As a student on a tight budget, my eyes lit up when one of my instructor's offered up a thick slab of donated Mahogany to the class for personal projects. Other than making some simple parting beads for historic windows, I hadn't worked much in Mahogany although it's legendary beauty definitely intrigued me. To my surprise, only one other student was interested, so after some negotiation we marked a line and divvied up the slab into two pieces.
I've been drawing a lot of inspiration from the arts and crafts movement lately and in particular the iconic works of the Greene brothers. If you haven't heard of the Greene brothers, I'd recommend checking out their furniture in the American wing at the MET in New York or better yet take a tour of the incredible Gamble House they designed for David Gable of Procter & Gamble in Pasadena, California. I didn't have a ton of material to work with so I came up with a design for a small chest to house some of my nicer planes and hand-tools. The black square details are inlaid pieces of ebony which was also uncharted territory for me.
The project came together quickly and I decided to purchase a flocking kit to add some suede texture to the inside of the box. The box was finished with gel stain, three coats of shellac, and some paste wax for added protection.
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