Heart Box redo

[munzieb]

I wanted to try something with my steam box again. I found a Heart picture and cut out the the top and bottom and routered a 1/8" groove around the edge. I cut 2 side panels and soaked them in hot water and put in my steam box for bending. The slight curve was OK but at the hard radius it too much and the wood starting cracking. Oh well, on to plan "B". I cut several 3/4" heart patterns and stacked and glued them.  I left the bottom off so I could sand the inside with my oscillating sander and then glued the bottom and double sided taped the top to even out the outside.  I glued a matching heart shape to the inside of top. Lots of finish sanding and then 2 coats of shellac (and more sanding) and several coats of black lacquer. My wife finished it off with her fine painting. Lesson learned about how far wood will bend.

[JimErn]

Very nice, the painting is a great aspect, really sets it off

If I remember right it is your wife that does the painting, if so pass on my kudo's, if not keep them for yourself

[Scrappile]

Iove the box.  You like bending wood, have you make any of the Shaker Oval Boxes.  That is something I have wanted to try.  I think with the addition of you wife's painting, you could sale a bunch of them.

[amazingkevin]

7 hours ago, munzieb said:

I wanted to try something with my steam box again. I found a Heart picture and cut out the the top and bottom and routered a 1/8" groove around the edge. I cut 2 side panels and soaked them in hot water and put in my steam box for bending. The slight curve was OK but at the hard radius it too much and the wood starting cracking. Oh well, on to plan "B". I cut several 3/4" heart patterns and stacked and glued them.  I left the bottom off so I could sand the inside with my oscillating sander and then glued the bottom and double sided taped the top to even out the outside.  I glued a matching heart shape to the inside of top. Lots of finish sanding and then 2 coats of shellac (and more sanding) and several coats of black lacquer. My wife finished it off with her fine painting. Lesson learned about how far wood will bend.

Nice work B

[munzieb]

27 minutes ago, amazingkevin said:

Nice work B

Thanks Kevin. Always appreciate your comments.

[munzieb]

7 hours ago, Scrappile said:

Iove the box.  You like bending wood, have you make any of the Shaker Oval Boxes.  That is something I have wanted to try.  I think with the addition of you wife's painting, you could sale a bunch of them.

I've seen some Woodsmith videos on PBS and may be tempted.

[Scrappile]

@munzieb, everything you need to know and everything you need to have,,, right here:

http://www.shakerovalbox.com/

[Rockytime]

What a great looking box. You and your wife team up to make beautiful things!

[meflick]

Beautiful project. Thanks for showing.

[oldhudson]

Bending is always an "IFY" proposition. So much depends on the individual pieces of stock. What type of paints are you using and do you prime or seal the wood first?

[munzieb]

6 hours ago, oldhudson said:

Bending is always an "IFY" proposition. So much depends on the individual pieces of stock. What type of paints are you using and do you prime or seal the wood first?

I moved on from the original project that was 1/8" BBPW. It had worked well for my domed boxes but the indent of the heart was a little too extreme. I went with stacked 3/4 poplar segments and glued and sanded to fit.

[spirithorse]

Very, very nice @munzieb and they immediately brought to my mind Norwegian Tine Boxes @Scrappile

Thank you both for sharing and God Bless! Spirithorse

[Lucky2]

On 10/18/2019 at 5:27 PM, munzieb said:

I moved on from the original project that was 1/8" BBPW. It had worked well for my domed boxes but the indent of the heart was a little too extreme. I went with stacked 3/4 poplar segments and glued and sanded to fit.

I don't know what type of wood you first tried to bend, or how wet/green it was. But I think that you would be successful, if you tried it while using Ash. I've done all kinds of bending Ash in the past, it was the wood that worked the best for me. But I have had some success with fresh cut Cedar, and using my steam box to heat the wood as hot as I could stand to handle it. The heat is a very big part of shaping the wood, the heat seems to soften the wood up.

Len

[wombatie]

Beautiful.  Great team work.

Marg