Wood Selection

[wcndave]

One of my local furniture makers has just closed his business which is very sad. However on a positive note, before he closed he let me have about 1 cubic metre of hardwood, that he considered offcuts.

so I have lots of (for a hobby woodworker) cherry, chestnut, ash, beech, maple, birch, walnut and oak.

about 25% of it is cherry, so i thought I would finally get around to making that concertinaed sewing box I promised someone, and cherry seems a nice wood to work, as i will be doing box finger joints all around, and would like it to be a nice looking piece.

I have been able to bandsaw, plane, thickness and cut enough cherry to do 40cm x 20cm with 3 layers of 10 / 8 / 6 cm respectively, of 12mm thickness (bandsawing pieces 5cm wide to leave 3 planks of 12mm after planing proved a challenge, but I got there!)

Now I have to choose something for the bottoms, tops and outside arms (not sure what they are called), and am stuck for what will really look best.

so firstly an aesthetic question. I would think I only want one wood to be the star and one to be subordinate. Now cherry is very nice, however fairly plain grained. I was considering either ash or walnut, however really can't decide if the ash's grain is too striking, and the walnut makes it too dark

here are my sketchups on the thing, would love some opinions.

(note that i think the cherry may turn out slightly lighter than depicted)

Next, i am thinking about finishing with oil, to give a really smooth finish and bring out all the natural beauty, however it needs to be a little hard wearing.. so perhaps after oil, a wax finish. now whether i choose that or varnish, I have always tried to finish before assembly, as getting in the corners is pretty tough... however if i do that, then i will be glueing on "finished" wood, which does not provide a particularly good bond.

any thoughts on that appreciated too.

Thanks!

 

[Guggs]

I like he walnut design best . As for finish ,i've used finish oil from (i think its) Colron . looks like a nice project .

 

[Kev]

I would go for walnut as well, mainly because I think the contrast will go well with the cherry. I have made boxes out of cherry before using a wax finish which worked well but dont underestimate how much the colour of the cherry will change over the years. This will work well ith walnut for that reason.

Look forward to seeing out it come out.

Kev

 

[moz]

My vote is for the walnut too. I think cherry can look a bit dirty with an oil finish and it's prone to blotching. Try some on an offcut. I suggest shellac and wax for a very smooth, natural look.

John

 

[wcndave]

Thanks for the replies. of course European walnut is not black like American, however should still look nice.

In terms of the finishing (and perhaps i should move to that board..) would you shellac / oil / wax before assembly for the insides, and after for the outsides?

I find getting inside boxes to finish is fiddly, however i don't like to finish on a glue joint before gluing.

I guess i could mask the areas in question or something?

 

[moz]

That's exactly what I do. It's much easier to finish, any glue is easier to clean off and you get a more professional result all round.

John