Personal Project - Questions 2 & 3

The Unfinished Box I Made

        I made this box because I was inspired by some of the French marquetry we had learned about in the competency. After researching historical trinket boxes, I found that I was most drawn to the Rococo era, particularly for its use of natural, asymmetrical motifs. I also like that it's less busy, with a central image, in contrast to other styles such as Boulle Marquetry. 

        Loosely basing my box off of this style, I decided to have a central motif of the asymmetrical birds on my lid, with some ornamentation of the chevron inlay banding across the middle of the box.  

(Left) Boulle Era Box Circa 1707
(Right) Rococo Era Box Circa 1760

Making the Lid

(Left) Layout
(Right) After Pressing & Sanding

        I found a veneer piece for the background (Sycamore?) that has a natural gap in the wood figure around the center. I thought this provided a nice framing for the birds.
        I decided to have the birds slightly overlap as well. It was quite tricky to keep the fretsaw straight on the wings, but I think the curve of my cut just makes it look like a ruffle in the birds feathers, which thankfully works out.

Sand Shading After Cutting Out the 2nd Bird's Components

Making the Inlay Banding

Preparing & Gluing the Alternating Basswood and Red Colored Veneer Strips (Sapele?)

 

           I started off making 2 batches of inlay, one using dark veneer strips and another using the red ones. I soon abandoned the darker batch because the veneers kept flaking off after gluing to the basswood strips. In the later glue-ups I used significantly more glue than is pictured above, to try to avoid this issue even more.

        After squaring the dried assembly, I used a miter gauge set at 45 degree to cut thin blocks that afterwords I glued together in 2 separate strips. Later, I will flip one of the strips to create the chevron pattern.

Assembling the 45 degree Cut Parts into 1 Long Strip

        I made a jig where very thin strips of basswood surrounded my 2 strips to hold them in place as they were passed through the time-saver. I used some double-sided tape as well to hold it down. 

Using 2P-10 Adhesive to Glue Back Together Breaks in the Strip

Laying Out the Strips / Final Glue Up

               After squaring the assembly I took it over to the bandsaw to cut 3/16" thick strips (using the belt sander to get a clean face between each cut).

                After bandsawing the strips I made the sides of the box with a groove for the inlay 1/32nd shallower than the thickness of the inlay banding.

Inserting the Inlay

Final Thoughts        
        Making the inlay was quite a long process with much troubleshooting involved, but was a good challenge to work through and learn more. Similarly, the marquetry was very fine detail oriented work, which I personally found enjoyable, not just for its own sake, but to experience what it might have been like for a 17th or 18th century cabinetmaker doing similar work.

        I enjoyed combining the different techniques of marquetry and inlay in a single project, and having to think about how they would go together from a design perspective. It's easy to throw something together and call it a day but having to think about why I would choose to do something one way vs another, or having to really plan ahead to make sure the inlay would turn out well, was a good experience for becoming a better, more precise cabinetmaker.

*Nearly Finished Box (Applying Oil & Inserting Hinges Remain)