Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Mysterious Box is Finished


How long ago was it that I showed you the sides of a mysterious wooden box, sitting on my table saw? Well, I have finally finished it. It is made from Poplar. I wanted to make it from Philippine Mahogany, also known as Luan. But they told me at the lumber company that Luan is no longer exported from the Philippines. So it is made from Poplar. The corners are all mitered, and so there is no end grain showing. It has three coats of spar varnish on it, carefully sanded between coats, and all brass hardware. But what is it FOR?


It's an eyepiece case! Something to carry and protect my telescope eyepieces for observing. It gets cold each night while observing, and if the eyepieces are not protected from the night air, they become covered in condensation. There is no reason for an eyepiece case to be a beautiful piece of furniture - a plastic 3x5 card file would work as well, which is what I used before I built this. There is something wonderful about having both my telescopes and my eyepiece cases being beautiful to look at as well as being functional. It makes life richer.

3 comments:

Chuck said...

That's my friend, Ken! He never does anything half-way.

That box is beautiful, Ken, which is what I would expect from you.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful Work Bro! I am impressed.
Joan

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful box. I love the finished color.
If you ever decide on a new career (fat chance)you can always teach woodworking...bsk