Pyrography and scoll saw box

Hi all,
In my last post I told you I was doing something special with my scroll saw and my pyrography iron, well here it is.

This is the first box I have made with my scroll saw. It is my own design and I'm very pleased with the results. The best part is that I no longer have to search high and low for boxes made from decent wood. Being a pyrographer who likes to decorate boxes I have been constantly surprised by the poor quality of wood some manufacturers use to make boxes, some of it is little better than cardboard. I don't know where they get it from, but it is soft, the grain is rough, it is impossible to sand to a decent finish and it smells of fish as soon as my pyrography iron gets anywhere near it.

This front back and sides of this box are made from quarter inch thick oak and the top and bottom are made from quarter inch ply. I would have liked to have used oak on the top and bottom but I have been unable to source any timber wide enough. Three inches seems to be the limit at quarter inch thickness, but if anybody knows where I can get flat panels of that thickness but wider I'd be happy if you could let me know.

By the way, I have lined the insides of the box with 3mm ply wood to make sure any contents can't escape through the holes made by the scroll saw.

The box measures 3 inches tall, 4 inches wide and is 7 inches long. I made it to go on my bedside table where I deposit the contents of my pockets every night. Car keys, loose change and that sort of stuff plus my rings. I'm sure it would have been very handy, but my wife decided that it was too good to spend its life in the bedroom and found a perfect place for it in the living room. Ah well, I guess I will just have to crack on and make another one.

In my next post I will show you what my wife has been up to with her pyrography iron and explain how I designed the box that is pictured above.