Sharpening stone box.

For my Welsh Llyn Idwell Grecian Stone.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2bvqh6w9.jpg


The box after being mortised out and spirit stained, ready for the stone to be seated. The timber used is Tasmanian Huon Pine. Huon Pine | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Softwoods)

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...psiwifnlio.jpg

A black caulking is applied to seal the stone within its mortised housing.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3lokhggr.jpg

After 2 coats of wax, project is completed.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...psfqfq9kms.jpg

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...pssfpnhbqx.jpg

Shown with an offcut of Huon Pine.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...psu6dahbuw.jpg

StewieS.

Excellent job! Looks proper and authentic! :tu

Right on, looks great!

Beautiful work. I really appreciate that you returned to using a box in this way. But I'm curious as to why the inside of the lid has been left untreated, or at least from what I can tell from the picture.

Great job on the box, and a really nice looking hone there too. Good to go for many, many years to come...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

Beautiful work. I really appreciate that you returned to using a box in this way. But I'm curious as to why the inside of the lid has been left untreated, or at least from what I can tell from the picture.

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Bront; Huon Pine was chosen as its a naturally oily timber, highly resistant to moisture decay. Its traditionally a rare practice to stain the inside of an enclosed box. Had the outer box remained a light coloured timber, its surface would have been susceptible to later unsightly staining from the combination of lubricant and stone slurry. The use of a caulking seal to prevent moisture entering the lower housing of the box is self explanatory. Traditionally, tar/pitch was used. As a reference to historic practice you may find the following informative. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=i...il+stone+boxes

Appreciate your questions.

StewieS;

Very nice work!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by StewieS

Bront; Huon Pine was chosen as its a naturally oily timber, highly resistant to moisture decay. Its traditionally a rare practice to stain the inside of an enclosed box. Had the outer box remained a light coloured timber, its surface would have been susceptible to later unsightly staining from the combination of lubricant and stone slurry. The use of a caulking seal to prevent moisture entering the lower housing of the box is self explanatory. Traditionally, tar/pitch was used. As a reference to historic practice you may find the following informative. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=i...il+stone+boxes

Appreciate your questions.

StewieS;

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Thank you for the explanation and the link. At one point I made a couple of boxes for storing stones out of cedar, thinking this would be resistant to decay. They were completely unfinished, both on the inside and the outside. I left town for a few months and when I returned and removed the lids, some sort of gassing from the oils in the wood had lead to discoloration on the stones' surfaces.

Great job StewieS, thank you for sharing. Just curious, what kind of caulk did you use looks like RTV silicone? Do you plan on ever having to remove the stone?
Mike

Modine; I used Max Seal Acrylic Caulking; Caulk in Colours | H.B. Fuller Australia

There is the option to use a silicone base. I don't envisage having to remove the stone in my lifetime. The Li that's fitted is a very hard stone, and not prone to high wear. If there was a need to remove the stone, I would run a utility knife around the outside of the stone to break that seal. At its deepest level, the caulking I worked down the sides of the stone would not exceed 1/4 inch.

StewieS.

Good thinking and well thought out sir. Definitely a nice piece of furniture for your stone.
Mike

Gorgeous! =)

Me

I am in the middle of finishing another sharpening stone box, this time using old grown Jarrah. The top will be hinged, and the stone can be removed. The photo shows the stone already seated within the bottom half of the box.

StewieS.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...psafsknve4.jpg

Finished the Jarrah natural stone sharpening box (8000 grit). Both box halves were book matched to maximize the grain orientation. All the new brass fittings were given an antique finish. The fit of the stone within its mortise halves were double checked for clearance using a traditional chalking technique. Nothing more than a straight forward beveled edge was decided upon for the top half, to promote the wood grain as the main feature of this box. 4 coats of garnet shellac was applied, followed by a 2 coats of cutting paste buffed to sheen.

All up the presentation of the box turned out quite reasonable.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6i0bilg2.jpg

A spring loaded bullet catch was fitted to the bottom half of the box. This aids to maintain moderate tension between the 2 mating surfaces of the box when the front clasp is secured in the locked position. With the front clasp in the open position, that spring tension is then released.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...psenfvexof.jpg

Close up of the front spring loaded bullet catch.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...psghsxjkoi.jpg

Sharpening Box fully opened.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...psodvoya4b.jpg

StewieS;

I really like that you put in a bullet catch. I couldn't really tell in the photos, is there a brass bit in the lid to receive it or just a small hole in the wood?

Ken; I drilled a shallow recess using a forstner bit on the upper half of the box to accommodate the raised rim on the bullet catch housing. Being hardwood there was no need to reinforce the contact point with brass.

StewieS;

Revisited the 1st box and installed 2 brass clasp latches to lock the top lid down.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...psbcv9b7rt.jpg

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6zpxmwt8.jpg

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/...psvornvc9k.jpg

StewieS;