Some Music Boxes For my Girls.

So, for Christmas last year, I decided to make a music box for each of my girls.  Tave, my youngest, did not get one because my table saw ate it a few days before Christmas.  It was shaped like a star, and as I was making a cut, one of the points of the star pushed the zero clearance insert into the table, and into the blade.  This set off a chain reaction, where the Delta Unisaw's 5hp motor and 10 inch blade spinning at 8000 rpm grabbed the box, took a huge bite off the top, and then threw it at me, hitting me in the stomach.  It then proceeded to chew up the zero clearance insert, and then had the gall to just sit there running like nothing happened.  I am pretty sure I heard it say "Oh, did I do that?  Sorry, I didn't know you wanted to keep that box, I just thought you were trying to feed me.  Just ignore the fact that I just tried to kill you".  It's like the little shop of horrors.  The table saw was downgraded in importance in the shop.  I now have a vintage Disston D28 rip saw, and a new Lie Nielsen cross cut saw.  Take that!


Anyway, the three boxes that survived the holidays turned out pretty good.  I tried something new on each one.  So without further delay, I will show them to you (and you know who you are....the only person reading this blog):

This is Dashle's box.  I made it out of Poplar and Purpleheart.  When I cut the box joints, I intentionally cut them too deep, so that the corners would have a little extra texture.  The top is curved and made from alternating pieces of Purpleheart and Poplar, each shaped by hand and sanded before being glued up.  For the finish, I used a Danish Oil.  I liked the way it highlighted the contrast in the Poplar's grain.  The music movement plays Clair De Lune, by Claude Debussy.

This is Quinn's box.  I made it from Poplar as well, but added Bloodwood splines, and veneered a Zebrawood top on it.  The Poplar is actually from the same tree as Dashle's box, but I used a shellac finish instead of the Danish oil, which luted the grain, and made it shinier.  Being brutally honest, the veneer job sucks.  When you look close, there are tons of gaps and a few spots where I tore out some while sanding it.  I really like the concept, and it was fun to make.  The music movement plays the theme from Swan Lake by Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky.   

This is Emry's Box.  It is a bandsaw box made from Rock Maple.  As it turns out, Rock Maple has it's name for a reason.  Cutting this box out gave my bandsaw a workout, and destroyed a blade.  But the result was worth it.  On the top I inlayed two purple horses.  My original plan called for me to inlay Purpleheart horses, but I found that I could not accurately cut the shape out of the veneer that I had, so with only a few days till Christmas, I did what I could.  I cut the shape of the horses out using carving chisels, then I mixed up a batch of wood filler and food coloring, and just filled it in.  The 'E' on the top is carved into a piece of Basswood using carving chisels.  The finish is about 8 coats of 1# shellac.  The music movement plays Canon in 'D' by Johann Pachelbel.  


Well, there you have it.  Three finished projects and one unfinished project that really helped me to steel my resolve to stop using most power tools.  Dumb Table Saw.