Walnut Anniversary Box

The Anniversary Box

I am told the 5th wedding anniversary is the ‘Wood’ anniversary. Being a woodworker, expectations were not low, so I made this box and a companion pen for my wife as a gift. This box is built around a nice six deck set of playing cards she recently acquired.

The Wood

I made this box using primarily walnut and used maple for the splines and as a veneer. A good friend of mine gave me the walnut from his family farm. It was cut down over 50 years ago and sat in the barn for a while before he graciously gifted me some. The top and bottom panels are 1/4″ plywood for stability with the top one having a maple veneer on the outside that is visible between the two pieces of walnut on the lid.

I found some Walnut Burl stock on eBay (which turned surprisingly well) and made a nice pen to compliment the box. There is a spot open under the cards to store a pen and paper to keep scores on (she’s a big fan of Gin).

The Finish

The top and sides are the same wood, the only difference is that I oiled those top pieces first with Boiled Linseed Oil and let it cure for a week before coating the whole box with de-waxed shellac which I sprayed on.

I then sprayed on a half a dozen coats of General Finishes High-Performance gloss for the top coat to seal everything up. For the inside, I covered it in flocking which is essentially felt but without the seams.