First, I would like to thank Knots Forum members for helping me out with previous problems. What a fantastic thing this Internet Forums is!! The Elliptical shape in design is something I really enjoy. I would now like to make a keepsake ( or jewellery ) box for my daughter, elliptical in shape, about 14 inches by 8 inches or so. The depth of the box would be 4 or 5 inches. I plan the lid to be a raised floating panel in a frame decorated with either inlay or marquetry. This design obviates wood expansion problems for the lid. Now, here’s where I need help; How to build the elliptical box itself? Should I laminate it from steam bent thin bandsawn pieces over an elliptical form or use thicker pieces glued with splines and then afterwards shaped to an ellipse by a router guided by a template. Right now I cannot think of other ways of doing it. I invite your suggestions and comments. Thanks.
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Replies
I don't think I would try steam bending for a box this size. I think I would lean toward something like using a finger or box joint for the solid wood sections. the strength comes from the overlap of the cheeks, rather than the end-grain.
If you assemble / glue-up two half ellipses, then you can band-saw the excess from the thick stock before assembling the the two halves. You can also rout the dado for the bottom and lid before gluing the halves together.
If you don't like how this looks, you can veneer over that.
Do you know how to draw the ellipse?
For steam bending I was planning to cut veneer about 1/8 inch thick and then steam that around a bending form to achieve a glued laminated case. I would then add a decorative veneer on all surfaces. What would be wrong with that?
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