Building Miniature Ebony and Rosewood Boxes

[@echofoxxx]

I always feel so relaxed while (and after) I watch your videos. Thanks for that.

[@MartyBacke]

+echofoxxx Thanks. I wished I felt as relaxed when making some of these parts ;-)

[@kevinfilewych7291]

Wonderful work! Thanks for no music. Allows me to hear what you were saying, while listening to my own music in my shop. Cheers!

[@GuysShop]

Beautiful boxes Marty. Working with all those incredibly small and thin pieces.... I was on the edge of my seat as you were cutting the inlay.

[@MartyBacke]

+GuysWoodshop Thanks Guy. The inlay was fun. To cut the recess and the maple probably took a total of 30 minutes. I thought it would take me longer.

[@tomsatterlee8397]

Another example of quiet competence and patience

[@w0pke]

Your level of perfectionism must be close to madness. I love it.

[@MartyBacke]

+w0pke I might be crazy to build these ;-)

[@johndudash2579]

Quite amazing Marty, quality workmanship, I would trust you working on my teeth with your steady hands, thanks for vid, great tips!

[@jcsrst]

My God! You are a patient man! I love how calm and quiet you are while working. Great job!

[@MartyBacke]

Thanks for that very nice comment :-)

[@jeffconsidine8968]

Excellent video Marty, thank you very much. Your methods of work are inspiring and something of a meditation to watch - your videos remind me to slow down and my results improve as a result - although not as impressive as your work, my technique is improving thanks in large part to watching you work. Beautiful boxes too! Jeff

[@MartyBacke]

+Jeff Considine Thanks for those very nice words Jeff. We're all on a journey of improvement.

[@KennethSievers]

Great job on such a small box!! Merry Christmas!!

[@MartyBacke]

+Kenneth Sievers Thank you. Hope you enjoyed your Christmas too.

[@zeusbrothersentertainment7901]

So impressed Marty! Love those little boxes.

[@MartyBacke]

+Zeus Brothers Entertainment Thanks Jay!

[@MicroFourThirdsCorner]

Thanks for this video. I enjoyed it, and admired the work.

[@MauriceBlok]

Nice boxes Marty! Really like the wood, leather, inlay detail. Nice little clamp/ vice btw

[@MartyBacke]

+Maurice Blok Thanks Maurice. William Ng makes and sells that inlay clamp. See it here shop.wnwoodworkingschool.com/Inlay-Vise-Inlay-Vise.htm?categoryId=-1

[@colleenwilson7061]

Amazing work...so much skill and patience!

[@apophysis2]

Nice and accurate work. One wouldn't think that such small objects need the same effort like big ones and even more accuracy.

[@fish37]

Great video and thank you for the longer format.

[@MartyBacke]

+fish37 Glad you appreciate the longer video - most people don't nowadays.

[@montewoods4766]

Great work as always Marty

[@GrahamOrm]

Nice job as always Marty. Quick tip, for an even closer zero clearance insert : First set your fence, then run a piece of ply against the fence through the saw far enough to cover the blade opening in the table, stop the saw with the cut ply still in place, then stick the ply down to the saw table with double sided tape and with the blade protruding through the cut. Then use the top of the ply as your saw table. The fence is set and you can't get a tighter zero clearance. It's especially good on the band saw for small fiddly bits and on the sander, just clamp some scrap flush with the sand paper, et voila, no gap.

[@MartyBacke]

Thanks for that tip :-)

[@Coffeeeggsbacon]

Excellent video!

[@MartyBacke]

+Coffeeeggsbacon Thanks!

[@tmhood]

Exquisite work, the care you put into this is extraordinary. Great camera work too. Thanks for posting!

[@MartyBacke]

Thank you :-)

[@STEVEBLACKA]

Great work Marty as ever. very relaxing watching your video`s Happy Christmas to you and yours .Steve

[@MartyBacke]

+STEVEBLACKA Thanks Steve. Hope you had a nice Christmas too.

[@BenBrandt22]

Beautiful work Marty.

[@MartyBacke]

+Ben Brandt Thank you!

[@drakekerry]

Very impressive work Marty

[@MartyBacke]

+Kerry Drake Thank you!

[@conway573]

Marty Thank you for the link...just placed my order. Look forward to seeing more of your videos. Randy

[@johnconklin9039]

Wow, that is amazing and fascinating. I would have broken that sooo many different times,

[@MartyBacke]

+John Conklin Thanks John :-)

[@one23itsjustme]

Needlework shops would LOVE these!

[@Belg1970]

Love the craftsmanship and the project, I would have loved seeing how you hold those tiny inside maple pieces while shooting the 45 degree angles.

[@MartyBacke]

+Pat M Thank you. I hold and cut them at ~35 minutes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIrLiIOpmaqdorMm57s It's really not that bad because of the style of miter shooting board I used. Gravity helps greatly to keep the small pieces pressed against the plane.

[@Belg1970]

+Marty Backe I saw the long side I was wondering how do you hold that tiny 3/4"ish piece with nicking your finger? ;-)

[@MartyBacke]

+Pat M Ah, I see. Those end pieces were reaching my limits. Any smaller and I think I'd use the eraser on the end of a pencil to hold it.

[@RobRobertson1000]

Yes Marty, really enjoyed it. Inspiring mate!

[@MartyBacke]

+Rob Robertson Thank you for that!

[@camasepicas]

Great, Amazing, Awesome !!!! Thanks for the video !!!!!

[@MartyBacke]

Thanks :-)

[@aldoagnellini756]

beautiful, they can be a very nice solution to store double edge razor blades

[@okieinva1]

Enjoyable video, good to see the process on such a small scale. What is the blue clamp about the 10 minute mark?

[@MartyBacke]

+Tim Dahn Thank you. The blue clamp is made for inlay work. William Ng makes and sells them. See his store: shop.wnwoodworkingschool.com/Inlay-Vise-Inlay-Vise.htm?categoryId=-1

[@MartyBacke]

+TheJimsock I wouldn't want to put any finish on the parts that rub against the lid, so only the inside part of the liner could then be finished. That might look strange. I've always thought of the insides of boxes like the inside of drawers, and drawers are usually not finished either.

[@TheJimsock]

Nice. Curious...Why no finish on the liner? For some reason, I probably wouldn't have finished it either but, I don't know why.

[@carbonitegamorrean8368]

I have watched this three times in about a year.

[@MartyBacke]

Glad you've enjoyed this. Thanks for letting me know :-)

[@JayUrutau]

I beg your pardon sir but, are you sure you're not a neurosurgeon? This is awesome!

[@MartyBacke]

Thanks :-)

[@samgilbert5362]

Amazing.

[@michellek5789]

Hi I just wondered how thick the sides are thanks

[@mellowfellow9]

AMAZING! thanks for the inspiration. Where did you get the small clamp? how did you flush the top and bottom to the ebony sides? keep up the great work!

[@MartyBacke]

Thank you. If you are referring to the blue camp, scroll down in the comments where I've already answered that question. The top and bottom were sanded flush to the sides. This is easy enough given the small amount of wood that's removed.

[@conway573]

Marty, Watched this many times...where did you get the clamping vice you used for the inlays? Hope to see more of your work...you do inspire. Randy

[@MartyBacke]

I bought the blue clamp from wnwoodworkingschool.com

[@davelevy4394]

Great video. Superb wood working, very good photography and editing. But Marty.....what's up with that hair??? Seriously, are you a fan of Barry Manilow or something? BTW, do you ever sell any of the miniature boxes? I would buy a few....

[@MegaChekov]

real nice

[@archundias]

Hi Marty, why do you use the bandsaw to split to pieces of wood? Isn´t a bit easier to use the circular bench saw? I always have the impression that the bandsaw can flicker a little bit. Oh and my birthday is coming soon... just saying.

[@MartyBacke]

+Juan Carlos Solé Clemente Resawing is traditionally performed with the band saw. It's much safer, you can resaw wider stock, and the blade is much thinner than the table saw blade.

[@turningpoint6643]

@@MartyBacke Wot no half blind dovetails for that box? :-) It depends on what chuck mounting system your drill press has and a threaded bolt through the center of the chuck and into the integral Jacobs Taper on the spindle would be best. But both high speed steel and carbide tipped "slotting" or "slitting" blades can be easy to get from most large industrial suppliers down to some amazingly tiny thicknesses. www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/Milling/Slitting-Slotting-Saws?searchterm=slitting+saws&navid=4287923964 as just an example of one supplier. 1/2" shank arbors to fit the blades center hole and that can be held in a drill chuck are just as easy to find. Obviously the micro thin ones are quite fragile so it would be better to use something in the .050" - .075" thick range. They might work a lot better than your bandsaw. My actual wood working is limited, but I use my Bridgeport clone milling machine to process small wooden parts as well as the metal I bought it for. Those slotting or slitting saws work as well on wood as they do on steel. About the only wood working cut or joint I can think of my mill couldn't do would be those half blind dovetails. One of my model wooden ship books written around the 1958 period by Harold Underhill who at the time was recognized as a master of his craft. He goes into some detail about ALL glues can and will degrade over time. That still holds true for the most high tech glues manufactured today. His recommendation was that all glue joints no matter how small the parts were that they be mechanically locked together. For his model ship parts with wooden dowels. Because of it's very high mechanical strength he recommended splitting off lengths of bamboo to the correct size for the part and use those as well as the glue. When I saw you building this box what Underhill had to say immediately came to mind. And because of the time period he would have been talking about hide glue as well. Standard and cheap to buy no. drills can be ordered as set from #61 or .039" down to a # 80 or about .014" in diameter for the wooden dowels. For the little extra time and effort it would take you could also make a feature of the dowels as well since they would show up well against that ebony.

[@ARONvNRU]

Schöne Box. Wenn Du sie mit Handwerkzeugen gebaut hättest, würde sie mir noch viel besser gefallen.

[@MartyBacke]

Vielen Dank

[@ytthieme]

well done, the tool you used on the maple was nice... you said they don't make it anymore? is there alternative?

[@MartyBacke]

+Mark Thieme The Miter plane. Yes, Lie-Nielsen makes a No 51 Shooting Board plane, and Veritas makes comparable planes.

[@SaroDiBella]

good

[@assesassington1018]

What is this? A box for ants!?