Latest project - and a challenge for you

[White House Workshop]

I'm working on my latest project - a request from my daughter for a jewelry box in which she can hang her necklaces. The design is simple - essentially a small tall cupboard - but she wanted an interesting wood with good figuring. Initially she asked for curly red birch (to match her wedding gift) but I can't get any here, so I've gone with something else. See if you can guess what wood it is. Hint - it doesn't normally look like this, but the colour may give a clue!

Will post the finished pics later, when it's complete. My wife is doing a needlepoint liner for the back inside, which should be interesting.

 

[Waka]

Looks like cherry to me, but then again I could be wrong, it has been known frequently.

Hope you're going to show the completed project?

 

[mr]

Ash ?

Cheers Mike

 

[tim]

I've got some maple that looks very similar.

Cheers

Tim

 

[mr]

I've got some maple that looks very similar.

Cheers

Tim

Now you mention it - so have I
Cheers Mike

 

[MrJay]

#4 Larch.

Sycamore is my proper guess

 

[OPJ]

My first guess would've been cherry, but that seems to obvious.

It's not poplar/tulipwood, is it?

I went to Yandles yesterday and my eyes are still messed up from looking at all the zebrano and wenge! (not to mention the prices too!) :shock:

 

[mr]

?

I went to Yandles yesterday and my eyes are still messed up from looking at all the zebrano and wenge! (not to mention the prices too!) :shock:

well if you will look at the pretty woods...


Cheers Mike

 

[Jake]

On the basis of the colour and the pores, beech?

 

[woodbloke]

Looks vaguely sort of 'mapley' to me :? - Rob

 

[White House Workshop]

I also think it looks rather like maple, but it's a bit pink - although I do have some very pink maple!

It is cherry, but it's not the usual red/brown heartwood. I used some offcuts that would normally be thrown out by the woodyard.

Next picture - more cherry, this time resawn through a huge patterned piece to form a pair of book-matched doors. I've only framed them top and bottom with a bit more of the 'white' cherry. Hinging them is going to be interesting as I want completely concealed hinges. I think I'll use pins top and bottom - I've enough broken drill bits that should be strong enough!

More later...

 

[Chris Knight]

I have found that even the sapwood gets quite a bit darker in time with exposure to light. I made a small stool some years ago that had a very pale rail in it but today I can't say for sure which one it was.

 

[White House Workshop]

Interesting. The piece I made this from is now 8 years old, but it did spend much of it's life so far in the garage propped up against the wall! Also, I made a chest of drawers using the sapwood to accentuate the drawer tops, and in 5 years they've not gone dark, although the red heartwood has. Strange. This is the picture when it was new:

The dark wood has darkened considerably, but not the sapwood.

 

[Digit]

Dunno! But I've got some of it and I've never identified it, hopefully someone can.

Roy.

 

[Waka]

Ah so I'm right, it is cherry, I have to say that the only giveaway for me was the little dark speck in the top left hand corner.

At present just finishing off a bookcase in cherry that has a lot of this in the configuration.
Also cherry looks a very light coloured wood until it is oiled, then it goes darker, if you really want to darken the colour put it in the sunlight (not this time of year unless you live in sunny Dorset) this really brings out the colour and grain magnificently.

Nice to see you using the sap wood, a lot of people will dicard this, but at the price of cherry not a good idea, unless you're rich.

 

[Digit]

I don't get it. Would you believe I have some short lengths of the same, that was Oak veneered!

Roy.

 

[White House Workshop]

All finished, and I'm very happy with how it's turned out.

The finish is one coat of acrylic lacquer, sanded smooth, then a rubbing with white wax for a nice matte finish. The whole unit is made of cherry, mostly sapwood. The handles are a couple of artificial pearls fixed in place with epoxy.

The hardest part was hanging the doors without any hinges. I inserted a pin into the top of the door which matched up with a hole drilled in the top carcass. Then I put a thin screw up into the bottom of the door from underneath. The reason for the screw was only that should there ever be any problems it can be dismantled easily - and (the real reason) it afforded me the opportunity to put the door in and out while I was planing the curve so the door would open! So, the final effect is that there are no visible hinges or hinge mechanism.

I'll be posting it off tomorrow for her birthday (today - so I sent her a few pictures of the finished article in the meantime).

Here's a view of the cabinet closed:

Here's a link to a much larger picture (for those of you that want to see all the little faults!):

http://www.managementtectonics.com/woodwork/Annie1.jpg

And a view with the door open, showing it in its intended use:

Next project is to get all those fabulous iroko tables sorted so I can move in my workshop again - and fix the Record vice to my bench!

 

[staffie]

Great work, SWMBO has already included one in my to-do list.

Jock