It has been a number of months, and she is finally done.
‘X’ is the unknown, making this a mystery box.
Rosewood floor and lid with figured Maple and Walnut inlay.
Sapele body with a Walnut stripe around the edges of the opening.
Top dollar Brusso quadrant hinges.
Custom-made faceted and polished lifting tab from 360 brass.
2 sets of 1/8" diameter rare-earth magnets keep the lid shut.
Tung oil followed by dewaxed shellac followed by 3 coats of oil-based polyurethane, sanded up to 800 grit between coats.
Top dollar Renaissance wax ‘wet sanded’ on with 2500 grit paper (the #0000 steel wool was too coarse for my liking).
The floor has 1/8" of bar-top epoxy poured on.
No CNC or lasers involved in the inlay.
A hand-made router jig was used to make the bulk of the straight lines that comprise the mortising of the X-inlay, the rest is meticulous chisel work.
Willy Wonka has care for his candy, and will only settle for the finest ingredients.
His fine chocolates are not manufactured in just one day.
Note:
During this project I have learned that the oils of rosewood will react with oil-based polyurethane and completely prevent it from curing.
Several sealer coats of dewaxed shellac first are necessary to prevent this.
I had to solvent, scrape, and sand off the first attempt because of this.
