The walnut used for this project came from my friends at Horizon Lumber in Pennsylvania. There is nothing quite like starting a project with such such an inspiring piece of wood in front of you...

The box is a actually a set of four boxes: the outer box (in walnut), and the three inner boxes (in pear.) The inner boxes all have removable inserts to maximize storage options.

Part of the design criteria was that you be able to both charge and play an iPod without removing it from the box. A set of removable, shop-made plywood inserts allows the player to either be stored flat of plugged into the Dock. Cutouts in the back of the box allow wires to run where they need to.

Detail. Dovetailed construction for the boxes, frame-and-panel for the lid.

The box itself is joined with internally-splined miters, and edged with silver. Lined inserts hold the ring in place. The silver inlay in the lid is drilled all the way through the top.

Box with lid closed. All four sides come from one small piece of Macassar Ebony.

The top is inlaid with various gauges of silver wire. The pattern itself represents the map of the sky on the evening of January 18, 2007

The silver banding around the edges are mitered and "riveted" into place with silver wire.

The sides, lid, and bottom of the box are made from one piece of 150 year-old Longleaf Pine, a species once found throughout the southeastern United States and Gulf Coast and historically used for ships, spars, bridges, flooring, and railroad carriages. The wood is hard, durable, and has a nice...well, pine scent.

The pegs, which lock the lid into place, are made from Texas Ebony, a species native to southwestern Texas. The inside of the box is lined with a velvet pad, making it ideal for jewelry storage. The lid itself is reversible, and the pins are interchangeable. The original salvaged floor joist is shown below the box.

The idea behind this piece was to make a small jewelry box whose decorative elements all derive from a particular function: the notched keys are left extended to facilitate their removal; the shaped top serves as finger-grips when opening and closing the lid; the exposed box joints on the corners provide an extremely strong and long-lasting connection.

The design of the box was completely driven by the wood itself. Rather than using an exotic (and most likely endangered) species, I thought it would be nice to use local, reclaimed wood, in this case, longleaf pine. The heavy grain pattern of the pine lent itself to a sort of Japanese aesthetic, which in turn informed the joinery and details I used. Plus, I was excited to make something out of wood that literally came from Houston.