Michael Staines, Lithgow, NSW

Solomon Island Rosewood Box
Solomon Island rosewood, maple
395 x 250 x 150mm h

Concept
The concept of this box came from a beautiful piece of Solomon Island rosewood that I found wandering around Trend Timbers at McGraths Hill. It was an interesting piece of timber that ranged from flame type figure which was used on the sides of the box and right at the end of the length the flame type figure changed completely to the figure that you see on the lid of the box.

Method of Construction
The sides of the box were mitred carefully so as the flame type figure wrapped around the box unbroken. The mitres were strengthened with keys made with a purpose built jig and angled blade on my table saw.
The top and bottom panels of the box are bookmatched veneers that were bandsaw cut and hand sanded and scraped to clean up. They were then glued to an MDF substrate in a vacuum bag. The other sides of the top and bottom panels are highly figured maple veneers that I think add a little contrast to the Solomon Island rosewood and these were also glued with a vacuum bag setup.
The glue used was a high quality yellow PVA and the hinges are a 90 degree opening type hinge. The lock and escutcheon were cut into the front of the box.

Finish
The finish is four coats of Feast Watson Satinproof and Buffing oil mix applied with 1200 wet and dry sand paper.

Photos: Rob Parker