In Layed Pencil Box

Hi All,
Happy new year to all of you. Let's hope it's a good one.

In my last post I showed you the drawing of the top of a pencil box. I managed to finish it over the Christmas period and give it to my wife as a present for her to keep her pretty pens in.

I made the box from a small piece of American cherry that was 4 inches wide, 18 inches long and a quarter of an inch thick. The sides of the box weren't very high so I did a single box joint on each corner. All of the cutting was done on my scroll saw. I used a size 12 blade for the straight cuts and a size five for the more intricate bits on the lid.

Cutting the lid was tricky in parts especially were the Damsel Fly met the reeds. I also had to leave some bits of wood intact and use my pyrography iron to complete the design. This can be seen on the bodies and heads of the Damsel Flies and the legs.

After cutting out the design and doing the pyrography work I cut out a piece of 3mm plywood and stuck it to the under side of the lid. Care had to be taken with the positioning because this would have to fit snugly into the top of the box to position the lid and stop it sliding off. Its other purpose was to stop the polymer clay, that I was going to use to fill the fretwork, from dropping out through the bottom of the lid.

The in lay work was done by mixing blue and yellow clays together to make a green, which was then pushed into the reeds with the back of a craft knife blade. For the body I used a blue clay with a little white added to give it the right hue.
Lastly, I did the wings. These were filled with a clay mixed from white and translucent. I didn't mix the clay thoroughly and this gave the wings a marbled look. The photo doesn't really do it justice because it worked out rather well.

After baking the lid in the oven, I used a very fine sand paper to rub it down and then gave it a coat of sanding sealer. Once that was dry, I gave it a couple of coats of varnish to finish it off then put a layer of felt on the inside and on the bottom of the box.

I was pleased with the way it turned out, but disappointed with the interior size  because it would only hold a small number of pens or pencils. To make amends I'm going to do another one soon which will be a bit bigger with a different design on the lid.

I will show it you as soon as it is done. In my next post I will also show you what my wife has been up to with here pyrography iron.