gap on either side was too large. 1.5mm and I only wanted 0.75 - not a huge difference I know but these things matter!
Alittle tip. - If you've got any sort of dent in your wood and you don't want to sand it out try a soldering iron and a wet cloth - it sort of re-inflates the wood!
I had hoped to have it all glued up by now but decide that it would be a good idea to oil the inside pieces before assembly.

Two lids

Well there are no prizes for guessing what happened yesterday. I made the lid! I think actually I probably made two lids before i was satisfied. I've got enough left over pieces to make another box I think!

The life of a box maker...

Assembled at last!
The writing slope is beginning to take shape. At the moment everything is just pushed together and I've now moved onto the lid. Once that's made I'll take the box apart and sand each piece before finally glueing the whole thing together. But that's the future! I've just robbed tomorrow's blog! Actually most of yesterday was spent making the frame for the lid. Is that all! Ah the life of a box maker..... What do I do all day long?

To be fair to myself this box has taken some thinking time - in fact at one point I even thought I'd have to refer to my own book - Making Heirloom Boxes -  this box is in the book.

Magnetic glue

I don't really seem to have a great deal to show for yesterday! I'm not sure why - some days are just like that. All I seem have at the end of the day is that all the joints are cut for the insides of the box. I suppose I did spend some time in sending off a ring box, re-velveting one of the trays for the mulberry jewellery box and we did have guests! I had to re-velvet a tray because of a tiny mark made by the glue on the surface of the velvet - I don't know what it is about that glue but it seems to have a magnetic attraction to the pile of the velvet and once even the tiniest trace is there it is absolutely impossible to remove.

New Stationery Box

Normally when I come to the end of a box the workshop gets tidied and vacuumed. Well, yesterday, it did get tidied but vacuuming is absolutely psychological and as I had a writing slope or perhaps I should call it a stationery box that I must finish before the end of this month I got straight on with that one!
Perhaps the best job of all when I am making the box is right at the very beginning when I am "mapping out" the box onto a plank of wood.Having mapped it out it is then cut up into individual pieces accurately planed and sawn to length and the box is on its way!

Mulberry jewellery box finished!

Saturday morning saw a final coat of oil going onto the mulberry jewellery box and then I have to say that I was seduced by the sun shining and a gentle breeze so I headed off to The Lakes with my paraglider! I usually work on boxes on a Saturday but this weekend the temptation was too great.
Sunday I definitely try to keep as a day of rest but yesterday I did finish off the mulberry box which involved velveting the trays and waxing. When I showed it to Christine this morning she said it looked gorgeous and actually, I think it does too.

Mulberry jewellery box and the tray trauma.

Good morning!

I think yesterday I perhaps made the mistake in starting my blog off with an introduction because a blog isn't a book! There is no beginning and who knows when the end will be and there isn't much of a plot. I suppose there are characters although even those are a bit limited! A blog is something that anybody can dip into and out of at any time so I shall treat it more like a diary and relate things that happen in the workshop where the boxes are made.
Yesterday I spent most of the day making the trays for a jewellery box in mulberry. I made four trays, sanded them and virtually completely finished them and then discovered they didn't fit....... It is a very fine line between a tray floating down into a box on a cushion of air and being too tight.When I made new trays I discovered that there was just  about 0.5mm difference between the old and the new.

Welcome to my box making blog!

I've decided to start writing a blog about the life of a box maker. Or to be more accurate my wife Christine, is typing and I'm dictating gazing out of the window onto Cumbrian farmland.
I plan to add to this blog fairly frequently so if you want to learn what goes on in a boxmaker's workshop, what goes into a jewellery box and the ups and downs of running a business making jewellery boxes, desk boxes, ring boxes and many others then read on!
Peter