Presentation Box - opinions needed... *PICS*
Scott in Douglassville, PA
>Hey, all -
I'm planning on making some smallish presentation boxes as thank you gifts. Here's the prototype, based on a Gary Rogowski article in Fine Woodworking #139:
This one's small (about 8" x 3-1/4"), cherry, with a little ebonized cherry handle. When the oil's cured, it'll need about a dozen coats of wax. Inside's flocked with some of that SuedeTex DonJer stuff - messy, but neat. I didn't pin the joints on this, mainly 'cause I didn't have an appropriately sized bit; the keepers will get pinned with some teeny cherry dowels I'm planning on making.
Ok, so I identified a laundry list of things to do differently. I have another prototype I'm going to work out some details on (that one's earmarked for the wife, who always gets first dibs on new projects), but I have a couple details that I'd like to solicit opinions on:
- Do the half-laps work in this staggered orientation? There are two options here - stagger them (which makes fairing the sides into curves much easier, but glue-up more, um, exciting), or line them up (cis-wise, making glue up easier, but fairing harder). I think the difficulty swap is a wash; anyone have some idea which orientation looks better? Is there a tendency for the eye to want to see these things symmetrically?
- This box is roughly 5:2 in it's sizing. Ultimately, these boxes will hold a wine bottle as a thank you; I'm trying to decide on a size for the box to accommodate the bottle, but still maintain a pleasing proportion. 5:2 would work if I go with one of the local winery's dessert wines (blueberry, hyper-sweet, but the wife likes it). Going to a table wine will require bumping it up to an almost unruly size to maintain that ratio; making it fit the box expressly would put it about 13" x 4", which is looking a bit like a 2x4 to my eye. Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks for any suggestion,
Scott