# Red Gum and Wenge Jewellery Box Build



## Ozrob (Apr 21, 2008)

So this is the story of the birth of a Red Gum and Wenge Jewellery box. The box is quite large at 350mm long x 260mm wide and 135mm high (without the lid.)
*Pic 1.* shows the timber I will be using. The Red Gum has great figure and the Wenge is not so brittle as some Wenge can be. It will be used for the trays.
*Pic 2.* I'm going to need about 1.25m of Red Gum, so I cut 1.3m on the SCMS. I intend to make the grain flow around the box as it does on the board, so this is why I cut extra and will cut the individual pieces from that board.
*Pic 3.* Shows the board being thicknessed to 14mm (down from 19mm). I am using Quadrant hinges on the box, so I need a bit of meat on the sides.
*Pic 4.* Shows the planed width.


----------



## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

I'll be watching.


----------



## Ozrob (Apr 21, 2008)

The next step is to cut the mitres, keeping the grain continuous around the box.
*Pic 1* shows the timber being readied for cutting the first mitre.
*Pic 2* shows the grain continuing across the mitre joint for the front v right hand panels.
*Pic 3* Shows the slot for the base being cut on the Router Table. I use a 4mm slot cutter, set in this case to 6mm depth, as the thickness of the box is 14mm. If I were using thinner box sides, I would reduce the depth to about 3 or 4mm.
*Pic 4* Shows a dry knock up of the sides only, to allow me to calculate the actual base size.


----------



## Ozrob (Apr 21, 2008)

Next task is to assemble the carcass. This involves several steps.
1. Cut the base from plywood and coat with self adhesive felt.
2. Assemble the carcass to ensure that the base fits properly. In fact the slot for the base was too tight for the base, so I raised the slot cutter about a mm and re cut the slot. This gave a perfect fit.
3. Finish the insides of the panels with oil. I shall describe how I do this later, but you can see the process at 

http://www.sanding.damnfinefurniture.com

4. Glue the four sades and the base together.

Pic 1 Shows the base inserted in a dry knock up of the box carcass.
Pic 2 Shows the friction sealed inside of the side panel. You can see how much colour and grain definition this process provides.The shine from the oil is also remarkable.
Pic 3 Shows the sides taped together for assembly
Pic 4 Shows the glued , assembled carcass.


----------



## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Oh this is going to be a pretty one, with all those exotics. I'll be watching.


----------



## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Looking good! Can't wait to see the finished product


----------



## Fishinbo (Jul 23, 2012)

You just earned yourself a new follower. On my watch list.


----------



## MidGAOutdoor (Apr 7, 2011)

man. wish my miters came in that good. nice work


----------



## DaveTTC (May 25, 2012)

Looking good. Now I know red gum, what is wenge?

Dave The Turning Cowboy


----------



## Broken Bat (Sep 4, 2012)

Looking good. I'll be interested to see how it turns out.


----------



## steamfab (Jun 22, 2012)

Standing by to look out for a magnificent outcome.


----------



## Ozrob (Apr 21, 2008)

The real world got in the way today, so I didn't get a real lot done. Next post will probably be in two days time. (It's the Week End here and I close my shop for that.
So today I ripped three 6mm x 55mm sticks of Wenge in readiness for making the tray.(Pic 1 and 2). I thought you'd like to see the way the grain in the Red Gum has come up after being friction sealed into the wood. (Pic 3 and 4).

And for DaveTTC, you Can read more about Wenge (also called Panga) here.

http://www.afttimbers.com/Panga.htm

Regards,

Rob


----------



## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Looking mighty fine!


----------



## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Your box is looking fantastic and the exotics should give it that extra look of class. Can't wait to see how this one turns out and I will be watching for sure.
I don't mean to criticize your technique, but in the photo where you are using a slot cutter in the router table to cut the grooves in your board, I might suggest that you start using push pads or something other than your hands to run these boards through. It only takes a split second for that machine to take that board out of your hands and expose them to the cutter. I've seen it happen many times and it's not pretty. Protect yourself. You need those hands to continue your craft. 
Just giving you some friendly advice, that's all.
:yes:


----------



## DaveTTC (May 25, 2012)

Ozrob said:


> The real world got in the way today, so I didn't get a real lot done. Next post will probably be in two days time. (It's the Week End here and I close my shop for that.
> So today I ripped three 6mm x 55mm sticks of Wenge in readiness for making the tray.(Pic 1 and 2). I thought you'd like to see the way the grain in the Red Gum has come up after being friction sealed into the wood. (Pic 3 and 4).
> 
> And for DaveTTC, you Can read more about Wenge (also called Panga) here.
> ...


Thx for the link. Did not think it was an Australian Timber. Looks good.

Dave The Turning Cowboy


----------



## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I'm liking the choice of wood. Nice work.


----------



## Ozrob (Apr 21, 2008)

So now I am going to make the trays and tray supports. There will be three trays, one in the bottom of the box and two as a top layer. There will be a ring holder in one of the top trays and possibly a watch/necklace pillow.

*Pic 1* Shows the Wenge after it has been planed and sanded, ready for processing. Sanding consists of using 80, 100, 120, 150, 180, 240 and 400 grits to give a very smooth finish.

*Pic 2 * Is the Wenge strips (60mm x 6mm) oiled on the inner faces and with the base groove routed. (I made sure to use push blocks!:smile

*Pic 3* Shows the tray glued up with the base in place. The bases are made of Tasmanian Blackwood and are finished with felt on top and Tung Oil underneath

*Pic 4 *Shows the Oiled Tasmanian Blackwood base before being placed into the tray for glue up.


----------



## Ozrob (Apr 21, 2008)

Now that the trays are assembled, the supports must be inserted into the bottom of the box. These are just Red Gum 6mm wide strips. (*Pic1*)

The next task is to insert the dividers into the trays. These are glued onto the sides of the trays. I have used this technique with great success for a number of years. (*Pic 2*)

*Pic 3* Shows the top trays in place and *Pic 4* shows the box with its trays in place and sanded to 400 grit ready for friction sealing with Liberon Tung Oil to 4000 grit.
Seems like a quiet day, but it wasn't...that's quite a bit of work!


----------



## Ozrob (Apr 21, 2008)

So today I finished the box. I made a ring compartment out of Styrofoam and felt, oiled and burnished the outside of the box and mounted the Quadrant hinges. I use square ended Quad hinges as I like paring the timber with a chisel and I think square suits a square box better.

I have photos of the ring compartment being made if you want them. The burnishing is best seen at;

http://www.sanding.damnfinefunriture.com/

*Pics 1-4* show the finished box.

This has been a good build for me. The timber is beautiful and shows excellent Red Gum figure and delicate grain. The Quad hinges accentuate the box well and add some class.
Hope you enjoyed it too.

Regards,

Rob


----------



## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

That is a very beautiful box. Excellent work!


----------



## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Beautiful, well done!


----------



## Broken Bat (Sep 4, 2012)

Your jewelry box looks great, Rob. I'm not familiar with "friction sealing." Can you give a description of the process and why you use it?


----------



## Fishinbo (Jul 23, 2012)

Oh, wow. No regrets as to following this one. The color of the inside is blending excellently with the color from the outside.


----------



## Ozrob (Apr 21, 2008)

Broken Bat said:


> Your jewelry box looks great, Rob. I'm not familiar with "friction sealing." Can you give a description of the process and why you use it?


Hi everyone,
First, thanks for the very kind comments regarding the box. In all modesty, I have to say it looks stunning when you see it close up.

Hi Broken Bat, Yes I can explain all about friction sealing for you , no problem. :thumbsup:

There are a number of variations on a theme based on pure Tung oil that are available on the market. Danish Oil, China Wood Oil, Teak Oil and so on. As I said, some are pure Tung Oil (such as Liberon Pure Tung Oil) and others have impurities added which perform different functions. Some Danish Oils contain Polyurethane and are designed for wipe on wipe off applications. Others contain UV filters so they can be used out doors as well as in.
About 6 years ago, I started using a local product called Hard Burnishing Oil. It too is a Tung Oil based product and as far as I can tll, has some drying agents and not much more mixed in.

The principal is that you can use heat from friction to polymerise the Tung Oil into the wood you want to finish. Friction that can be gained by using sandpaper on wet oil, that has been allowed to soak into the timber for a length of time. The friction can come from sanding on a lathe, sanding by hand or best of all for flat surfaces, a Random Orbital Sander. While the surface doesn't feel overly warm to the touch, the burnishing caused by the friction works.

I have recently done a comparison of several different Tung Oil variants and found that most display the same characteristics as pure Tung Oil. Those with Polurethane in the mix _*will not work*_ however. It seems the friction causes the Poly to glue up and the result is not pretty. These properties are;
1. Radiant heat resistance. (Steamy pot lids and hot pans and dishes straight on to the finish)
2. Hot fluid resistance (no coffee cup rings)
3. Cold water resistance (no rings from glasses) and 
4. Ability to accept cleaning with standard kitchen spray cleaners such as Spray and Wipe, Arm and Hammer and so on,
with no change to the appearance of the finish!

I love oil finish. I think it is softer and more radiant than plastic finishes and laquers and also shows finer grain differentiation better, particularly in highly figured woods. (I think you can see that in the box I've just built). So the ability to use oil, without the need for a coating after oiling was to me a Godsend.

So...how do I do it? I think the best thing I can do is direct you to a page on my website that I have set up specifically for this purpose.

http://www.sanding.damnfinefurniture.com

is the site. It is only about 4 pages long including a lot of graphics, but you'll come away able to do the process straight away. It works and it's worth the effort.
Here's a picture of a Blackwood table finished using friction sealing. I made this 4 years ago and it went to a high traffic area in a client's house. She's having difficulty making it look "old". It just takes it all!

If you want anymore help, I'll do a demo thread here for you and anyone else who is interested.

Regards,

Rob (sorry for the long saga!)


----------



## DaveTTC (May 25, 2012)

Ozrob said:


> Hi everyone,
> First, thanks for the very kind comments regarding the box. In all modesty, I have to say it looks stunning when you see it close up.
> 
> Hi Broken Bat, Yes I can explain all about friction sealing for you , no problem. :thumbsup:
> ...


Great post, love the project and all the info. 

A demo thread would be great too. If you do one can you pm me I case I miss it. 

At some stage I'm thinking of building an exposed timber frame camper for my truck. I am thinking western red cedar. Would this finish work for that do you think. What ever I do I know I would be up for regular maintenance on the timber.

Dave The Turning Cowboy


----------



## Broken Bat (Sep 4, 2012)

Thanks for the info and the link! I really like the look you get out of that method, I'll definitely have to try it sometime.


----------

