Modern Valet

This is a project I just finished for a friend. It’s a valet for his wallet and keys and such, but with a bit of a twist. The valet has a secret compartment underneath, held shut by an RFID lock. 

Made of Sapele and maple, I did some laminate/buildup work for the top. I cut the pockets in two stages, first trimming the blanks out of a laminate, then pocketing a second project piece. The two pieces were then glued up to form deeper than average pockets. This was mostly due to limited reach of my router (Shaper Origin in this case). I had intended to have a staggered pattern in the glue up to give it some character, but I ended up with a misalignment that meant everything stayed ‘straight’ so to speak. It all worked out and I think the pattern looks fine. 

I had to engineer in some ‘bridges’ to keep the router from rocking around while trimming up the edges. Using a half round bit I trimmed the inside bottom edges to make smooth pockets. Some simple math for the offsets let the Origin turn out some fine work. Still lots of sanding though…and almost all by hand due to the shape and size of the pockets.

The carcass is sapele with hardboard for a base. I wanted simple mitered edges since the secret drawer front needed to be integrated and I figured this was the easiest way to do it. Since the stock was milled thin so as not to overpower the edges visually, this became a bit tricky since only two of the four corners are glued up (again, because of the drawer). I was trying to keep it simple looking, but I think I’d do something different if I did it again as the mitered corners are just too prone to minor variations when they’re not glued together. There’s a small gap in one of the front corners in the end product, but it’s not terribly noticeable if you’re not looking for it. I added a brass dowel in the rear for alignment purposes, and also to anchor the top to the bottom when the lock is engaged since the valet tray just rests on runners within the carcass.

I finished it in Danish oil (walnut for the sapele, natural for the maple), then a seal coat of shellac, followed by three coats of gloss lacquer sprayed, then two more Satin lacquer coats to knock the sheen down. The outside is buffed with the Beale three wheel system. I laid some simple adhesive backed velvet inside for a splash of color.  

The RFID lock is simply mounted to the drawer front. I hid the key card in a pack of playing cards. Hold the deck up to the front of the box and the drawer pops open. Easy peasy. 

I’m happy with the overall project. But the joints could be tighter. As I said, it’s not terribly noticeable right away, but I feel like I could have used a better corner design to reduce that, but my buddy is stoked with it, so there you go. Live and learn!