A Custom Walnut Box Built for Juggling Balls
A repeat client came to us with a birthday gift in mind. The friend is a juggler, and the gift was a set of juggling balls. The client wanted a custom walnut box that would store the balls well and complement what was inside. That's the kind of custom order we like most: a person with a specific purpose and a specific friend in mind, and a project built around both.
We looked at the color of the balls and decided walnut would be the main wood. For rigidity, we added maple splines at the corners, so the box would stay solid after plenty of opening and closing.
The finished box is 15 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 4 inches tall. The inside is sized for three balls.
Most box we make has mitered corners with splines for added strength, and this one was no different. The miters give the corners a clean, continuous look, and the splines add rigidity to the joint. The lid was made as part of the box at first, then cut free on the band saw. Doing it that way means the grain on the lid matches the grain on the body, so the box reads as one piece rather than two parts that happen to sit together.
This one took about one to one and a half weeks from rough stock to finished piece, and a good chunk of that time went into making two boxes. The first was a test box. We used it to learn the build and work out the order of steps before touching the piece going to the client. We'd rather make a mistake on the test box than on the one going out the door, so we spent the time up front.
We finished the box with our own blend of beeswax, mineral oil, and tung oil, the same finish we use on our own work.
Custom orders usually start the same way: someone has a person in mind and a reason to build something. If you're thinking about a custom box, a gift, or a piece for a specific person, this is the kind of build we take on. Tell us what the piece is for, who it's for, and what it needs to hold, and we'll talk through the wood, the size, and the build. We're in the Hudson Valley and ship nationwide. Reach out and tell us about your project.
