I recently read an article about roasting wood in Pop Wood and was fascinated.  I tried an oven-full of scraps/shorts and this box was the first project result.  The slides of this box are in maple, that I roasted at 360 for four hours.  It takes on a rich brown color, but the depth really increases as well.  

For the top and little insert that holds and lifts the top, I went with cherry.  I wanted complement, not contrast and I think that does it.  As the cherry darkened a bit, I like it even more.  The straight grain calms the maple that was on the verge of too wild; and the little pin knot with the streak of extra color is my favorite part.

I'm a little disappointed with the grain match around the box and from top to bottom.  I did resaw and bookmatch one piece, which should have given a good match.  Normally I would also flip the board inside out, but the roasted color was better on the outside, so I went with that - maybe that was my downfall.  

  

I wanted to experiment with some different shaping designs/techniques, so I made this pair of toothpick dispensers/salt shakers.  One has chamfers that increase in size and also alternate direction.

The other is more fluid.  It is square at the bottom and more of a diamond at top, but in a flowing transition.  Pictures don't do these justice with the light colored maple.  

My assistant is retiring at the end of the year, so I made this serving tray as a thank you gift.  It is similar to a design from a year or so ago, but a bit narrower, has more splay to the ends, and is in red oak with a book-matched solid bottom.

I shaped the edges similarly, with a roundover that increases towards the middle, but this time I left the outside edge as a sharp corner.  I like the contrast between hard and soft edges and I think it makes the inside edge design pop more.

For Christmas, my parents wanted me to make a second rolling cabinet for their camper, matching one I made two years ago.  

It was interesting to go through a process again with so much time - and hopefully more skill - in between.  Many parts of the build went more smoothly than I remember.  In particular, building and attaching the face frame and rear panels was much easier with Dominos.  Last time I did it with splines and brads.

I do still get frustrated working in plywood.  It just seems too easy to plane or sand through the veneer.  Also, I made the same mistake I made two years ago with the hinges.  The description on Lee Valley does not make the overlap measurement obvious and my design different from the hinges.  I ended up buying some adapters - a waste of money if I would have taken better notes or had better memory.

One more box
Showing off the last boxes led to a little commission from our friend Elizabeth for a small box to use as a salt cellar.  The box, bottom, and pull are cherry.  The top was more of that book-matched poplar panel I made up from some wood a neighbor pulled out of their attic.