Fine Wood Jewelry Boxes Blog

In my experiences, you can’t go wrong buying jewelry for a gift. Whether it’s a birthday, anniversary or holiday, the first thing that always pops into my mind when I’m buying a present is jewelry. In fact, I’ve probably gone to that well a few too many times.

For my wife’s birthday this year, I wanted to break the cycle of tennis bracelets, diamond pendants and gemstone rings. But thinking of a gift that wasn’t related to jewelry wasn’t getting me anywhere. Suddenly it dawned on me that she didn’t have any means of storing or organizing any of the other pieces I’d got her, so I settled on a solid wood jewelry box.

Part 3: Cutting out the box, starting with a single drawer jewelry box by following the steps below.

1. You should have your band saw ready to cut by placing a ¼” band saw blade on your band saw and checking to see that everything is properly set-up, check your manual for instructions. Safety is important and you should be wearing non fog safety goggles to protect your eyes and a dust collecter attached to your band-saw.

2. Making sure your pattern is traced on the front of the box with the sanded bottom down, set your guide to ½” and slice off the back side of the box. Sand both halves of the box, then set aside the back for later.

3. Change the band-saw blade to a 5/16” skip tooth (4 teeth per inch). Following the pattern on the front of your box, carefully cut the drawer out, the drawer only, following your pattern closely. This blade is for scroll cutting and can snap easily, if you apply to much press on the blade around corners, its gets bound up or if the blade get snagged on a knot in the wood, when this happens, stop the machine and what for the blade to completely stop. Back out of the cut a little bit and re-start the band-saw again, then continue cutting out the drawer. After cutting your drawer out, you will need to sand it, before going on to the next step.

4. Next, you will need to glue the back of your box, back on and set aside to dry. Be sure that the wood grain matches up before you glue the back on. It will take an hour or two for the glue to set up before you can scrape the excess glue from the inside. We use clamps to hold the back on while they dry.

5. Next, you will need to set your guide to 5/8″ and cut the front off your drawer and then set your guide to 3/8″ and cut the back off your drawer. All parts should be sanded evenly, then set the front, back and center of your drawers aside, until the back of your box has dried completely. Join me next week for the continuing series, part 4 cutting out the inside of the drawer and cutting out the box.

Small decorative boxes are a great way to keep valuable items. A handcrafted jewelry box in particular helps to accentuate the beauty of your most treasured collections.  Jewelry on you looks like a gorgeous adorning, but jewelry strewn upon a desk just looks careless and unkempt.  Taking care of your jewelry will add more value to it as a whole.  Get a decorative box today.

Look for one that brings out the sparkling qualities of your jewelry and displays it to the visitors that you have at your house in the best possible light.  Eventually this valuable collection could be handed down to your progeny so they too can experience true luxury.

Part 2: Choosing your pattern and laminating your wood to form a solid block. Choose a simple pattern at first, one with smooth lines and only one drawer that is more oblong that will sit flat when you take the drawer of the box as you will need to master the band saw before moving on to the more complicated designs. After you have selected your pattern for your jewelry box, here are the next steps to follow.

1. Say your box is 5” high by 7” long or wide by 4” deep you will need to buy your wood at lease 5 ¼”-5 ½” wide, four quarter wood is usually 7/8”-15/16” thick and five quarter is about ¼” thicker but more expensive, but can be worth it. Measure the wood carefully before you buy, measure twice, cut once. You will need to buy enough wood to allow for cutting (1/8”-1/4”) the boards to correct length, adding the same to each boards length, for ex-sample your length is 7” cut your board 7 1/8”-7 ¼” long x 4 or 5 boards depending on the width of your wood and then, cut the boards 7 ¼” long.

2. Sanding your board flat on both sides, this can be achieved with a hand sander or a belt sander; which ever you choose is easier. You will need to laminate the boards to form a solid block of wood; wood-bonding glue is available through most wood or hardware stores. Use a hand roller to spread the glue evenly on one side of each board and allow to dry for a minute or so, then stack the boards with a zig-zag end pattern for an interesting look, then clamp the boards tight, using a strip of wood under each clamp with protect the block of wood from obtaining clamp marks. Set aside for about an hour or so, then remove the clamps and sand the bottom of your block flat.

3. Draw your pattern on the block of wood by placing carbon paper under the pattern and tracing the pattern on to the wood. Join me next week for the continuing series, part 3 cutting out the boxes drawer.

Part 1: Finding the wood to get started, and deciding what type of wood would be best for the box you are planning to make.

            1. First of all you will need a pattern or drawing of the box you plan to make and the exact measurements of the box, so you will know just how much wood is needed. Always allow an extra 10%, because you will still need to sand the wood flat and laminate the boards. Patterns can be found at wood craft store, books on box making, woodworkers and craft magazines and even online by searching for patterns.

            2. You can find most woods at your local specialty wood or lumber store, kiln dried wood is excellent for making band saw jewelry boxes. And in some cases you can use logs that have been air-dried for about one season in a dry place, like under your deck or in your garage. You will want to elevate it, so it will dry evenly and slowly so it doesn’t split, a cool dry place is ideal for that.

            3. If, you are a first timer to making band saw boxes, then you might want to start with a less expensive wood like pine, birch, alder or even oak is a great wood to work with. Keep in mine that hard; dense wood is usually heavy and the heavier the box is going to be. Join me next week for the continuing series, part 2, choosing your pattern.

There are so many types of jewelry boxes to choose from that it can be hard to decide which one you like best. In addition to liking the style and size of the box, it’s important to pick a box that will provide safe storage of your precious items. Burglars shouldn’t be your only concern when it comes to keeping your jewels safe.

Bugs can be just as damaging to jewelry as thieves. They can eat away at valuable wooden and ceramic jewelry and cause a disgusting nuisance among your necklaces, rings and bracelets. Wood jewelry boxes made of cedar naturally repel insects. The essential oils in the wood keep pesky bugs at bay.

Jewelry collectors must know how to store their pieces properly in order to maintain their lustrous appearance and preserve their value. One of the easiest and most effective ways of protecting all of your jewelry—from earrings to necklaces, is with handcrafted jewelry boxes. This way the jewelry will last a lifetime and may be worn by the next generations.

Diamonds and other gemstones can scratch precious metals, so look for jewelry boxes that have divisions. This way you can keep your jewelry separated and protect the pieces from one another. Not only will a jewelry box with divisions help protect your jewelry, it will also help you stay organized.

My daughter’s twelfth birthday is coming up and I want to do something special for her. This is the last year before she’ll be a teenager, and I have heard from all of my friends that it sort of changes once the teenage years happen, as though my daughter will become a completely different person.

I don’t totally buy into all of that, but I do want to get her something that she will remember for a long time. Not only do I want the present to be enjoyed the coming year, I want to give her something she will be able to cherish for the rest of her life. I was thinking about getting her an heirloom jewelry box so that she could keep her treasures in a safe place and have them preserved for special occasions. Then, when she has a daughter or her own, she can pass the box down to her.

All that glitters isn’t gold – in fact, silver jewelry is often the most sensible choice to match a classy outfit. Nickel silver resembles real elemental silver right down to the minutest detail, but at a considerably reduced cost. Nickel silver contains zinc alloy, which makes it lightweight and resistant to corrosion.

Silver jewelry always maximizes one’s fashion sense, but that’s especially true when every piece matches to perfection. Silver jewelry sets, which include bracelets, necklaces and earrings, take glamour to the next level. Keep an assortment of jewelry stored in your jewelry box drawers to achieve a variety of unique looks. You can demonstrate your impeccable taste by mixing and matching silver jewelry with your favorite outfits.

Wonderful hearts, they represent love, romance, friendship and more. One of the nicest things about hearts is that they are not just for certain holidays, but also for year round. We think of hearts to show our love for someone special and heart shaped boxes do just that.

They hold within your heart, love and romance for the young at heart for special events like weddings and anniversary’s all year long. Special boxes are really great to place something in, like an engagement ring or pair of earrings to surprise your wife or girl friend on that special day. Great gift for special friend’s and families in our lives.