Reclaimed White Oak and Walnut Box

White oak and walnut – all reclaimed. Finished with BLO and beeswax/orange oil combo. All the parts came from a single piece of oak and a single piece of walnut. Many, many thanks to Doug Stowe for the books on box making and the inspiration.
The spline crosscut sled is directly from one of Doug’s books that I bought recently. The thin piece of walnut on the jig is a story stick used to gauge where the stop block is placed.

Almost forgot, the lid strap is made from scrap leather and the inside of the box is deerskin. I found a couple of deerskins at a yard sale recently for really cheap and thought they would be good for box interiors. I used spray glue to attach it to a thin piece of cardboard and then fit it to the box.

Be sure to click the link below to keep reading and to see more photos...


The walnut:
I was driving down a backroad after tearing down a shed for another reclaimed lumber project and I noticed a huge pile of junk with some wood on top. The junk was sitting next to some grain bins across the road from a farm house. I pulled in the drive next to the machine shed and asked the man that came out if I could go through the pile to see if I could find any usable wood. He told me he was going to throw a match in it anyway so I was welcome to pack off whatever I wanted. I found some pine, oak, and the walnut used in this box even though I didn’t realize what it was at the time. Looked like it was a piece of base board trim from an old house (still had some paint on it and the original cut nails). I almost didn’t bring it home.

The oak:
A local farmer that my father in law knows was tearing down an old barn close to his house. I mentioned that I would have liked to have had some of the wood before he pushed it over. He said I was welcome to go through it but most of it was pine. He then told us that he had another barn he was going to tear down next spring which had a lot of oak in it and I was welcome to take whatever I wanted out of it. We went out to take a look one afternoon and found out that there is quite a bit of oak inside. The box is made from a small, loose plank I brought back that day. The barn itself is in the middle of a bean field at the moment so I have to wait until after harvest to get a truck out there and start tearing in to it. Can’t wait!

Thanks for looking. Any comments/criticizm on how to impove is always welcome.

Michael