Thinking out of the BOX

[Merlin]

We had a lot of Ash left over from a couple of jobs and were wondering what to do with them.

Barbara attends a number of stitcher's guilds and came up with this idea. Not only does it showcase her work but it has turned quite profitable, providing 'trinket' type boxes for the other members.

box1a.jpg

box1b.jpg

That then just started the mind rolling as to other options. For sale in the shop.

boxes1.jpg

[Not your average framer]

Hi John,

I used to do that sort of thing and it was very popular too! I don't know how, but I just got out of the habit, or more likely spent to much time doing other things.

As it happens, your post is a very timely reminder for me. I have a mountain of ash off-cuts and added to that I'm changing some of the ash mouldings I will be stocking in the future. I shall have to get busy and turn all that lovely ash back into money.

In case you are wondering, I'm phasing out Simons Ash/6 to replace it with Ash/12 and Ash/2 to replace it with Ash/15. I prefer the deeper sides of Ash/12, which I think adds a lot more visual interest.

BTW, I'd be interested to know the technique employed for joining the dividers in the bottom of the box. I used to have one of Lion's drill stand type underpinners and have often wondered how that would work for joining "T" joints. Having no longer got the said item, I am not able to try it, but I'm tempted to get another one day.

[Roboframer]

I see some lids are in the box and some boxes are in the lid - but one lid is the same size as its box, how does that stay on, is it hinged?

Good way to use offcuts - I normally churn out a shedful of mini frames and toss them in a tote bucket for a quid each.

Before I had a Morso I had a single mitre saw - it used to produce a solid 'V' of moulding per mitre. If you joined 4 of these together it formed a 'frame' with the rebate on the outside and a tiny hole in the centre - I called them 'widgets' and sold them for a quid each too - but they made brilliant box lids - trouble was in those days I wasn't too good at making the box bit - and now I can't produce a 'widget' any more - just a load of shavings!!

Awesome bit of stitching BTW.

Mark - (NYAF) Ref Simons Ash - do you know the PHOE (Phoenix) range?

[pinkybanks]

Excuse my ignorance, but is the body of the box (not the lid) made from frame moulding, or have you sized the timber yourself?

[pinkybanks]

OK OK, got it, i just hadn't scrolled the image down. They look great, what moulding is it, as i have more than a few ideas for that type of box!

[Merlin]

Mark, I know this idea is not a new one. It is something that we did many years ago, then for some reason stopped doing it.
However, it does not hurt reminding people by repeating past projects. Especially as we have a lot of newbies with us.

Barbara is also into Dolls House furniture construction, so she had some 3mm ply left over. These were used as the dividers in the box. They were a very tight fit and of course supported by copious amounts of glue. The velvet look sticky back plastic also helps to keep it all in place and sturdy. The lid insert is made up of 2mm Acrylic.

Robo. Some of the boxes are to used on a table, so no hinges are needed. I was fortunate enough to have some Rare Earth Magnets (4mm dia), these are used when the boxes are to be wall mounted. Good for Medal type boxes where the customer wants to remove the medals for wearing.

Pinky the range is Ash from Simons. PHOE range is also good for these type of boxes as well.

The 4 inch boxes sell for £12, so not a bad return on offcuts that would have ended up in the wood burner.

[Not your average framer]

Mark - (NYAF) Ref Simons Ash - do you know the PHOE (Phoenix) range?

Hi John,

Yes, It's one of the moulding ranges that I am planning to use as a core stock item in future. Both the Ash and the plain Obeche in this range are completely un-finished and will therefore take any type of finish.

Recently I've been making some changes as to what I do and how I do it. This includes a lot more usage of liming waxes over painted finishes, or neutral washes over stained finishes.

You'd be surprised how many expensive looking ready finished mouldings can be duplicated in next to no time at all. It gives me a lot of options, without having to carry each specific finished item in stock. I just make up whatever I need from my normal un-finished stock.

The benefits are great, I can have a large part of what I plan to offer customers in stock all the time and far less of mouldings left overs becomes waste.

[Not your average framer]

The velvet look sticky back plastic also helps to keep it all in place and sturdy.

Hi John,

Something else I did not know until this thread. The only sticky back velvet stuff stocked locally is black, so I did not know about other colours and assumed you had been glueing normal fabric into the trays. I'm gonna have to have a word with my local stockist and see what can be got!

I had been thinking about buying some nice velvet curtains which I've seen in one of my local charity shops, but did not fancy all the extra work sticking it in place.