The open box. The inside of the box is cherry, with redwood burl and ivory inlay. All woods in this piece were reclaimed and refurnished for the project.
People always say the next generation is the most rebellious, revolutionary, and sometimes out of touch. Well, I like to think of myself as two of those. I am a 16 year old aspiring woodworker from Boulder, Colorado and in many ways I guess I am rebellious. I’ve chosen to rebel against the notion of woodworking lineage – that one needs parents or ancestors of a craft to learn and appreciate it. I’ve sought to rebel against the idea that one needs to work in an amazing shop to make amazing work and that there are rules in this great craft.
But what i’ve really tried to rebel against is the notion that one cant get by in the woodworking world without a hefty pocket and a pretty penny for materials. In this box, all the materials were reclaimed. I salvaged the cherry for the body from a trash bin behind a moulding and flooring mill. I found ebony for inlay from old flooring cutoffs. Even the afromosia, cocobolo and ivory i managed to acquire by means of scavenging and restoration.
That is what i feel makes this piece nice. I worked hard in designing the curved opening lid, the coves and contours for the sides, and the inlay work throughout the piece, but that is not what i appreciate most. To me, the most beautiful aspect of this box is not in its shape or design. To me, the most beautiful aspect of this box is the message it carries – that beauty is not contingent upon cost and that not a single tree was felled for its creation.
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The open box. The inside of the box is cherry, with redwood burl and ivory inlay. All woods in this piece were reclaimed and refurnished for the project.
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The front of the box. The box was fashioned from cherry with an ebony, ivory and cocobolo inlay. All the materials, including the ivory and ebony, were salvaged.
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The box inside. I created an inset panel for the box out of cherry and afromosia I salvaged from a mill's dumpster. There is a purpleheart and ivory inlay which I felt would complement the top and inner lid nicely.
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The top inlay. The top was the most difficult part. There are slight tapers on the lid, with a simple rounded edge. The inlay was crafted from ebony flooring taken from the dumpster of a local flooring studio and cocobolo cocobolo cutoffs from a local shop. All reclaimed material is what I feel makes this piece beautiful. It's a good feeling to know that no trees were felled for this project.
Comments
The box is really wonderful! Your woodworking skills are top notch. From someone who likes using reclaimed lumber in his own works, I most certainly appreciate what you're doing.
But I must also add (from the perspective of a technical writer with nine years in the industry), in a world of texting, horrible misspelling, incomplete sentences and broken grammar, I'm truly impressed with your writing skills.
Keep up the good work (in both subjects)!
Lovely looking work.
I like your approach. No-one breaks new ground by following tradition, but it is still true that others have usually gone before and could help. Why learn the hard way when experience exists out there to help you avoid making the same mistakes that they did ?
That being said, I learned most of my woodworking by doing things twice, so I have a lot of sympathy.
Hint - Questions posted on forums like this are a good way to pick up "unpatronising tips".
Bon courage !
Lovely looking work.
I like your approach. No-one breaks new ground by following tradition, but it is still true that others have usually gone before and could help. Why learn the hard way when experience exists out there to help you avoid making the same mistakes that they did ?
That being said, I learned most of my woodworking by doing things twice, so I have a lot of sympathy.
Hint - Questions posted on forums like this are a good way to pick up "unpatronising tips".
Bon courage !
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