Monty
Group Buy Coordinator
Here are the two pen boxes that tied for 2nd place. You have until 8:25 PM Sunday. Feb 19 to vote for your favorite for 2nd place.
Pen Box #5
The Pen Box Contest guidelines state: "You are encouraged to think outside the box when designing your Pen Box." This entry is indeed, "outside the box". I started with Manzinita Root Burl for the main part, and Wenge for the base. I had an essential concept of where I wanted to go with this project, and spent more than an hour studying the whole burl to decide on the initial cuts which would define the final form of the box. The scheme emphasizes two design elements…free-form natural edge, and aesthetic lighting. Manzanita burl will crack during the process of drying; there is no way to avoid it. I incorporated that as a feature of the finished piece...the lighting emanates through the natural cracks. The upper portion of the box is an elongated wedge-shape portion of the burl, hollowed out to accommodate a pen, and tied to the base using Soss hinges. The base is constructed of stacked Wenge layers, culminating in a back-lit pen cradle formed from "Fiery Flow" Italian acrylic. The base accommodates battery packs to power the lights, which back-light the cradle (warm white LED), and top-light the pen (red LED). Lighting is controlled by a tilt switch, illuminated only when the box is open. Lighting was tested to ensure that it would not "cook" the pen due to heat buildup.
[/FONT]Pen Box #8
I used rift sawn white oak and bubinga for constructing this 2.5" h x 2.75" d x 8" l box. The bubinga base is ½" thick and edge profiled. I then used a bowl routing bit to remove material and create the feet. The lid is a lamination of white oak and bubinga, edge profiled the same as the base. The box has mitered corners (note in the end photograph how the grain wraps around the miter). I used a slotting jig I made to cut slots in the corners, and glued in bubinga accents. The front appliqué is a 1/64" slice of bubinga that I scraped down to 1/28" with a card scraper, and glued to the front. The pen prop inside is a simple v-block that can be changed out for something longer, shorter, or taller, depending on the size of the pen I choose to display.
Pen Box #5
The Pen Box Contest guidelines state: "You are encouraged to think outside the box when designing your Pen Box." This entry is indeed, "outside the box". I started with Manzinita Root Burl for the main part, and Wenge for the base. I had an essential concept of where I wanted to go with this project, and spent more than an hour studying the whole burl to decide on the initial cuts which would define the final form of the box. The scheme emphasizes two design elements…free-form natural edge, and aesthetic lighting. Manzanita burl will crack during the process of drying; there is no way to avoid it. I incorporated that as a feature of the finished piece...the lighting emanates through the natural cracks. The upper portion of the box is an elongated wedge-shape portion of the burl, hollowed out to accommodate a pen, and tied to the base using Soss hinges. The base is constructed of stacked Wenge layers, culminating in a back-lit pen cradle formed from "Fiery Flow" Italian acrylic. The base accommodates battery packs to power the lights, which back-light the cradle (warm white LED), and top-light the pen (red LED). Lighting is controlled by a tilt switch, illuminated only when the box is open. Lighting was tested to ensure that it would not "cook" the pen due to heat buildup.
[/FONT]Pen Box #8
I used rift sawn white oak and bubinga for constructing this 2.5" h x 2.75" d x 8" l box. The bubinga base is ½" thick and edge profiled. I then used a bowl routing bit to remove material and create the feet. The lid is a lamination of white oak and bubinga, edge profiled the same as the base. The box has mitered corners (note in the end photograph how the grain wraps around the miter). I used a slotting jig I made to cut slots in the corners, and glued in bubinga accents. The front appliqué is a 1/64" slice of bubinga that I scraped down to 1/28" with a card scraper, and glued to the front. The pen prop inside is a simple v-block that can be changed out for something longer, shorter, or taller, depending on the size of the pen I choose to display.
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