Jewelry Box Curly Maple and Wenge

Just completed this commission piece for a client who had made a previous purchase. The box measures 14"w x 9"d x 6 1/2" h and is constructed from soft curly maple, also known as ambrosia maple, and wenge (wen-gay). The drawer liners are craft foam and worked out surprisingly well. I wanted something different than the traditional felt.

Shown with the lid and drawers closed, note the shape of the front and rear legs.

The curve of the drawer pulls match the curve of the lid handle giving the viewer the impression that there are 3 drawers.

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Now that I have some more time to catch up on projects since I retired 7/1, I finished this chess board I promised my daughter to give her husband as a gift for his birthday. 

Overall size is 16" x 16" x 3 1/2".

The board is constructed of wenge and maple and is set in the frame with clearance for wood movement. There are 2 support rails for the board and I drilled slots in those and mounted the top with screws like a table top. This should allow for wood movement without damage.

The pieces are held in a drawer on both ends of the board. Walnut dividers keep the pieces organized, green felt drawer liners in each.

I applied 2 coats of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal gloss with a coat of wax. 

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Game Board Reproduction

 A little fun in the shop reproducing a game board my cousin brought over one night to play after dinner. I had not seen this game before but had a great time playing it. The horses are numbered 2 through 12 to correspond with the dots on the pair of dice used in the game. 7 is in the middle slot, 2 and 12 on the ends. This relates to the odds on the crap table by the choice, given the number of combinations it takes for a 7 and the 2 and 12. Object of the game is to be the last one with with chips or coins remaining after a horse has "won" the race. Cards are flipped to move the horses forward by the number of squares corresponding to the value of the card. Winner gets the pot at the end of the race.

 The overall size is 12" x 15 1/2", top and bottom panels are oak veneer plywood finished with a clear poly coat. Lettering came from the scrap booking section at a craft store and the other designs were added with felt tip markers. Each horse has a number applied to each side. The original game was produced in a far achoice land of unknown wood species, I was thinking I could do better.

Inside of the game board with felt applied to panel prior to gluing the top on the cherry frame.

Bottom view of top panel showing game piece supports

Each horse is glued into a slotted guide

The patterns for the game are shown above. I used various woods for the horses, some cherry, oak, cocobolo, and other wood pieces from my pen blank box, I cut the shapes out on my scroll saw. Each piece is poly coated and waxed.Fun project to build, now on to bigger things in the new shop.

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