there’s lots of new readers here these days, so for you who have been reading this blog a while, this will be redundant. Here goes.
When your workspace is a public display 8 months out of the year, clean-up can take a while. This fall I have been slow to get the shop all squared away so I can resume working in earnest after the holidays. One thing I got done the other day was some photography of two boxes and a bookstand. These boxes kicked around during the past year- I think the front of one and the sides of another were pieces I carved in the DVDs w Lie-Nielsen. Eventually I ended up with too many carved panels around and made boxes from them.
Like many of my boxes, these are oak carcasses with pine bottoms and lids. I like to carve the sides in addition to the fronts; most New England ones I know from the period have carvings only on the front. Some do have the sides carved. The box above is fastened with wooden pins in the rabbet joints, glued also. The bottom is nailed in place.
Well, the front of this one’s not in either video, so maybe I carved it at one of the Hand Tool Events that LN puts on…I don’t remember. It’s fitted with nails driven right through the front & back into the ends. That’s the typical way they were done in the 17th century.
Both of them have tills fitted on the interior. Oak lids with pintle hinges. The bottoms and sides of the tills are probably both Atlantic White Cedar – I have lots of narrow thin boards of it; usually for moldings. But it suits the till parts fine too.
https://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/i-feel-like-superman%E2%80%A6/
Iron gimmals on both boxes, some of mine often have wooden hinges instead. Just depends on whim mostly.
I know I’m too late for Xmas shopping; but I’ll be putting both of these boxes up for sale on my website. The new price (lower) is going to be $600. I continue to threaten updating the site, now as soon as the joint stool book is out of my hands. So January.
PETER FOLLANSBEE: JOINER’S NOTES 
Very nice as usual Peter.
I like the tills in the smaller box.
Your carving skills really are extraordinary.
Are these oiled? They seem to be. I like the elaborate Dennis-y one. Happy Holidays. They usually aren’t but you have kids. Today we’re going to the Duncan Phyfe opening at the Metropolitan.
Gorgeous work Peter, as usual.
Ive been trying my hand at more carving recently and can appreciate the work involved–even when you get the hand of it and can carve something with relative efficiency, there is still a learning curve to be considered. Those boxes are easily worth a lot more than 600 ! Id be surprised if they were snatched up fast at that “Black Friday” price.