Justin McCarthy, Chapman, ACT

Robyn’s Jewellery Box
Birdseye maple, European sycamore, ebony, sycamore veneered ply
400 l x 278 w x 115mm h

Concept
The box was a commission from my mother-in-law Elsie to make a jewellery box for my sister-in-law, Robyn.

Materials
All wood for the box is birdseye maple save for the sliding trays (European sycamore), the bottom (sycamore veneered ply) and the feet (ebony).
The joints for the box carcase are hand cut dovetails. For aesthetic reasons the pins rather than the dovetails face front and back.

Method of Construction
The construction of the box involved the common method of gluing up the sides and lid as an integral unit and then separating the lid from the sides on the router table. To facilitate clean up of any squeeze out on the internal surfaces, the bottom of the box was not included at this stage but fitted later into a pre-routered rebate. The box sides and lid were then profiled.
The lid ‘panel’ is in fact a number of frame members and seven panels. The knot hole in the centre panel contains three garnets encased in casting resin. These garnets were found by Robyn’s father Bill (now deceased) on some of his many trips fossicking for precious and semi-precious stones. The various ‘facets’ of the garnets (I use that term rather loosely) were first ground on a diamond stone and then polished on water stones up to 8000 grit and with honing paste on the leather honing wheel of a Tormek.

Finish
The finish for both the external and internal surfaces is wax over four or five coats of blonde shellac save for the trays and the top of the tray slides which have just been waxed. The finish for the insides of the box carcase, the seven lid panels and the vertical surfaces only of the various frame members for the lid was applied prior to glue up. Apart from requiring the many areas where glue was to be applied to be protected during the finishing process, this method of construction made for a lot of finished surfaces that had to be protected in the latter stages of the construction process!
Micro suede was used for the internal lining and the ring holders. All brass fittings are Brusso.

Glue
PVA was used to glue the wood members, while epoxy was used to fix (i) the stay to the lid and (ii) two 1mm brass pins which locate the position of the lid panel in the lid frame.

Photos: Susan McCarthy