Ten years on

  It is hard to believe, but it has been ten years since I first started this blog. A lot has happened in those ten years, but I am still in business and still making beautiful things. Over the past five years I have been so busy as to not really have time for this blog, but I have made a renewed commitment, this year, to keep after it.

The 7th century box as it now stands

Back in September of 2018 I introduced a new project, which I am calling a "7th Century Box". At that point, I had made the lid and carved part of the front face as well as one end. I had actually started the project in the late winter or early spring, before I left the country on a six month project. It was only after I returned that I made the time to publish anything about it. 

Time has marched on, as it always insists on doing, and more parts of it got done. A year and four months after the first post, I had finished all the carving, (so I thought, until I discovered this month, that I had missed a few bits) on the lid and had made the legs. By may of 2020, I was done with the front and back panels. A bit over a year ago, I finished one end, but that did not seem like enough of an achievement to be worth posting about. This past December, I started working on it, again, with the hopes of posting a finished box on the tenth anniversary of this blog.

 

All four panels finished, The end panel on the left was done in December of 2023

 

That did not happen for several reasons, but at least it is now together and ready for painting and gilding. I will be doing another post about that process, once it is completely finished. This posting was supposed to have happened last Wednesday, but I somehow messed up my editing page and had no idea how to fix it, Thank you, Thomas, for showing me what was wrong, and fixing it for me. Now I can continue with my blogging.

This past December, in addition to working on this box, I also worked on finishing up another box that I started on even longer ago. I mostly had to do the finishing, as well as making the hinges and affixing the lid.

16th century style box with painted decorations

The other end. Milk-paint was used for the decorations

I also had, in December, a lectern to restore. (Or more accurately, reinvent) It had been made from some left over parts from an old cabinet, with some added mouldings and a plywood top and back, which I found very offensive. I decided to make those parts over, and in an "authentic" manner. I got the inspiration for the carving from the above depicted box, which I did several years ago. Somehow, it seemed fitting, and the client loved the finished product.

Carving 120 year old oak was a tough job but I managed

The podium in its new home, where it will serve as a hostess' desk

Back to my box, Here are a few more pictures of it going together and getting ready to be finished.

Newly assembled

This was supposed to show the other end, but somehow it has the same end, again

One other thing that needed to happen was to make a bottom for it. For that, like the rest, I sawed it by hand, so as to keep it as authentic as possible. No machinery has touched any part of this box since the sawmill cut the timbers that were used for it. I used a white oak plank and cut it to about 15mm thick.

Good thing I got this done before all the ice and snow

After the assembly, it was sealed with "size" which is thinned down, freshly made hide glue. (I made that from soaking parchment scraps in water, then cooking the "juice" until I had glue. The size is a sort of "primer" for the gesso, to help that better adhere to the wooden surface.

With size applied

Some people will undoubtedly think I should have left this in its natural state, but I am replicating something that could have been in the 7th century; the taste at that time would have been very different than today. At that time, no one would have ever considered leaving such a finely carved box unfinished. Also, it was my intent, from the onset to paint it, or I would not have used two such widely different species of timber to make it.

The lid with a first coat of gesso

Scraping the gesso, This is the "old school" method of "sanding"

This shows the gesso before the scraping began

As of today, Sunday, 26 January, all of the gesso work is finished. I will let it cure for a few days before moving on to paint and gilding.

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