Kerry Cameron, Eatons Hill, QLD

Challenge Boxes
150 x 130 x 80 h, 200 x 150 x 80 h

The two boxes presented here are a direct result of a self created challenge. As a member of the Redcliffe and District Woodcraft Society the club is often offered timber in various guises. On one such occasion a trailer load of unwanted cedar was taken to the club for distribution to anyone who wished to help themselves. It was a motley load of offcuts, stump slabs and branches mostly split, burnt or eaten with borer and grub. At the end of the day I went to assist in re-hitching the trailer only to find that very little had been taken although there were two members still contemplating if they could use what was on offer.
I picked up a piece of old well seasoned, beautifully dark grained cedar but full of grub holes and burnt down one side and commented ‘can’t you see something of beauty here’ the swift reply was ‘yes firewood’. The challenge had begun! I was determined to show that this piece of ‘firewood’ could be turned into a beautiful box and I would write a story of its evolution for the club newsletter.
Taking the cedar home I sat in my workshop and contemplated how I could create a special box from this unlikely source, firstly slicing it into 20mm on the bandsaw and then reassessed the result. The grub holes proved to be bigger then first thought and were not conducive to a structural form but I decided if I laminated it with a contrasting timber the result would be enhanced. I sliced the boards to half the thickness making them 6mm after thicknessing and sanding. These were then laminated to 6mm jacaranda giving me sufficient timber to now make two boxes.
The larger box was corner joined by a simple post construction with the lid having a mitred frame around a laminated panel with the smaller box having mitred corners and a Dremel was used to extend the flow of the grub defects. The two boxes shared the same lid design but the base on the smaller box was given routered legs to lift the profile. The addition of the pyrographed Celtic chain on the inside of the larger box was an afterthought.
Standard PVA glue was used for all joints and laminating and both boxes were finished with several spray coats of Wattyl Stylwood Lacquer.
I met my personal challenge by creating something of beauty from ‘firewood’.
The Challenge: Copy of Newsletter article
On a Tuesday early in December Graham Sprott brought into the Club a trailer load of Cedar branches and off cuts that had been picked up from a Woodie that was moving house and was glad for someone to take it off his hands. The majority of the load had been riddled with borer and wood grub and did not leave much to be desired and by the time Graham was ready to hook up his trailer and head for home not much had been removed after it had been offered to members to 'help themselves'.
I happened to walk over to help hook the trailer up as two members were discussing how best to use anything left in the trailer with the general consensus being 'firewood or the dump'. Now this had been some beautiful timber in its day and the previous owner had obviously paid good money as there was still evidence of weight calculations etc. marked in texture.
I offhandedly made the comment 'where is your imagination' and picking up a burnt, bored and scrappy but beautifully grained piece of dark red cedar, I proclaimed 'can’t you see something of beauty in there!' and the answer came back 'yes firewood'.
The situation brought back memories of my very early management training when a piece of paper containing hidden images would be passed around and everyone would be asked what image they could see, some saw a beautiful woman, others an old hag, some both and others nothing. I always saw the old hag first and then slowly became aware of the other image. All it proves is that we all see things differently and sometimes it takes a bit longer for your imagination to come in tune with what you are seeing. I decided then to take up the challenge.
I now have that burnt, borer riddled piece of red cedar in my workshop and after due consideration of the possibilities of an imaginative creation(s) I decided that it would be best suited to the making of a box, so it has been sliced into 20mm boards and that’s how it will stay until I get my mind around to a final design.
(To be continued)
THE CHALLENGE: (PART 2) Copy of Newsletter Article
The Christmas break gave me time to consider several design ideas for the box that I had decided to make from that burnt, borer riddled red cedar that I described in the January issue of Redwood. Having already sliced it in 20mm thick randomly shaped boards I realized that any box created would be 'airy and unstable' so the alternative design that came to mind was to slice the boards again to 10 mm thick which would make them around 6mm after sawing, thicknessing and sanding. Then the idea was to laminate the cedar to some 6mm jacaranda that I had previously machined.
It did not take long to prepare the laminated boards and after measuring up the available stock there was sufficient lengths to make two boxes of differing dimensions and construction. The first box was to be of rectangular shape using a butt/post corner design that I thought would best suit the 'holey' timber. The second box would be smaller due to the limited amount of useable laminates and would have standard mitred corners; both would have an inlaid lid.
I originally intended the larger box to sit on a jacaranda pedestal but having dry assembled the unit the contrast was overpowering and I decided not to add anything to its base, whereas the base on the smaller box was to have routed small feet. Construction continued and several design changes evolved during the process including the addition of a lift out tray in cedar in one box only.
Challenges were encounted consistently, fortunately I had in storage a small bundle of cedar offcuts that I had picked up for $4 (it still had the tagged price) years ago in Maitland, NSW that was used for a base and insert for the larger box. The mitred corners looked odd as the worm holes did not flow around the corner; this was fixed with a bit of rotary tool enhancement so that it looked like the worms had had a continuous feed. Cutting off the lids posed a similar problem as I had to ensure that the hinges would be set into solid wood, one screw missed but a bit of coloured Rapid Cure over the protruding screw disguised the error.
I was not happy with the join line on the inside of the lid insert on the larger box and I found a Celtic rope design that was perfect to pyrograph on the jacaranda insert and this added another dimension to the design.
All in all it has been an interesting exercise, I have learnt a lot along the way particularly with glues, clamping techniques and design evolution, the end result being two very different boxes that I am proud to display.

Photos: Kerry Cameron