Valet Box
This is the woodworking equivalent of a napkin sketch. I had a basic idea in my head and just started cutting up some wood until it took shape. Progress pics are a little light since I was making it up as I went along. I'm pretty happy with it but am really looking forward to version 2
Cherry and zebrawood. Oil under shellac finish
Mitered dovetails on the back of the case
leather, zebrawood, and cherry veneers line the tray and drawer
This is just friction fit so it can be rearranged
Zebrawood drawer pull which is mortised into the drawer
Fits the usual contents of my pockets
I have a nice frame saw I never use. Instead of reaching for my rough crosscut Kataba, I decided to give it a turn
Then I decided to put it back on the wall. It's straight and plumb, but man, that's rougher than the mill slice.
Jumping ahead quite a bit. Since I was making this up as I went along, I wasn't great about taking pictures. I decided to use mitered dovetails for the joinery. Here the miters are rough sawn. The grooves are for plywood trays
I clean up the miters with a guide block and a chisel
Then I cut the tails
After cutting the tails, I layout and cut the pins
Good fit
All the dovetails are cut and I separated the drawer front from the case
And the case is square
The top case piece fits perfect. However this was a "what the hell were you thinking??" moment. The through grooves make my inset drawer idea a bust.
So I cut full miters in the front of the case and on the drawer
Better. The plywood tray acts as an internal spline so no keys are needed. Since this is plywood I don't need to worry about expansion and I can glue the whole thing in
The zebrawood pull is inset into a groove I cut in the drawer front and glued
The drawer is 1/2" cherry plywood for stability. Here I cut some edge banding using a thin rip jig.
Shaping the zebrawood feet
Finishing the zebrawood feet
Gluing the front piece onto the case. I should have finessed this miter a bit, but it's good enough
First coat of oil
Went on vacation at this point so the oil had about a week to dry before I brushed the shellac on
Beautiful valet, Joe. I love the wood combination and the finish is so nice.