Box in a Box My most recent commission, July 2024, was a antique style sewing box for a friend. You can see it below and more about it here.
Part of the brief was that Kay wanted her monogram on the lid, and an engraved sewing machine on the front. Out of the many ideas we found, Kay liked these two.
I wasn't sure about putting them on, but as they would be applied once the box was finished I left them off so we could discuss them later. Well ............ when finished and delivered, Kay definitely decided on the monogram on the lid, but was uncertain about the sewing machine. Plus she was unsure if they should be gold, or black filled to match the edging on the main box. So, I did some samples of the designs filled with gold and also black.
The conclusion was ..... yes we would put the monogram on the lid in gold, but, despite liking the sewing machine in gold, she decided we would leave it off. I therefore had my samples left.
So I suggested making another small box to fit in the top tray of her box with the sewing machine engraving as a feature of its lid. I also suggested that the lid should be bevelled similar to the main box - silly, as it turned out to be just as difficult as the main lid on such a small box - it measures 150mm (6") x 100mm (4") x 75mm (3").
The box is made from solid local fiddle back Jarrah.
The corners are mitred and reinforced with laminated splines.
The lid is a push fit. The locating rebate in the lid was done as a groove in the sides before the box was glued together.
Once the box was completed the lid was sawn off in usual fashion, and the locating rebate around the base was done on the router and then 'nibbled' to fit with a small Veritas rebate plane - one of my most used tools! To ensure the lid goes on the correct way a small locating key and matching cut out was added.
I really like the gold infill, great contrast. The alignment notch is a keeper trick, I always try to leave indicators so the lid can be replaced the way it was intended, but something mechanical is far more appealing.
Mike - I have a friend who has 25 years experience in CNC. He has a laser and router. The monogram was done on a laser. I traced the monogram into VCarve and he then imported it into Coral Draw which controls his laser. The wood was finished with 6 or 7 coats of polyurethane and then finished with up to around 2000 grit with micro mesh. It's then lasered and the engraving filled with high quality gold acrylic paint - lots of coats until it's proud of the surface. The excess is then sanded off, and the whole surface refinished as above with 3 or 4 coats of poly. The hole surface is sanded down to 3000 or 4000 micromesh and finished with wax polish.
Mike - I have a friend who has 25 years experience in CNC. He has a laser and router. The KM monogram on the main box and the sewing machine were done on a laser. I traced the monogram into VCarve and he then imported it into Coral Draw which controls his laser. The sewing machine was a modified image off the internet - it didn't export very well in Coral as all the lines were very fuzzie - but fortunately as it was small the fuzzy lines appeared to be 'straight'. Before engraving the wood was finished with 6 or 7 coats of polyurethane and then finished to around 2000 grit with micro mesh and then wax polished. It's then lasered and the engraving filled with high quality gold acrylic paint - lots of coats until it's proud of the surface. The wax polish helps to prevent the paint sticking to the unengraved surface. The excess paint is then sanded off - including the wax polish. The whole surface is refinished with 3 or 4 coats of poly and sanded to 3000 or 4000 micromesh, then finished with wax polish.
