Little Boxes

[my63]

For that second box.. depends on what is going to go into it, but on a sheerly impractical level, I am longign for it to have a silber-grey or goldish interior - very masculine and sort of leatherandmetal look, almost.

 

Of course, that may not go well with pens, it's just a feeling. Most colors work with black, so there is probably not an exactly wrong choice to be made.

 

T

 

Thanks for that the light suede I have is grey as it happens and I did buy quite a large hide.

 

After a little more research it was clear that there was still too much grain for the finish I am looking for so I mixed some grain filler with wood stain and applied

 

so my lovely smooth box now looks like this

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7351/10496065333_3f9f891ca2_z.jpg

IMG_5341_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3769/10495853885_d667fc0558_z.jpg

IMG_5338_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I will start sanding again once the filler has gone hard.

[my63]

While waiting for the black box to dry I applied some wax to the smoked oak box

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2845/10496589754_c8fe4abc42_z.jpg
IMG_5346_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7407/10496566406_2a96310428_z.jpg
IMG_5345_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Thanks

 

Michael

[fuchsiaprincess]

Boy, you have been industrious, Michael! Keep 'em coming!

[my63]

Thanks for the kind words.

I have not had a lot of time today and the black box is giving me some problems.

Clearly I put too much filler on the top had I read the instructions I would have known to rub across the grain after application doh is the term I was looking for.

Once this is set it is really hard I wont be making this mistake again.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7378/10517536324_412aea5b1c_z.jpg
IMG_5392_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The idea is that the filler fills up the pores in the grain and allows the surface to be sanded flat to reflect more light.

 

Once sanded flat the grain should appear like a shadow in the surface when polished.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Michael

[my63]

I know this box is not quite finished yet but I am pleased to say it is now sold

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7407/10496566406_2a96310428_z.jpg
IMG_5345_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

It will be one of a pair without pen slots and I have decided to call them Curacao boxes a variation of the Princess box.

 

Thanks

 

Michael

[fuchsiaprincess]

I know this box is not quite finished yet but I am pleased to say it is now sold

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7407/10496566406_2a96310428_z.jpg

IMG_5345_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

It will be one of a pair without pen slots and I have decided to call them Curacao boxes a variation of the Princess box.

 

Thanks

 

Michael

 

 

Congratulations, Michael! What colour suede has the new owner picked?

[my63]

Here are the two colours for this pair of boxes I will post pictures of the process tomorrow when I hope to complete them

 

Sorry about the sawdust

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3736/10534766565_546f09d9a8_z.jpg
IMG_5400_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Thanks

Michael

Edited October 29, 2013 by my63

[fuchsiaprincess]

This may come as a surprise to many, but the grey is rather stunning!

[my63]

Yes it is stunning, I have cut both boxes in half now and just need to tidy up the edges and veneer them before I start the interiors.

[my63]

Progress on this pair of boxes has not been as speedy as I expected I forgot about half term and some charity commitments I had.

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5530/10628700586_ecdea04088_z.jpg
IMG_5467_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I am on the case now however the first box has its inside edges veneered and will be ready to be trimmed tomorrow I am in the process of veneering the second box now.

 

I may have mentioned in the past my family and I support a local Spaniel rescue charity and we regularly have dogs on foster for them our current foster dog is called Stan my children have changed this to Stan Lee ( lots of things in our house are big bang related).

He is a 7 year old Red Fox Labrador trained to the gun whose former owner has been taken ill.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7384/10613829884_d8e764ff8b_z.jpg
IMG_1172 by my0771, on Flickr

 

He may be with us for some time as older dogs are very difficult to rehome.

 

Thanks guys back to the veneering now.

 

Michael

[scrivelry]

Oh, he is an utter peach! Does he seem to miss the hunting? I know working dogs do sometimes get depressed if they are out of work, so to speak.

 

Our dog is a rescue, found for us by a friend. Brilliant, has figured out how to use her paw to manipulate a hand to get that hand exactly where she wants to be scratched - but won't come when you call her name. Clearly, I was never meant for a career in dog training...

 

T

[my63]

Stan is a fantastic dog he was on a shoot about 10 days ago just before his owner was taken ill.

He is our forty fifth (ish) foster dog they tend to adjust quite quickly to their new life two of our own three dogs are ex gun dogs.

 

 

Anyway back to the job in hand the owner of these boxes asked for her initials to be embossed into the top left hand corner of the lid and my logo in the bottom right corner.

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5522/10650532096_ca5ded8b50_z.jpg
IMG_5496 by my0771, on Flickr

 

This font has been a challenge and has kept me busy the squares on the cutting mat are 10 mm the thickness of the line is 1mm.

I printed out double the amount of letters required I stuck one set onto the mounting card the other set I stuck to the card for the inside of the lid to give me a location and shape to stick the outlines too.

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5511/10650741283_8cf1b5338b_z.jpg
IMG_5498 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

Just needs cleaning up a little before I can add the suede.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Michael

 

[fuchsiaprincess]

Your Stan looks absolutely gorgeous! I love Stan Lee's comics!

[my63]

The base for the first curacao box has been covered and is ready for fitting

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2837/10688401725_525b52c54c_z.jpg
IMG_5534 by my0771, on Flickr

 

This is the inner for the lid with the owners initials and my logo in place.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7360/10688404185_f035f77603_z.jpg
IMG_5536 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I don't know how well it shows up in the pictures but the MHG initials have raised edges so hopefully they will show up in outline I have made a tool from oak to enable me to push the suede into these small gaps.

 

I will update later

 

Michael

[my63]

Suede fitted

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2877/10689184453_e2a4ccf04d_z.jpg
IMG_5539 by my0771, on Flickr

 

It took a couple of hours to get it right

 

Thanks for looking

 

Michael

[my63]

The second box in this pair is to have a light grey suede which I bought last month.

I was interested in the suede side rather than the leather side which had a rather thick finish on it this would prevent the suede from embossing as I want it to.

 

This is the original finish on the leather side

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2823/10707367104_6419bdbe48_z.jpg
IMG_5542 by my0771, on Flickr

 

This little device is called a skiver it is used to make leather thinner and it is really sharp

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2830/10707400176_f9610a256f_z.jpg
IMG_5548 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I have used the skiver to remove the surface of the leather that I did not want.

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3682/10707315025_93f0ce5181_z.jpg
IMG_5549 by my0771, on Flickr

 

In effect I have shaved the upper surface away I then used sandpaper to smooth the surface I need it to be flat so it will not show through to the good side.

 

thanks for looking

 

Michael