Successful woodworking project over the weekend, crafting version 2 of the art pencil box for the wife. This time, the construction was 100% Purpleheart, a far more exotic wood than the basic plywood and chipboard of the original. In particular, I was challenged by a lack of jointer and planer, which made the panel glue-ups problematic, but I managed to make it work. I also had some difficulty in cutting the internal slots for the dividers, my various solutions with a router didn’t really work, so I had a bit of a wandering line. Fortunately most of those mistakes were covered over when I broke down and just used the table saw instead.
I was concerned about the reported allergy issues that Purpleheart has, especially with all the dust, but it appears to not affect me (and I cut the wood outdoors, so ventilation was not an issue either). I was also rather surprised about the weight of the wood – Purpleheart is rather dense compared to the pine and cheap woods I typically have used, so the final box is rather weighty. I ended up with a number of scrap pieces, which will be good for highlights on other projects. But given the cost of the wood, and the amount required, I honestly am not sure I will use it for a future projects.
I did end up filming most of the process, so once I get a chance to edit the footage down and record a voice-over, I will be able to show a video of the creation.
