After completing Nicole’s tea box a couple of years ago, I still had some of that hardwood left over, and wanted another challenge.  Nicole’s cousin asked if I could make her a storage box for her essential oils.  I had no idea what those even were, but a few minutes with Bing and I knew everything I needed to know – this box needed a lot of tiny little spots for storing little bottles.

This time, I got to play with my new thickness sander , and made a stack of 1/8″ thick maple strips.  Laying out a grid of dividers, cutting them on the table saw, planing the sharp corners off each piece so they were nicely touchable… I think it turned out nicely.

About a year ago, I bought a plank of walnut that had the most wild and interesting grain. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it, but I knew it would become something special. Flipping through back issues of Fine Woodworking, I found this plan.  It called for the cabinet to be built in cherry, but I immediately thought that I wanted it in walnut instead. I added another drawer, and built the drawer fronts from a piece of curly maple I’d been sitting on for about 20 years.

I know I’m violating all sorts of design rules about building frame and panel doors – that the grain in the stiles and rails should be straight. Hey, I don’t care, I love how this turned out. I also skipped the turned door know in favor of something a bit more stylish.

This cabinet let me practice my hand cut dovetail technique, courtesy of Rob Cosman’s hints.