A simple leopardwood Box

I over the last week I made a simple finger joint box out of Leopardwood. The box was a simple, cutting the wood with the laser was not. Leopardwood is pretty hard to get through. I put the setting on a post in “beyond the manual” here. I made 3/16" boards out of a plank of Leopardwood that I got a good deal on at a nearby lumberyard. If anyone is in the southeastern Wisconsin area, Kettle Moraine Hardwood is worth a stop. I use Fusion360 to design the box.

I’m very happy with the final results.

The best thing I learned during the build was the finishing. I sanded up to 400grit and used a wipe-on polyurethane but I was not happy with it. The grain just wasn’t impressive. I was paging through a book on woodworking tips and ran across a new(to me) technique that made the grain pop. After the Poly was dry I used some paste wax using super fine steel wool as a buffing pad. It worked beautifully.

Here is one more shot of the finger joints . If I were to make another box I would increase the kerf adjustment to take into account the major charring during the cut. As it was I made leopardwood wood filler out of wood glue and sawdust.

Thank you for taking the time read about my little project.
Terry

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That’s a beautiful box made of some fabulous wood - love the pattern.

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That is Gorgeous :star_struck:
Thanks for that lesson about the wax.

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How much kerf adjustment did you do?

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The pattern I used was made for maple. If I remember I think I used .008" total kerf. (4 thousandths adjustment)

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Fantastic! It really pops! Thanks for sharing!

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Very pretty! Thank you for showing us pics, and for the wood finishing info!

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I have been looking at that. I was expecting it to burn easier than most but I guess not. With grain like that, it is hard to imagine a design on the surface that would not be a step back. Just being leopard wood makes it not simple.:heart_eyes:

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I really love that wood, and the slide lid is simply elegant.

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Gosh, that is amazing wood! I would like finger joints better if they always looked like that. And thanks for the great finishing tip.

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Great tip, and fantastic box!

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#necrogame

Still excellent.

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Oh, that is lovely!! That new buffing technique you used brought that grain out beautifully! :clap::clap::clap:

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Absolutely beautiful! I love the look of the leopard wood. And really good looking joinery. Also glad you got rid of the char, much nicer looking.

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