pen boxes

[mb007]

For a charity auction for my church's food pantry, I donated five pens I made. To go along with the pens, I also (somewhat foolishly) decided to make boxes as well. Having no set plan (never made these before), and a fuzzy mental image from trying to memorize dimensions of ones I saw at Rockler, I set out on my adventure. They were a lot more time-consuming than I thought they'd be, but it was a lot of fun to get to make something that wasn't turned. I learned a lot, and hope to make more soon - just not too soon! :biggrin:

(there are more pictures of the boxes with my pen posts, if you want to see shots of them open!)

Edit: Species info! (from L to R)

- curly maple
- mystery wood - I believe it's crotch walnut (been sitting in my father's shed for the last ~30 years!)
- the last three are spalted maple from the bargain bin @ Rockler. The end caps I believe are teak.

 

[boxerman]

Beautiful boxes nice job on them.

 

[Craftdiggity]

Very nice. Are they hinged or do they slide open?

 

[Canadian_Kid]

I like them. The key to making toes would be to make like 20-30 at a time.

 

[mb007]

Very nice. Are they hinged or do they slide open?

They're hinged. The top half is pinned to each side with a small piece cut from a finish nail. I just had to remember to assemble all pieces before gluing the sides to the bottom of the box!

 

[mb007]

I like them. The key to making toes would be to make like 20-30 at a time.

You're 100% correct about that! Once you have everything set up for a cut, you can crank out pieces quickly. This was a great opportunity to use a few of the tools I'd picked up over the past couple years. My wife can no longer call me a "tool collector" any more! :biggrin:

 

[Ted iin Michigan]

Matt - Those are really nice! The maple one is cool, the walnut one is terrific and the other 3 (species, please) are wonderful!

 

[mb007]

Oops! I'll edit the original post with species info!

 

[IPD_Mr]

Having no set plan (never made these before), and a fuzzy mental image

Now YOU scare me. No plans and only a fuzzy image, imagine what you could do with plans and a clear mental picture!

Those look fantastic. It is neat to see some excitement in someones post.

 

[clapiana]

I will take 10 of each
Love the mystery wood case. Dont you just love rockler's bargain bin?
Those pens should do very well with those cases and they will help out those folks who really need it.

 

[chris63]

would love to see one opened so i could figure out.. so cool,

 

[mb007]

would love to see one opened so i could figure out.. so cool,

I posted pics of the boxes open with the pen in them in my 'show off your pens' posts. I didn't think to photograph an empty, open box. Must've been the mad rush to get them packed up yesterday morning before heading to work!

Here are the links to the posts that show the boxes open:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=89131
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=89132
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=89133
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=89134
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=89136

 

[medemt]

Very nice work Matt.

I can't wait to see your demo at the next Chapter Meeting. At least bring some to sell. Gonna have to sick Bill and Ron on you for the demo