Leaf Box

I first saw this box several years ago, and was inspired to finally make one by Pottz’s beautiful box he posted a few weeks ago. I wouldn’t bother posting mine except for the challenge presented in making the leaf lid without a CNC. Like Pottz, I recently purchased a benchtop spindle sander which helped greatly. Speaking of Pottz, I heard from a reliable source that he DJ’s at a local club under the name Sir-Pottz-A-Lot. But I digress…

I started by drawing the shape using Bézier curves on my computer, and printing out several copies at my desired size. The overall shape of the interior was transferred to some maple for the body of the box. I drilled 1/2” holes with a Forstner bit on each end since that’s the smallest size of my spindle sander, and roughed out the rest with my jigsaw. Finished up with the spindle sander, what a useful tool. Come to think of it, that’s what my wife calls me.

Building the lid proved to be somewhat challenging in order to fit the 2 halves together with a 1/16” “stem” down the middle. If the 2 halves are made using the same template and flush trim bit they will not fit perfectly together. I’ve made cutting boards with 1/4” curved insets before using a template with a flush trim router bit, but as far as I know there aren’t 1/16” flush trim bits available. My solution was to first make a master template from my drawing for the shape of the stem. I then made 2 more templates from the master using a 1/4” down cut spiral bit ( the size doesn’t matter as long as its the same for both), one with a 7/16” guide bushing and one with a 1/2” guide bushing. These 2 secondary templates were used with a flush trim bit to make the 2 halves of the lid. With a strip of 1/16” maple down the center, the lid halves fit together perfectly. Miracles do happen. 

I originally thought about using some figured Walnut for the lid, but found a beautiful piece of Pau Rosa at my local Woodcraft. It’s a dense, tight grained wood from Africa, very heavy. Also expensive, but I only needed a small piece. Most of my projects are finished with Osmo Polyx, but I wanted a bit more sheen so went with wipe on poly, a finish that I’m liking more all the time. Thanks for looking.