Shaker berry box

[Danl]

I made Shaker berry boxes for a few Christmas presents this year.  Four of the boxes have cherry sides and maple handles & bottoms. The fifth box is made from all poplar. The sides and handle are 1/8” thick and the bottoms are ¼” thick. The construction is 1/8” x 1/8” box joint. The finish is two coats shellac.   Danl

 

 

 

 

 

[kmealy]

Excellent!

[Gunny]

Some beautiful work.  

[Artie]

Those are beautiful!

[Al B]

Great job Danl . The shellac really accented the wood grain.

[lew]

Those are gorgeous! Did you steam bend the handles?

[FlGatorwood]

Fantastic job.  Much like old baskets we used back in the 1950's.  

[Cal]

Those are super Danl, do the handles swivel down?

[Danl]

15 hours ago, lew said:

Those are gorgeous! Did you steam bend the handles?

 

The wood I had available had been KD, so I put the handle pieces in a small Rubbermaid tub and let them soak in hot/warm for a few hours. Then I bent the handle piece around a jig, clamped with 3 clamps and let the set for 12+ hours.  The jig was made from 2X material.  Next time, I will use cauls under the clamps to eliminate small clamp impressions under the clamp pads.  

 

 

1 hour ago, Cal said:

Those are super Danl, do the handles swivel down?

Yes, the handles swivel.  They are attached with #6 flat washers and 1/8" steel pop rivets.  I used the golden rule (1.618 ratio) for all dimensions.  The handle height is the same dimn as the box length.   

Danl

 

 

[DuckSoup]

Those are cool. Nice work.

[Masonsailor]

Really nice work and a great gift idea !

Paul

[Smallpatch]

I have never heard of a shaker berry box until now and I'm happy to see your great work on making them...Is the name saying a person shakes the berries after they get in to the box to flush out the bugs or is this the style...

 Or do you just walk around where the berries are and start shaking the box and the smart ripe berries thinks its a joy ride and they all pile in...my wife says nope, berries are not that smart...

[JimM]

1 hour ago, Smallpatch said:

I have never heard of a shaker berry box until now and I'm happy to see your great work on making them...Is the name saying a person shakes the berries after they get in to the box to flush out the bugs or is this the style...

 Or do you just walk around where the berries are and start shaking the box and the smart ripe berries thinks its a joy ride and they all pile in...my wife says nope, berries are not that smart...

I took the Shaker reference to be to the virtually extinct religious organization.  They were prevalent in the northeast and the Albany, NY airport is built on the site of their original community.  There is also a museum in the area.  They were famous for the simplicity of design.

[Danl]

5 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

I have never heard of a shaker berry box until now and I'm happy to see your great work on making them...Is the name saying a person shakes the berries after they get in to the box to flush out the bugs or is this the style...

 Or do you just walk around where the berries are and start shaking the box and the smart ripe berries thinks its a joy ride and they all pile in...my wife says nope, berries are not that smart...

 

4 hours ago, JimM said:

I took the Shaker reference to be to the virtually extinct religious organization.  They were prevalent in the northeast and the Albany, NY airport is built on the site of their original community.  There is also a museum in the area.  They were famous for the simplicity of design.

 

Shaker is in reference to the early NE religious community not excited berries.  

 

Side note:  When I was a child my mother grew strawberries.  We had 1 quart size boxes and she would give me $0.03/box for each box full.  Mom would sell the berries for $0.50/box.  During the height of the straw berry season, Mom, my 3 siblings, and I would pick ~100 qt. two times a week.  I got tired of picking, but I sure liked eating them.

Danl

[JimM]

23 minutes ago, Danl said:

 

Shaker is in reference to the early NE religious community

Thomas Moser has an excellent book on building Shaker furniture.

[John Morris]

1 hour ago, JimM said:

Thomas Moser has an excellent book on building Shaker furniture.

I have a book by Moser, true Jim, very excellent!

Here is mine.

[John Morris]

Those boxes are absolutely beautiful Dan! I love them! How did you learn to make those? Or did you simply look at examples and do your own interpretation? Very fine work, some happy folks are in the future.

[JimM]

37 minutes ago, John Morris said:

I have a book by Moser, true Jim, very excellent!

Here is mine.

That's the one I have too!

[Danl]

2 hours ago, John Morris said:

Those boxes are absolutely beautiful Dan! I love them! How did you learn to make those? Or did you simply look at examples and do your own interpretation? Very fine work, some happy folks are in the future.

 

The berry boxes where inspired by an article in Dec. 2019 Fine Woodworking magazine crafted by Christian Becksvoort.  I took much latitude in the material selection, dimensioning of the box, and the handle design and attachment.  I enjoy looking at the simplicity of the boxes.

 

Thank you all for your kind words.  

Danl

[Cal]

Those are great boxes, for sure.  What would have been the handle to box attachment method used by the Shakers?