By Jonathan Pearce

It is always exciting to visit the veneer merchant and select some veneer for a project you are working on. Just to break the illusion of what a veneer merchant is....don't imagine a small shed with dusty shelves holding the odd leaves of exotic wood. Think more on the line of a massive industrial unit on a nondescript estate, swept clean and tidy, stacked floor to ceiling on pallets hold exotic veneer. This roll of veneer is for the watch boxes, and is is Macassar ebony. Her

In the last post in this multi-part blog entry, I was showing how the core of the jewellery boxes were made, and some of the veneering techniques I used. Although I am making eleven boxes in this series, there are two different types. There eight boxes of a standard type (lift out compartmentalized tray and a lower 'void' area), and three boxes made specifically for the storage of watches on small watch pillows. The watch pillow boxes have three fixed sized compartments, into

I had this idea that I would make some jewellery boxes that could (and I say could) be used to keep cufflinks, collar stiffeners and watches safe. Of course, they could be used to stores rings, ear rings and bracelets. That is the great thing...use the box as you seem fit. The first part of making these boxes is to prepare the box 'inner', it's core onto which the veneer will be applied. These box cores are made from 12mm MDF and have solid pieces of wood in certain places. T

I have just finished making this ash jewellery box. It is a commission for a gentleman who wanted it as a birthday present for his daughter-in-law. This box is based on the ‘Little sister’ design that I first made a few years ago. I had a piece of English walnut and I made a large jewellery box. There was just enough wood left over to make a second box. Two jewellery boxes from one piece of wood, two sisters. Here are pictures of this box taken in the workshop, hot off the pr

Day four of four. You should know the drift now. Today, panel lid jewellery boxes, ring boxes, cufflink trays. The panel lid jewellery boxes have a lid with a ‘feature’ wood surrounded by fumed oak. Inside are two lift out trays. The small ring or trinket boxes have a lift off lid. Inside the boxes have ring storage or are empty for larger items. The final box can be used for cufflinks, rings, ear rings, rune stones, sea shells, anything really. The lid pops up when pressed a

Day three of four of my spotlight series of items I have at Handmade at Kew. This jewellery box is made from oak burr that wraps around the sides of the box The box has two removable jewellery trays which are lined as the box is with a light lavender faux suede. Tags: #handmadeatkew #jpff #jonswoodworkingtips #handmadeboxes #finehandmadeboxes #beautifulboxes #uniqueboxes #bespokejewelleryboxes #cabinetmaker #furnituremaker #furnituremakerlondon #finefurnituremaker #woodwork

Day two of Handmade at Kew 2018, so this is the second “spotlight” post about a box I have on display on my stand. Yes, men need somewhere to keep their stuff - cufflinks, collar stiffeners, sunglasses, watches, big gold chains. The list goes on. This one is made from American walnut. The surface has a bumpy textured feel. Makes it more masculine. Inside the box there is a tray for cufflinks and collar stiffeners. Another tray below has storage for watches, sunglasses and th

Today is the first public day of Handmade at Kew 2018, and this is the first “Spotlight” blog post about one of the boxes I have on my stand. Today - bog oak and sycamore jewellery box. Made from ripple sycamore (the white colour timber) and wrapped in bog oak, this jewellery box has an eastern feel to it. Inside here are three removable trays for jewellery storage. The box and trays are lined with faux suede. And what is bog oak? Basically it is oak that has been lying in a