INLAID WOOD BOX, CELTIC SHARK:

TODAY'S PROJECT Wooden box with Celtic shark on the lid.

I've been sitting, watching the world horrors on TV, (making me feel depressed) the language of the media is terrible. News should be about presenting the facts, not trying to sensationalize the story and influence the thinking on the public. The viewer has the intelligence to workout the truth, if the facts are presented properly. My rant for today.
Instead of feeling angry at things, I have no control over, I have decided to start another project. When I'm working with a piece of wood I feel calm, and am able to manage conic pain better then all the medication that the doctor can prescribe for me. The other night I saw a video on You Tube, "how to draw a Celtic shark" by J S Harris, after practicing a couple of times, I came up with a design.

I then scanned this design into the computer, tided it up with some image editing software. Using a Celtic design, I have used in a past project, for the pattern on the sides, came up with the plans for my next woodwork (maybe better known as woodplay, there is no work involved) project.

 I have made a couple of test panels to see if it will work and what colours may work together.

Choosing the veneers for the inlay, I have selected a piece of Maple or I think it's Maple, that's what the old guy who gave it to me said, and as we don't have much Maple in Australia, I don't have much experience with it. Australian Red Cedar that is at least 150 years old for the inlays. Because of its's age the Cedar is very dry and powdery which makes it very difficult to use. 

Clean up and thickness the timber veneer, the veneer should be no more than 1mm thick, I much prefer to do this using a scraper, then using noisy power tools. It only takes a few minutes with a sharp scraper, it takes longer to setup power tools.

The scraper gives a good finish, without using sandpaper.

Next step, cut out the pattern and glue, with a water based glue to the blank veneer. 

Time to call it a day, I'll start cutting in the inlays tomorrow.