A Beautiful Treasure (Pure Woodworking/No Talking)

6/21/19 Jonah Garno. Priest. My best friend, the best man in my wedding, someone that was there when I needed a friend to listen and chat the most, is now a priest and it is a special day.

Jonah asked me if I would like to make a box to hold his chalice and I jumped at the opportunity. He is an artist so I knew it needed to be something beautiful and special yet simply elegant enough to match his stunning chalice.

I decided to go with walnut wood as it's, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful woods there is and it is very easy to work with. The top and bottom will be ash to accent the walnut and provide some dimension to the project. I milled the walnut from some rough stock down to just over 3/8" and let it sit to get any last bit of moisture from the wood. After the stock had settled to around 8% moisture content I ran it through the drum sander to bring it down to the final dimension of 3/8".

The joint of choice is is dovetails and I will be cutting these by hand using the Katz-Moses dovetail jig. (Link to that below.) I took my time cutting these dovetails as it was the very first box I have ever hand cut and it is obviously a special project.

I couldn't have been more pleased with the results of the joinery and the chamfered ash top is a great finishing touch. There are a few other odds and ends in the box to hold some accompanying hardware but they were easy items to add and are held it with dadoes and wood glue.

The box has a brass combination lock to keep Jonah's chalice safe and it also sports brass mortised hinges that hold the box open at 100° instead of flopping all the way to the table top.

Congrats Jonah, I hope this box last you a long time!

🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️🛠️

Some tools I used (affiliate links):
Katz-Moses Dovetail Jig: http://bit.ly/DVTJig
Nerax Chisels: https://amzn.to/2KPVgw8
Pull Saw: https://amzn.to/31xnDoH
Coping Saw: https://amzn.to/31u3zU1
Marking Knife: https://amzn.to/2Ki5ZQv
Marking Gauge: https://amzn.to/2IIyaVp
Layout Calipers: https://amzn.to/2F6Ryuo
Diamond Sharpening Stones: https://amzn.to/2KPUC1G
12000 Grit Wetstone: https://amzn.to/31AsfKu
Flattening Stone: https://amzn.to/2Xcpdgs
Honing Stop: https://amzn.to/2KJZdlU
Glue Bot: http://goo.gl/X5aNZ0
1/8" Chisel: https://amzn.to/2XJQML7
Titebond TiteWrap: https://amzn.to/2F9AALM
Tool Belt: http://goo.gl/XZnWRx
IsoTunes Xtra: https://amzn.to/2NBu7zw
Mirka 6" ROS Sander: https://amzn.to/2Eijyfv
SuperMax 16|32 Drum Sander: https://amzn.to/2QJ3iKi
10 Million Dollar Stick: https://amzn.to/2SrKvjS
Moisture Meter: https://amzn.to/2SwBy9i
Mirka 6" ROS Sander: https://amzn.to/2Eijyfv