I’ve got a design problem.
First, some preamble: I’m a mayor of a small district in New Zealand. On ceremonial occasions, I wear a gold chain, which otherwise lives in a small flat box. The said small flat box is getting a bit tatty (the leatherette is wearing thin and peeling off and the cheap pressed hinges and clasps are missing or damaged).
Need new box, right? Be nice if it was a bit special.
OK. Recently in my home town we demolished a late 18th century building (don’t ask), and I recovered some kauri floorboards and some rimu sarking. Kauri is a New Zealand native ‘pine’, famous as a heritage timber and virtually unobtainable commercially. It’s a light creamy colour, with a subtle but very beautiful quarter-sawn fleck. It works well for a softwood and takes a lovely finish. Rimu is also a native, also known as red pine, although it’s not a pine either. Rimu is probably New Zealand’s best known cabinet timber, and in the past was used for everything from house framing to fine furniture. It’s not easy to use, can move a lot, and is very fine grained and also takes a great finish. It can be anything from pale straw-yellow to quite dark red in colour. Sarking, by the way, is the 6 to 8 by three-quarter inch boards nailed on the roof frame just under the corrugated iron.
Idea. Use the recovered timber to make a ceremonial box for the mayoral chain!
The rimu sarking is plain-sawn, and retains the original circular saw marks. It’s discoloured from water leaks and from well over 100 years of baking in our very hot summers and freezing in our very cold winters, right under the roofing iron. The original sawn surfaces are texturally very attractive, and historical, and I’d like to retain them in some way on the finished box.
More context. I’m a competent woodworker, although now getting a bit rusty. For about 7 years, in what seems like another life, I made a living as a craft furniture-maker in Wales. I made a lot of small decorative boxes, and know a lot about making boxes. I’m going to have a go at making said box. Done well, it’ll long outlast me!
So, folks, how do I use what I have, featuring the sawn surfaces of the rimu, to make a shallow ceremonial box about 250 by 300mm long by 50mm high? I’m thinking about a carcase in kauri with panels in resawn rimu, maybe T@G’d. I think I’ve got the inside figured out, it’s the base design that’s exercising me now.
Any suggestions?
Replies
an interesting conundrum - a 'finished' box from rough lumber - of course any of the faces you work will be of different character than the 100 year old surfaces - seems to me that it will need mitered corners so to maintain consistant character around the circumference - if I'm on the right scale metrically, how about ripping a board one half the width of the base, miter the board such that the original edge is displayed around the circumference of the base - attach the sides to the top of this base, leaving the base proud - lid could be assembled the same way - if you used a compound miter, the lid could have a 'peak' to it -
I bought a scanner yesterday - I'm going to try to attach a sketch of the possible base configuration - hang on -
well, that was interesting - got a few bugs to work out, but I think it will attach - the title is deceptive, not sure what happened there -
Your Excellency,
Perhaps it would be helpful to scan and attach a picture of the orginal box so that we can get an idea and perhaps become inspired to what we should expect.
JB
I like making boxes myself - in fact, it may be my favorite thing to make; and you know, everyone needs a box, right? It's a pretty open field, so to speak, as far as the design goes - isn't it? There are so many possibilities, right?
You should post some pics of a good sample of the lumber, the gold chain, and maybe the existing box.
Maybe a little history of the district you're in would spark an idea? Also, you didn't state how much of this lumber you have. How is the box/container to be stored (shelf, pedestal), will it be locked? Is the architecture of the building where the box will be, any inspiration? Modern? Perhaps something inspired by the native culture?Can you work w/ metal as well? Leather?
New Zealand huh? I am truly jealous. I've never been, but from everything I see & read, it looks & sounds like a paradise - my kind of place. Right now I'm in Texas, but spent 10 yrs. in Oregon, where the climate is somewhat similar, I think.
Thanks Guys - I got the scan of the mitred idea. The problem with solid panels I think is movement. The rimu is beautifully dry, and as long as it stays dry, it'll be dimensinally stable. But I can't guarantee that some future mayor (or even me) will place the box in a humid environment ... another difficulty will be matching the roughness of the saw surfaces at the mitres. Butted up against the clean, creamy, faultless kauri the rough boards look good - but side by side or mitred together, maybe not?
I thought about scanning a few shots of the material as well. I have only enough faultless kauri for the carcase (the four sides) after discarding boards with nails and embedded flooring tacks (and resharpening my rough old Stanley more than once!). But heaps (something like 35-40 linear feet) of the rimu sarking.
As an experiment, I ripped a short length of the rimu down the middle and ran it, show-side (weathered-side) down, through my thicknessor. It machines on the reverse side without degrading the original sawn show surface. Incidentally, the sawn surface is a rich golden brown, with very broad sweeps of circular saw blade marks, and when polished with a brush and copious wax polish, looks like shot silk - very unusual and not at all `rough', if you get my drift.
Does the box have to sit flat or would a wall-mounted approach work? With double doors, giving you a bit more leeway for movement. And since you have a lot of rimu, maybe you can find two pieces that would give a book-matched look.
A day later (and deeper in ...).
Been re-thinking my first response to David Doud's mitred idea, and I think it might work! One solution might be some sort of off-set or gap between the panels so that the sawn surfaces don't actually meet. Small chamfered tongue and groove (TG and V) on all 4 edges of thre mitred boards might achieve that. Or an insert of the contasting kauri. I may do a quick mock-up and see if it flies.
Further guidance - the box acts like a document portfolio - it's carried around under my arm or on the back seat of my car, and gets stuffed behind curtains or under tables when `on the road'. Otherwise it is locked in my office desk. It has to be `friendly' to handle and robust but also look special. I will attach a brass plate explaining the history, and will be happy to post a digital photo here when it's done.
I had thought about wall-mounting as a display-case, but we're not big on ostentation or ceremony in rural New Zealand, and people might think I was getting above myself!
My thinking for the inside is soft French fitting, like a padded clam-shell interior, that will grip the chain when the case is closed and stop it rattling around. That I can manage.
The central dilemma remains - rare but rugged-looking sawn rimu, mixed with superb, faultless kauri, in a classy case that'll take the knocks and survive for ever.
Help still needed (but we're making progress!)
At last!, someone who lives in the same country and knows what the local timbers look like.
I recently played with some Rimu sarking to make a box, and I too wanted to keep the saw marks etc. As I was using material that was only about 10mm thick, I sanded the surfaces enough to give some polished bits, and others were left rough. An oil finish brought out the colours well.
As I was going for the rustic look I nailed the box together using butt joints. The lid was a single piece hinged at the back. any shrinkage/movement would occur front to back and not affect anything.
You could also dress the timber smooth, but get character and a sense of age from the nail holes, any borer tracks and so on. That would make the joinery aspect easier.
Wood Hoon
How about using the Kauri to build the box (bottom and sides) and frame a piece of the Rimu for the lid. The saw marks would add texture to the lid - edge joint and glue up using the sawn side for reference then plane the inside smooth. For the base make it from the Kauri, with mitred (or possibly lapped) corners reinforced with Kauri or Rimu splines. Frame and pannel the bottom using Kauri. I'd keep away from the rustic look, and treat the sawn face of the Rimu as a feature. An alternative would be a polished Rimu panel for the lid, with the original sawn surface on the inside. Choose the hinges and lock before you start. Hinges could be timber also.
An engraved plaque giving the history of the timber would be a nice additional touch.
Edited 1/6/2003 6:17:56 AM ET by ian
Idea #2: Sell gold chain and tour world seeking appropriate box design....lol
Just teasing ! You mentioned your concern was mainly with the base. Would a reversed raise panel work...give it that floating look?
Hey guys!
I'm from Canada and have been following your thread from here and now you've got me interested in your wood.You've got to post a picture of this fabled box when all is said and done.
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