Pear Box

Spalted Paper Birch, 4" high and about 3" diameter. Walnut "finial" or stem, as are the accent rings which form the box joint.
This was turned from a 4" branch, with the pith on center of the box allowing me to drill the pith out for the stem of the lid.

Photo Details

kengrunke

Registered: November 2004
Location: La Farge, SW Wisconsin USA
Posts: 199

0

Date: Sun May 8, 2005
Views: 3,200
Keywords: pear box

Comments

Gil

Ken, I like that pear shape a lot, and the suface finish looks satin smooth.

#1 Sun May 8, 2005 10:03pm

cfuller

I'm very impressed with this box. The walnut really compliments the rest of the wood and the shape it great. Nice finish on the bottom too.

#2 Mon May 9, 2005 2:16am

Rev. Doug Miller

Rev. Doug Miller

Hey Ken, very nice shape to this box. Your use of the walnut is perfect, especially as the stem.

#3 Mon May 9, 2005 4:57am

Chris Wright

Awesome form and wood Ken. The walnut is a perfect accent color for the birch. Is this one of your dovetail lock boxes?

#4 Mon May 9, 2005 6:31am

kengrunke

Thanks everyone for the compliments!
Chris, yes this is the locking dovetail. Unfortunately, it's a hair too loose which happened after I very carefully chucked up the body inside the rim in expansion mode, so I could turn the grooves on the bottom. Guess I stretched the rim just a tiny bit. I think I can fix it though.
Now, who gets this one? Pete, or Lee?

#5 Mon May 9, 2005 3:12pm

Chris Wright

Good question, I haven't heard from Pete, we'll give him another day or two to respond to my email. We're still waiting to see Lee's piece anyway.

#6 Mon May 9, 2005 4:53pm

Ugly Duck

Lee Goehring

Nice job, Ken. Spalted birch can be a real bear to work with. The pieces I've had tore badly and needed a lot of "60 grit gouge" work. The inside chucking may have compressed the wood a bit, but I'm confident you'll find a remedy.

#7 Thu May 12, 2005 1:55am

kengrunke

Lee, I fixed it by gluing two short, thin slivers of walnut inside the rim, at the end of the female dovetails--then sanded them down so they act as stops for the lid. Now it fits nice and snug when closed.
Looks like we'll be doing the trade--are you gonna be at the next club meeting? I'll bring the pear box for you.

#8 Thu May 12, 2005 4:47pm

Ugly Duck

Lee Goehring

No, I'll miss the meeting and tour. :>(( We have a graduation to attend out of town. I'll also have to figure out how to get my 2x4 challenge piece there. Maybe I could ship it to Duane.

#9 Thu May 12, 2005 8:57pm