Secret Letter Box

About the project:

This box was a true labor of love. From design through the end of the build I had just one goal in mind: to get her to say yes. I designed the box to hold the love letters that I had been writing to my now wife since we started dating. What she didn’t know was that hiding in the secret compartment in the base was an engagement ring. Getting the mechanism that holds the drawer closed was one of the most intricate things I’ve ever done. I couldn’t be happier with the way the box turned out, mostly because when the secret compartment was revealed she did in fact say yes.

The box is constructed from gummy cherry which had some beautiful curl to it. The base and the inner liner are made from hard maple. The cherry outer layer was assembled with hand cut dovetails which I showed off through the inclusion of the half size tail in the center. The base and inner liners were mitered and glued to the main box structure. And of course I can’t forget the bass wood kumiko panel that makes up the lid. For this project I went with two of the Asa-no-ha squares side by side in a decorative grid work to help accentuate the pattern in the middle. All of the joints on the entire box were hand cut to ensure they were as accurate as possible.