3 presentation boxes in quilted maple

[lawrence]

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/P11001181024x768.jpg

A couple of guys in my unit got some decorations (not the ribbons shown for security's sake) and my Commander asked if I could make up some boxes for the presentation. This is what I came up with-- very (very) simple 1/4 quilted maple with an oil/varnish finish. The tops were carved with my carvewright--these letters really pushed the machine to its limit as far as how small the letters can be without breaking out portions of the letters. (they are under 1/4 high) The box that you can see the top of is for the squadron, the other two have their names included on the top as well. The font is OCR A BT and I used the DXF importer and Coreldraw for the Scorpion outline.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/P11001092.jpg

The inside portion is an insert done in 1/2 MDF which I carved the insert for the ribbon and coin out with my carvewright (it is a pressure fit), shellacked, and then flocked with black flocking. I used the 3/16 carving bit to create flat sides and this helped with the fit, but next time I think I'll just use a scroll saw to cut out the relief in 1/8 MDF and glue it onto another piece to create the indent-- it took a lot of fussing to get this one right. On a good note though, I know my machine is calibrated pretty well because I was able to carve the indents, remove the board from the machine, see that the coin just wouldn't quite fit, put the board back into the machine and adjust the pattern a little and then recarve and it lined up EXACTLY right--- and I even had to go back and recarve it a third time and it worked just fine once again. It really impressed me (the carve was only a 3 minute carve so no biggie)
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/P110010721024x768.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/P11001281024x768.jpg
(sorry for the last fuzzy pic)
Thanks for looking, hopefully they like them.
Lawrence

[Kenm810]

Nice Project, Really Turned Out First Class -- I'm sure they will appreciate your work on them.

[Smoken D]

The quilted maple is just beautiful!

[cestout]

How did you hinge them and are the trayes carved then folcked? Very nice fit and finish.
Clint

[Capt Bruce]

Very nicely done Lawrence,

Went trrough making some similar coin holders and once I got the hang of drawing precise circles and the cutout "offset" dimensioning for the 1/8" cutter it does really accurate work. Love the quilted maple and your finish.

[lawrence]

How did you hinge them and are the trayes carved then folcked? Very nice fit and finish.
Clint

The sides are 1/4 higher than the front-- the back piece is about 3/8 shorter than the sides. I then put the top flush with the sides and held it in place with a clamp. Then I drilled pivot points through the backs of the sides and into the top- into which I inserted small brass pins... the head on the pins and the fact that I drilled the holes just short of the length of the pins makes them stay in place. These pins create the pivot point for the top and the fact that the back piece is just short of the front one makes it so the top can open without the corners getting caught on the back.

For the trays, I carved the MDF and then flocked them-- flocking is really easy and is quite rewarding to do-- you seal the surface with lacquer or shellac (either dries very quickly) and then paint on the flocking adhesive, which is color matched to the flocking material (which is almost snowlike pieces of colored felt) Then while the adhesive is wet, you blow the flocking onto the adhesive with a flocking gun (which is a very cheap and simple paper-towel-tube type assembly to just blow a material out) You let the adhesive dry for a few hours and then tap off the excess flocking and it looks like shrink-fit felt.

I hope this helps, and thanks again all for the comments,
Lawrence