Shoji Screen Jewelry Box

tpastore, member

561 users recommend

This is the front of the box, showing the birdseye maple and meranti construction "screen".  The side arches are based on the hip-to-waist ratio considered most attractive by humans.

The drawers are dovetailed birdseye maple with bloodwood pulls.  The backside of the door uses raised panel construction.  Magnets are embedded in the door and frame and covered by well matched plugs.

Photo by Tim Pastore

The hinges are made to disappear when the door is closed.  They are made of meranti with hidded brass pins.

Photo by Tim Pastore

The necklace carosel is a segmented turning that uses curly maple and bloodwood.  The carosel exits the frame of the box by using a telescoping dovetailed slider.  The carosel spins on the brass screw that acts like a shaft.

Photo by Tim Pastore

The necklace tree, like all of the box, has an asian inspiration.  The sliding dovetail body is birdseye maple with a meranti spine.  The "pagoda rafters" are bloodwood with small holes for earrings. There is a small ebony pull at the front of the spine that is a pyramid shape on both sides.

Photo by Tim Pastore

This is the front of the box, showing the birdseye maple and meranti construction "screen".  The side arches are based on the hip-to-waist ratio considered most attractive by humans.

Add Comment
Print

This is my latest project. It is an Asian themed jewelry box that my wife and I designed together. It is made of meranti for the case, birdseye maple for the door, drawers, and back, and bloodwood as accents in the segmented turning of the necklace carosel, drawer handles, and on the earring tree.

Case – We gave the door an arched top too but keep the bottom flat. I like to use ratios and proportions that are pleasing to the eye. This project included a ratio for the arches called the Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR). The WHR is the circumference of the Waist divided by the circumference of the hip of a person. There are studies that show that a WHR of .7 in women and .9 in men correlate with health, fertility, disease resistance, etc. Studies also show that when shown a sample of body profiles, people gravitate to these “healthier” (grain of salt) profiles and tend to find them attractive.

Finish – The finish is 4 coats of Maloof oil/poly mix, 2 coats of oil/wax mix, and 3 applications of briwax. Most parts were finished before assembly.

Photography – Shot at home using a Flotone graduated background (B&H photo), some compact flourescent bulbs from HD, a tripod and my D70s.

Thanks for looking

Tim Pastore

For those interested in more pictures and more comprehensive write-up, you can visit:

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/13704

Add Comment Print

Dock Box

Back to List

Wedding Present

Comments (6)

coonsy writes: Excellent piece and excellent post. So kind of you to allow those of us woodworkers who are not worthy see how the other side lives. Thank you.
Posted: 9:17 am on December 14th

Jurgen01 writes: This is a wonderful piece. A great design, classical and elegant in its Asian inspiration, and full of inspiring details. Terrific work!
Posted: 4:05 pm on May 28th

fullnelson writes: Great work, I'm a big fan of Asian inspired pieces.
Posted: 5:21 pm on March 16th

buzzell writes: Outstanding! Pieces like this raise all kinds of mixed feelings between "strive to match this," and "sell the tools." It is absolutely gorgeous!

J. R.
Posted: 10:03 am on March 13th

Sandtazam writes: I too have 3 pieces here and would like to compliment you on your piece. Beautiful.
Posted: 1:32 am on March 13th

daveknipfer writes: I say this is an outstanding piece of work and fits very well into my personal aesthetic of enjoying asian inspired work.

I have a box as well in this competition .... "Dancer" .... a few pages back ..... and although we took very different approaches ... they both IMHO share a common simple elegance.

Well done I say

Knipfer
Posted: 8:03 pm on March 12th

You must be logged in to post comments. Click here to login.