Perusing the internet tonight looking for some great idea for woodworking projects I have gained a renewed interest in the Shaker Oval Box. About 4 years ago we traveled to my friend Russ Filbeck's home to see his chair making operation. We hung out all day and watched him work, my entire family and I, he let the kids jump on his shaving horse and shave down a few pieces of wood, and just before we left he gave each of us a present, he gave my kids a wooden car toy, I received my choice of one of his custom made Boxwood Spoke Shaves of which I absolutely love, and he gave my wife one of his hand made shaker oval boxes. She was ecstatic, and I was too. it was and is a wonderful piece and it has a prominent position in our home. Ever since that day I have been chomping at the bit to make one, or a hundred. So tonight I have been looking at plans, and techniques, and I have a book I recently bought that describes the process in detail.

 

Some of the websites I stumbled across tonight have a pretty fair amount of information for making the Shaker Oval Box. I can't wait to jump in and get started, but there is a bit of preparation to do first, make the forms, find a source for the lumber, and do a bit of reading up on steam or hot water bending. Thanks for sharing in my interest!

 

Here are a couple links on the subject:

Making Shaker Oval Boxes by David J. Tilson

Shaker Box Templates by David J. Tilson (PDF)

Shaker Pantry Box by Wikipedia

The Home Shop by Shakerovalbox.com

The Home Shop catalog of Supplies

 

 

Edited January 10, 201610 yr by Courtland
corrected spelling

I absolutely adore Shaker pieces. Looking forward to seeing your interpretation.

29 minutes ago, lew said:

I absolutely adore Shaker pieces. Looking forward to seeing your interpretation.

Don't know if it'll be an interpretation Lew! At least not upon first observance, they are oval, anything beyond that I'd have to work at really hard to put my own style into it. I have noticed though among the differing makers there are slight differences in the fingers and the shape of those, I may be able to inject my own style there. I'll have to adhere to the strict principles of construction before I can go off the diving board and add some attitude to them.