After 15 minutes of delicate sanding, I managed to mallet the piece of walnut into the top of the box. The curly pine is so old and dry that it is pretty easy to sand, but still shows a lot of imperfections, which I like. I sanded the whole thing with 60 and then 220. I ripped about 5/8ths around the top on the table saw and then cut it free with a miter box saw. Using the hand plane, I got the lid and bottom pretty flush.
Next time I make one of these boxes, I will mount my fine table saw blade for a narrower cut, so that the grains match up a little better.
If I have time tomorrow, I will sand down the whole piece and put a finish on it. Then comes the hardware, which is always a fun time.
You can see the walnut mantel in the background there. The Danish finish has hardened after 2 days and has started to have little odor. I’m pretty happy with it, but wish I had drum sander to get even better surfaces. Future. Regardless, I doubt many people will notice.
Leave a Reply