Tuesday 5 March 2013
Ring display box
Here is a special project for storing and displaying a special ring. The box is 4 1/16” square and 4 13/16” high.
The top is cut at a 60ยบ angle and has a flush cover. The entire project is 1/2” bubinga and is finished with 3 coats of danish oil. The cover is hinged with brass pins, is opened with a small brass knob and the ring-post platform is glued directly to the back of the cover.(see picture #5 above) This design swings the ring post up out of the box as you open the cover; yet keeps the ring front and center in the glass for maximum visibility. The post platform and the bottom of the box are lined with purple ultra suede, and the ring post is crystal super glued into a recess drilled in the 1/2” post platform. Although the photo’s show one of my wife’s rings, the box was built to house a state championship football ring (photo #6) which is being presented to a disabled member of the championship teams class. Although disabled, the young man never missed one of the teams games during his four years in high school; the team named him an honorary member of the team and wanted him to have a championship ring as well. It was an honor for me to be part of this very moving story.
Crafty Puzzles
My first piece of furniture
This project was my second in woodworking, from 2003, and was undertaken to fill a need for our game room. The idea came from a Wood magazine, cover project from the March 2003 issue. When I saw the magazine while hiding from my wife in the grocery store, I decided to try my hand at this woodworking stuff, to make a small refrigerator cabinet for the grandkid’s pop and juices.
When I made this, all materials came from the big box store, pine S4S, and I now know that I could have made 3 or 4 of these for the price of the wood versus what I now pay at the saw mills. Of course the saw mill wood requires a little more preparation, but that’s what woodworking is all about.
Also, when I stared this project, I had but few tools, only a router and some hand tools. (hammer, Sears panel saw, etc.) I had no clamps, so I used strips of plywood with wood blocks drywall screwed & wood wedges for pressure. Trim was from the big box store, the molding, door knobs, etc., and the hinges from a new found woodworking source, Rockler. I bought a “dovetail saw” at big box, to cut the dovetails on the drawer, and it was worth every bit of the $8.00 or so that I paid for it, LOL. I haven’t used it since then, cuts like a sharp rock. I plan to use it again though, to learn how to re-file hand saws.
Well, since I was pleased with the results of this build, and most importantly so was the wife, I decided to take up woodworking for something to do in my retirement years, which started about 2 years ago.
Thanks for looking, have fun working the wood.
Crafty Puzzles
My first major woodworking project
This is my first major (something other than installing baseboard from the big box store) project, to finish off a game room in about 2000. (memory doesn’t work so well anymore) My wife asked for something to serve snacks and food from during the family gatherings. I looked through my stash of magazines, and came up with an article in the February 1984 issue of Popular Machanics. As you can see, I don’t throw anything away.
Anyway, not having any real prior woodworking experience, I labored with installing this on several consecutive weekends, and have since learned enough to know that I did everything the hard way back then. Made mostly of plywood, with some big box store molding as trim, and finished off with Italian tiles that cost more than twice as much as the remainder of materials. But, it made it look fairly decent considering my early woodworking year’s skill level. I even learned how to make frame and panel doors for the bottom, using plywood for the panel.
Thanks for looking, have a great time working wood.
Crafty Puzzles