# Small keepsake box test



## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

This little heart shaped box is result of wanting to try some of Harry's coin dish techniques and a desire to test a design concept that's been in the back of my mind for several months. The design idea finally won the argument with the other projects in my head and got a chance to stretch it's legs.

The concept is pretty simple: the lid is spit into two halves which when closed are locked by the sword. The two halves can only swing open when the sword is removed to reveal the small dished out storage area. Nothing special here other than the sword lock which was the concept I wanted to play with.










The lid is made from two layers and, as you can see from the photos, dados were cut for the sword and the two layers laminated together before the heart shape was cut out. The lid sections are attached to, and rotate on, dowels (actually wooden axles) that come up from the bottom of the base section.

*Special thanks* go to three people for this project:
To *Harry* for inspiring me to try using my bowl and tray bit.
To *Barb* for her excellent suggestions on using RIT dye for color.
And finally to *James* for convincing me not to try oak for this first attempt. 

Note: a PDF for the project is added in post 12 below.


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## chessnut2 (Sep 15, 2011)

Oliver.........Fabulous! I gotta make one. What kind of wood did you decide to use?


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

chessnut2 said:


> Oliver.........Fabulous! I gotta make one. What kind of wood did you decide to use?


I used poplar because I had a old piece of 1 x 6 laying around and I usually have some 1/4" around for the other projects I do. The poplar stained nicely with the RIT dye.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Nicely done, but I take it Q had nothing to do with this project.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Finally, I have been of service....LOL.



> And finally to *James* for convincing me not to try oak for this first attempt.


Photo #6 explains so much.

Great result, Oliver.


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## Marco (Feb 21, 2009)

I'm dissapointed and surprised that you didn't have a winch to crank the sword out :wacko: 

Great concept and photo's. thanks for sharing!


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## MartinW (Jun 26, 2013)

Oliver,

this is a great idea and excellent work !

Thanks and Regards,
Martin​


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## bosox (Jun 12, 2012)

The concept is totally impressive. The pictures says it all. That is such a magnificent wood working project!


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## chessnut2 (Sep 15, 2011)

Oliver........the more I look at this, the more I want to try it. I'm the kind of person who needs a roadmap to get to work every day. If you ever decide to type up a tutorial on this project, I would be thrilled. Jim


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

*Heart Box Video added*

Here's a video of the box that shows how it opens and closes ... with a few sound effects for emphasis. :sarcastic:


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## berry (Oct 17, 2005)

Gernerally I'm not a fan of 'cute' but this keepsake box works for me, excellent! Nice job on the photos and video too. 

And someone else who uses RIT dies, wow.


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

*Tutorial added*



chessnut2 said:


> Oliver........the more I look at this, the more I want to try it. I'm the kind of person who needs a roadmap to get to work every day. If you ever decide to type up a tutorial on this project, I would be thrilled. Jim


Here's an (almost) tutorial for you. The PDF may not answer all your questions but it will at least give you a pattern for the heart shape and an idea of the steps I used. Let me know if you have any questions ... sometimes what seem clear to me isn't to others.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

I missed the video before. Oliver, you do some real slick work. :moil:


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

JOAT said:


> I missed the video before. Oliver, you do some real slick work. :moil:


Thanks Theo. You helped on the project also. In my first attempt to dish out the bottom of the heart I hadn't clamped the template well and it shifted during routing ruining the cut. So I adopted your method of holding the template in place with nails (just outside the area of the final heart shape) and had no further problems.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Glad I could contribute a little something.


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## OutoftheWoodwork (Oct 4, 2012)

Wow Oliver, that came out AMAZING! So glad the dye worked for you. I have a fish key rack that I mixed colors with that gave me an amazing look - as well as a humming bird for a clock I did for my mother in-law many years ago.

Thanks for the shout out-I'm touched and happy I was able to help. 

To Berry, using Rit Dye isn't something people think about with staining wood-I mean-why would they? We've been programed to think that wood stain is the only way to go, and colors are relatively new, considering how long stain has been around. I only thought about it and tried it when I wanted color, but didn't want to lose the grain in the wood by using acrylics. Then when I saw the cost and size of the colors, and added it up, (especially since I have to have EVERY color, since I'm always thinking and creating artistically lol) I saw huge money bags flying away, and my budget didn't/doesn't allow for such luxuries. I didn't start recommending it until I was sure it would work, because when a person goes and puts so much work into a beautiful piece, to lose it over the coloring, I would feel terrible beyond words. This is also why I typed up a "how-to" with the Rit, because it *is* possible to mess it up-I'm proof of that lol


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