Japanese Box

[woodbloke52]

An interpretation of a Japanese masterpiece that can be seen in the V&A in London, made primarily with Bog Oak veneers over a pine core with Satinwood end panels:

Surface mounted Brusso hinges from ClasticHand Tools:

Four interior drawers using Victorian mahogany given to me by Cabinetman (Ian) last year; fronts in Birds Eye Maple with African Blackwood pulls as is the simple wedge in the marine brass hasp:

Shown in the last pic against some other projects to give an idea of scale:

Finished with several coats of wiping varnish, de-nibbed with 1000g paper after each with a final application of Renaissance Wax - Rob

 

[--Tom--]

Very nicely done - great choices of timbers

 

[recipio]

Exquisite. That took a lot of work. I might have recessed the hinges and used dovetails on the drawers but it's still a beautiful piece of cabinetmaking.

 

[Fred48]

Exquisite. That took a lot of work. I might have recessed the hinges and used dovetails on the drawers but it's still a beautiful piece of cabinetmaking.

If you expand the image you will see the lovely dovetails on the drawers
Fred

 

[woodbloke52]

Exquisite. That took a lot of work. I might have recessed the hinges and used dovetails on the drawers but it's still a beautiful piece of cabinetmaking.

The original box made by Suda Kenji uses surface mounted hinges which gives greater clearance when it's opened; hence this one does as well. In point of fact he actually makes all his own hardware from solid silver, which is ever so slightly beyond my capabilities so I used Brusso hinges instead and they were £50+ a pair - Rob

 

[woodbloke52]

If you expand the image you will see the lovely dovetails on the drawers
Fred

Thanks and yes, all the drawer boxes are dovetailed and incorporate a central runner; the sides don't actually have to make contact with the cabinet. Drawers finished with Lemon Oil which tends to mark the wood dark. The drawer fronts are epoxied in place and then carefully planed to fit the openings - Rob

 

[Cabinetman]

Stunning work Rob, just curious about how the boxes were constructed, veneer over Pine yes, and I can imagine how most of it is built, but why are the bases made with mitred corners (with those lovely splines) are the bases a frame with a panel?
Ian

 

[Jason Wheeler]

An interpretation of a Japanese masterpiece that can be seen in the V&A in London, made primarily with Bog Oak veneers over a pine core with Satinwood end panels:

View attachment 185974

View attachment 185975

Surface mounted Brusso hinges from ClasticHand Tools:

View attachment 185976

View attachment 185977

Four interior drawers using Victorian mahogany given to me by Cabinetman (Ian) last year; fronts in Birds Eye Maple with African Blackwood pulls as is the simple wedge in the marine brass hasp:

View attachment 185979

View attachment 185980

Shown in the last pic against some other projects to give an idea of scale:

View attachment 185981

Finished with several coats of wiping varnish, de-nibbed with 1000g paper after each with a final application of Renaissance Wax - Rob

That’s exquisite - out of curiosity (not that I could ever attempt it) about how long did it take you?

 

[woodbloke52]

Stunning work Rob, just curious about how the boxes were constructed, veneer over Pine yes, and I can imagine how most of it is built, but why are the bases made with mitred corners (with those lovely splines) are the bases a frame with a panel?
Ian

Thanks Ian. Construction was by using long rebates machined on the router table:

I made the pine cores from ordinary stack laminated boards which were then re-sawn to obtain a true quarter sawn, knot free quarter sawn board. The grooves at each end are for the Satinwood end panels and the lump of Bog Oak seen in the middle of each was where the box was eventually sawn in half...no easy matter and even more 'fun' to clean up and get a matching fit. Glueing up was pretty conventional:

...but I had to make some rebated pine bearers (on the bottom as shown) to ensure that the pressure on the joints was correctly applied. I used some 30 minute:

...epoxy which is great stuff and gives loads of time for a tricky glue up. A pic of the underside might explain what's going on:

There's a couple of Bog Oak plinths, mitred at the corners with Satinwood inserts to match the end panels. I may not have used enough buttons to attach them to the boxes though. The last thing that SWIMBO asked me to do was to put some blue Alcantara feet on each corner as she's now 'claimed' it (I fully intended to sell it) and it now sits on top of her:

...English Walnut chest of drawers - Rob

 

[woodbloke52]

That’s exquisite - out of curiosity (not that I could ever attempt it) about how long did it take you?

I wasn't working full tilt at it from 9-5 every day, but I started it just after Christmas. The previous Nov we'd been to Japan and went to an exhibition of Japanese craftwork (that's putting it very crudely) held at an art gallery in Okayama. There was all sorts of really exquisite stuff (woodwork, lacquer work, dolls , kimono, glass work, bamboo pieces etc) and all of it hideously expensive and ALL of it on open stands...no glass anywhere. One peice was a box by Suda Kenji and as it wasn't under glass I could literally get within 100mm and see it 'up close and personal'. Seeing the box was like an itch that had to be scratched so I decided to make an interpretation using European cabinet making techniques when I got back to Blighty. Apparently Suda Kenji makes one piece a year and the one I saw in Japan was approximately £28K; some work by other makers on show was even more. A lot more! - Rob

 

[--Tom--]

There’s an interesting write up on the Japan woodcraft association site with a vid of a similar style piece.

https://japanwoodcraftassociation.com/masters/suda-kenji/

It’s a really interesting design that I wouldn’t have thought of

 

[isaac3d2]

Amazing! Beautiful work!

 

[Cabinetman]

Thanks Ian. Construction was by using long rebates machined on the router table:

View attachment 186015

I made the pine cores from ordinary stack laminated boards which were then re-sawn to obtain a true quarter sawn, knot free quarter sawn board. The grooves at each end are for the Satinwood end panels and the lump of Bog Oak seen in the middle of each was where the box was eventually sawn in half...no easy matter and even more 'fun' to clean up and get a matching fit. Glueing up was pretty conventional:

View attachment 186016

...but I had to make some rebated pine bearers (on the bottom as shown) to ensure that the pressure on the joints was correctly applied. I used some 30 minute:

View attachment 186017

...epoxy which is great stuff and gives loads of time for a tricky glue up. A pic of the underside might explain what's going on:

View attachment 186018

There's a couple of Bog Oak plinths, mitred at the corners with Satinwood inserts to match the end panels. I may not have used enough buttons to attach them to the boxes though. The last thing that SWIMBO asked me to do was to put some blue Alcantara feet on each corner as she's now 'claimed' it (I fully intended to sell it) and it now sits on top of her:

View attachment 186020

...English Walnut chest of drawers - Rob

Thanks Rob, that explains it perfectly, wondered what on Earth I was looking at with those buttons, I thought they were brass lol. But there isn’t really another way of holding the plinth on is there.
Just being nosy really, how did you intend to sell it before your misses purloined it?
Ian

 

[woodbloke52]

Just being nosy really, how did you intend to sell it before your misses purloined it?
Ian

There were a load of niggly things that went sort of pear shaped with this job, you know the sort of thing that happens when you're not quite 'in the zone' or concentrating quite as much as you need to so it nearly got fed through the bandsaw on more than one occasion! I was sorting out the final coat of wax on Sat morning and SWIMBO appeared in the 'shop, having got bored indoors reading the 'news' on the Daily Wail. I said it was nearly dun and I was going to sell the bloody thing on FB (probably for a pittance) and she immediately proclaimed that "you're going to do no such thing" and "I'll have it then" so being of relatively sound mind, I didn't really have much choice in the matter - Rob

Edit - buttons made from my last remnants of Rock Maple with polished and clocked No.7 c/s screws

 

[Cabinetman]

There were a load of niggly things that went sort of pear shaped with this job, you know the sort of thing that happens when you're not quite 'in the zone' or concentrating quite as much as you need to so it nearly got fed through the bandsaw on more than one occasion! I was sorting out the final coat of wax on Sat morning and SWIMBO appeared in the 'shop, having got bored indoors reading the 'news' on the Daily Wail. I said it was nearly dun and I was going to sell the bloody thing on FB (probably for a pittance) and she immediately proclaimed that "you're going to do no such thing" and "I'll have it then" so being of relatively sound mind, I didn't really have much choice in the matter - Rob

Edit - buttons made from my last remnants of Rock Maple with polished and clocked No.7 c/s screws

Yes much the safest option!
I don’t know what it is but I find that the odd gauge nrs of slotted brass screws are the ones that seem to fit best, or is it just me being perverse and liking the unusual?
Mind you I bought a box of 2 1/2” Nr 7’s once, virtually unusable!
Ian

 

[MikeJhn]

Thanks Ian. Construction was by using long rebates machined on the router table:

View attachment 186015

Good grief someone making long rebates on a router table and not rabbits on a table saw with no crown guard, my garst is flabbered.

 

[woodbloke52]

Good grief someone making long rebates on a router table and not rabbits on a table saw with no crown guard, my garst is flabbered.

Your garst is going to be even more flabbered when you see:

...how I machined the pine cores to size and it's not 'climb cutting' - Rob

 

[MikeJhn]

Ah an Axminster UJK pro table with lift, I do miss mine.