Ribbon Box

I had seen videos of bow carving without steam bending, and this was something I have always wanted to try out. I used this guide and template by Kevin Southwick on PopularWoodoworking.com and adapted it slightly to fit the dimensions and style of my box.

I created 2 ribbon boxes; one that has Maple and Padauk ribbons and the other has Maple and Purple Heart ribbons. The box is made from Cherry and has some bark inclusions that provide a neat texture to the wood. I used Tried & True Original Finish, a beeswax linseed oil finish, that I let soak into the wood and then wiped off.

I made the boxes, which are roughly 4.5" x 4.5", first because the ribbons would have to be cut to the exact dimensions of the box. The boxes are made from Cherry that I milled down to about 5/16" with a 1/4" top and bottom insert that sits in a dado cut into the sides of the box.

For the ribbons, I used double side tape to adhere the template to the Maple/ Padauk and the Maple/ Purple Heart blanks I created. I started by drilling out the bulk of the material using a Forstner bit. To clear out the remaining material, I did not have a scroll saw and instead I tried using a coping saw which did not work as well as expected. I then tried to use a pneumatic rotary tool which was too aggressive, difficult to control, and could not carve the sharp corners. I settled on using chisels to remove the remaining material. Once the inside curves of the ribbons had been cleared, I cut out the individual pieces on the band saw. I used a 1/4" spindle on the spindle sander to sand the pieces to their final shape. Starting at 120 grit and then going to 220 grit, I hand sanded each piece to smooth out the rough spots and to add a slight round over to the edges. Hand sanding was the most time intensive part and took about 8-10 hours to sand both sets of ribbons to 220 grit.

The ribbons that extend down the sides of the box were cut into 1/8" strips from the remaining blanks. Due to the ledge on the top of the box that was caused by the dado insert, I had to cut a rabbit into the ribbon for it to sit flush. Once the side ribbons were glued on, I cut the lid off the box using the table saw and sanded the lid and the bottom flat by taping 80 grit sandpaper to a table. To connect the lid to the bottom of the box, I added a 1/4" wall inside the lid that would slide into the bottom portion of the box.

Applying the finish took about 2 hours because of all the nooks and crannies that the finish needed to penetrate, and then be buffed off. Overall, I think the result looks quite nice despite parts of the bows breaking off during the material removal process. Without a scroll saw, this project is something that I don't plan on attempting again for some time due to the time and labor-intensive hand sanding required.