Surprise Swap - Pen & Pencil set w/ case, and Japanese style box

For the Surprise Swap, I opted to make a pen and pencil set, with a desktop case, and a Japanese style box. My swap partner was Dutchy and, as a model maker, I figured a shop desk pen and pencil set in a case might find use. And the box is just cool.

The pen and pencil set are Anvil EDC, matched. The wood is Osage orange. I turned them and marked them with a wire burn so they’re easy to tell apart. The writing implements are finished with CA and polished. Pretty straight forward…

Then, I built a flip top pen & pencil case from a nice chunk of figured walnut I had and some more of the same chuck of Osage orange. The trick to getting the case to look continuous is resawing it from one chunk, grooving it with a round nose bit to create matching pockets on each side, then splitting one of the halves on an angle. Gluing the small half of the split piece back in its original ‘pre-resaw’ position makes a solid base with grooves that appear drilled into it. I used was paper to shield the other pieces while allowing them to be pressed together in their finished positions for a perfect fit. Two stainless steel pins are drilled into the base on the sides to create soon-to-be-hidden pivots. The last section of the walnut gets the Osage scales glued to its sides, and at the same time the scales capture the stainless pins creating a finished, hidden hinge and cap piece to the pen and pencil case. 

I left everything oversized, then went back and trimmed and shaped it all down to finish shape. A couple magnets hold the case securely shut. Flip it open about 300° and the case becomes a desk top stand presenting the pen & pencil. Sanded to a high grit, then finished with Tried & True to create a lovely, soft finish. I’ve seen this type case in several places on the internet, and you can actually buy them cheap (and cheaply made) on Amazon. I bought one for all of like $12 to use as a model. 👍🏼

Lastly, I wanted to make a little something different to package it all together so I made a Japanese style box to hold it all. The box style was taken from the 52 Boxes book. It’s meant to look like the box and lid are sort of floating. The lid and base are poplar, painted with a brilliant sunflower yellow GF milk paint (which isn’t real milk paint, for those unaware) to compliment the Osage orange. And matching re-sawn thin walnut sides. The handle is cocobola as a focal point. Organically shaped to contrast the sharp box edges, and mounted in a recess on the lid with a background of white milk paint to make it pop, the handle (and walnut panels) are finished in Tried & True as well, and gapped ever so slightly to make them appear to float. At least, that’s the theory. A craftsman could pull it off…mine leaves something to be desired, but it came out ok. 

As a last surprise, when the recipient removes the lid, the floor of the box features a complimenting, patterned cloth liner. I found a great spray glue called E6000 that binds the fabric to the wood wonderfully without bleeding through…which is harder than it should be otherwise. 👎🏼

Unfortunately, my “pretty” presentation pics really fail to show the colors well…oh well, the other pics show you what you need to see!