Heirloom destruction.

I envy your talent, but I envy your motivation even more.

I suck

If you need to join two pieces of brass in a seamless and permanent manner, use silver solder instead of trying to braze it. A brazing rod is brass, and melts at the same temperature as the work-piece, but silver solder is the stuff plumbers use on copper pipe, and it has a considerably lower melting point than brass.

Okay, back to work. I've got a few weeks before I absolutely have to set everything else aside and get started on the two suits of armor for the Halloween drinking binge I've got planned. I got some practice in making my son's suit: I'll post pics when I get started, Promise ;)

Anyway, I measured and remeasured about a dozen times to get the biggest box out of the available cedar.

It's definitely looking pretty patchy: But most of that'll be hidden by the iron.

So here's the typical bottom part of the box:

But the top is gonna be different on this one:

I glued together the remainder of my scrap to eke out two more pieces so that I can use the rest for the curved part of the lid:

I'm already having nightmares about screwing this up.

There we go. I had enough to get the lid done AND I didn't screw up the cuts. -And believe me, finding the angles was a meep.

are you currently unemployed?

Nope, still work at the prison. I just like to keep busy.

Finding those angles should be a cinch. You just need to get the right tool for the job.

Also, buying it from that particular site is highly recommended. In fact, I recommend doing all of your online tool shopping at that site.

Thanks Wotak, but I've got accounts with Grainger, Mcmaster-Carr, Maintenance USA, meepauer, Harbor Freight(grimace), Lowes, etc, etc -through work. They get all mopey if I don't call once a week.

That's great that you use all of those mega-corp distributors but the link I gave you happens to be a distribution center owned/run by a fellow swarmer who happens to also be a friend - so your future patronage will be appreciated. :)

Okay. Always happy to do my bit for the mom-and-pop retailers. I'm gonna need about $300 worth of split-grain cowhide, some 1/4" brass plate and a shload of 3/4" buckles. I'll hit your guy up when the time comes.

Once again really beautiful work. That's the kinda stuff I like to to with the limited tools and skills I have, restoration/reclamation rather than building from scratch. I just split up some cedar logs that Meemaw said don't burn good anyway and used them as planter edging for some wildflowers I've got down front. I live off a road called Cedarglade, can arrange to ship you a tree before the next one goes on the brush pile.

Oh, that would be AWESOME! I've been wanting to use one of these: For that extra little "I made this meeper from scratch" -point.

Cedar's not the best wood for boxes, though. Plus, can you imagine the shipping charge for a 1200lb log?!

Might be a few hundred LTL, where you @ WA? Yeah that's a haul from AR. I just pruned one yesterday that's coming down soon. It's such pretty wood, shame to waste. A storm blew down a bigass cedar tree down the hill in the yard of the little mom n pop cabinet shop next door. He didn't even have the tools to do anything with it. Dunno if you could ever make it cost-effective, maybe you prefer to draw a regular check, but man, the work you do, you oughta be in business for yourself.

Cage is done. After all the pieces are welded together, I go over the whole thing with a torch and heat it up to a mild cherry red, then dab on some used motor oil.

This brings out some carbon from in the steel and gives it a nice black patina that's tougher than most any coating I can think of. You lose just a tad bit of strength in the steel every time you do this, but it isn't really noticeable.

It'll still rust, but the oil prevents that provided you reapply it every year or so.

Gettin' there. I welded two nuts to a length of allthread, ground them down and did a little ad hoc forge work to make these handles. I'm gonna smooth them out with a rotary tool as soon as my coffee kicks in.

Mmmmmm....coffee :P

I don't say this about people too often, particularly when referring to people I don't know personally. But you, sir, are meeping amazing.

Thank you Clavis. Feels good to be appreciated.

Not much left as far as visible changes. I've got to weld the screw heads and reinstall them and cut the keyhole and install the lock, but you guys have seen all that. What's special on this one is that I'm taking a sliver off of a leg piece that dad's shop teacher had him sign his name on (when he was my son's age) 45 years ago. I shaved it down to be inlaid into the bottom of the box.(That's it laying in front of the chest in the pic above^) When I get it glued in, It'll say:"Ken(In his own handwriting at age 16) -and son" I'm giving it to dad on his birthday in November.

In case anybody's wondering how to carve brass, you use these^.

The little cutters(upper right) are probably for wood, but they cut the meep out brass and copper without losing their edges.

I should add: Rotary tool w/pencil attachment -$130 Whole suitcase full of rotary tips from Harbor Freight -$25

There. Ready for dadums birfday.

-or Father's Day. (I hate having things sitting around.)

You've got to be really young, huh? You're so motivated and stuff.

I turned thirty nine May 25th.

Well thanks for making me feel inadequate.

With tatas like that, hun you're anything but inadequate. :)

Mine are gettin' all saggy. (Yes, I know I'm providing ammo for the photomeeping)

Would fist.