# Birthday Box



## Stick (Aug 23, 2007)

Made this for my Step-Mom. It's curly maple, birdseye maple, walnut and some ebony for the feet. I used two coats of shellac, two coats of wipe on WB poly, then waxed. This is the first time I used flocking for the inside of a project. The jury's still out for me. I'm not sure my technique was "sound" but it worked. Messy as can be, and I needed some touch up, but it's acceptable.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Stick, that is absolutely striking. Looks very clean and crisp. You did an awesome job on it. 
I've gotta get some of that curly stuff. Lol
Thanks for sharing.
Man she's going to love it.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Beautiful box. She'll love it.


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## Stick (Aug 23, 2007)

Dominick said:


> Stick, that is absolutely striking. Looks very clean and crisp. You did an awesome job on it.
> I've gotta get some of that curly stuff. Lol
> Thanks for sharing.
> Man she's going to love it.


Thanks! I must admit I have a bad habit of swinging by my local lumber yard to see if they have any fabulous or funky wood. I've had this 8 foot Birdseye board in the shop for about a year and this is the first time I've had a chance to use some. Looking at it now...it was worth every penny!


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## Tim G (May 10, 2012)

Beautiful Absolutely beautiful. 
I wish you would have done a thread on this project. The box has some very sexy curves and I would like to have seen your technique on how you achieved it. Also I m interested in flocking the interiors of some future boxes. What did you use. You didn't sound completely satisfied. Do you have thoughts on an alternative. Thanks for sharing.


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

Very nice. :thumbsup:

Nice choice in wood and design.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Absolutely beautiful. I love that maple.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Nice choice of woods...well done. I like the design. I would have rubbed out the finish and not used wax. Did you sign and date on the bottom?










 







.


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## burkhome (Sep 5, 2010)

Beautiful design and application.


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## Stick (Aug 23, 2007)

cabinetman said:


> Nice choice of woods...well done. I like the design. I would have rubbed out the finish and not used wax. Did you sign and date on the bottom?
> 
> .


Thanks CMan. I didn't sign and date it. That's a good idea though. I'm going to grab a sharpee and do that right now. As for the finish, I was in a rush. I couldn't decide what to get my mom, and didn't decide to make her this box until last weekend. So, basically, I put this together in just a few days, so I literally grabbed things I had in the shop. Given time, I would probably have liked to do a French polish with the shellac, or used the wipe on poly and do as you suggested, buff it out with a buffing wheel. But, as time goes, I took the easiest shortcut I could find. I needed some wax to cover up a few swirls in the finish, so I grabbed what I had here.


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## Stick (Aug 23, 2007)

Tim G said:


> Beautiful Absolutely beautiful.
> I wish you would have done a thread on this project. The box has some very sexy curves and I would like to have seen your technique on how you achieved it. Also I m interested in flocking the interiors of some future boxes. What did you use. You didn't sound completely satisfied. Do you have thoughts on an alternative. Thanks for sharing.


Tim, I'm about to head out to my parents right now, but when I get back next week, I'll do a build thread. This box has got my wife fuming mad at me (she wants it), so I'm going to do another one. As for the curves, I used a technique of cutting cove molding on the table saw. You can youtube it, or wait for the build thread. As for the flocking, I learned a few lessons. First, the "adhesive" is just really paint that is the same color as the flocking. Next time, I think I'll make sure I use a larger foam brush to make the paint job look really good first. Then, I'll probably try some 3M 77 spray adhesive for the flocking. Call me crazy, but I'd rather use the paint for paint, and glue for glue...


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## desertforest (Aug 6, 2011)

awesome piece. :thumbsup:


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## TooPicky (Apr 12, 2009)

Oh my Lord!! How on earth do you machine that figured wood without it splitting out, ect.? Looks awesome, BTW.


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## Stick (Aug 23, 2007)

TooPicky said:


> Oh my Lord!! How on earth do you machine that figured wood without it splitting out, ect.? Looks awesome, BTW.


Lol...lots of sandpaper! Thanks for the kind words. Actually, they all ran right through the jointer and planer with little issue, and those blades are due a sharpening or change. The table saw did leave some mill marks, but nothing some good old fashioned sanding couldn't fix.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Man, that's beautiful. Fantastic choice or woods and I love the shape. Just in case you were going to make another one, my birthday is August 19th. :yes:


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## jlmarta (Jul 29, 2012)

Very, very nice. That's a fine job you did. And thanks for mentioning the flocking. That's a process I intended to look into a few years back but then forgot. I'll have to revisit the notion.

Have a great day.....


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## TooPicky (Apr 12, 2009)

> Lol...lots of sandpaper! Thanks for the kind words. Actually, they all ran right through the jointer and planer with little issue, and those blades are due a sharpening or change. The table saw did leave some mill marks, but nothing some good old fashioned sanding couldn't fix.


No kidding? Is that normal? I'd love to build something out of figured wood, but it seems to me that any time there's anything other than straight grain, it just does not go thru the jointer or planer at all.....at least not W/O chipping out the face.....


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## Stick (Aug 23, 2007)

TooPicky said:


> No kidding? Is that normal? I'd love to build something out of figured wood, but it seems to me that any time there's anything other than straight grain, it just does not go thru the jointer or planer at all.....at least not W/O chipping out the face.....


Well, I think you may need to take a good look at your blades to make sure they are sharp, but also make sure you are taking very light passes. I only take a 16th of an inch on the jointer and my finish passes in the planer are barely making saw dust, maybe a 32nd of an inch or so. I hardly ever take more than that off each pass.


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## TooPicky (Apr 12, 2009)

Yeah, seems no matter how little I take off with the planer, it still chips out. You said that your blades are due for a changing.....maybe dull to you is sharp to me. And granted, my blades are WAY past due for a sharpen.


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## MagGeorge (Jul 5, 2012)

This is a beautiful box for a wonderful stepmother! Excellently done!


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## mat 60 (Jul 9, 2012)

Thats great......She going to love it and you also.


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## Stick (Aug 23, 2007)

TooPicky said:


> Yeah, seems no matter how little I take off with the planer, it still chips out. You said that your blades are due for a changing.....maybe dull to you is sharp to me. And granted, my blades are WAY past due for a sharpen.


If you use the words "forever" or "never" when you describe the last time you sharpened or changed your planer/jointer blades.... then it's time for a change. You'll NEVER be able to plane any figured wood with them...:no:


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## TimHill (Aug 17, 2012)

Hi everyone I'm a little new to the site but I agree with Stick. Sharp jointer/planer blades make all the difference when milling up figured woods. 

I got my BS in Furniture Design and while at school I learned very fast to get my stuff through the jointer/planer as soon as they changed the blades which was twice a semester if we were lucky.


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## steamfab (Jun 22, 2012)

The box is absolutely fantastic !!!


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## Fishinbo (Jul 23, 2012)

I bet she is as endearing as this box!


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## therealkdc (Jul 11, 2011)

This is AWESOME!


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