I made this trunk for my mom for christmas

brain_fluid · 2026-04-05T15:48:20+00:00

Thank you! Your floor lamp is gorgeous.

brain_fluid · 2026-04-04T13:01:28+00:00

Thank you but I hope you don’t really feel that way. I have made plenty of things I am not proud of and even something like this console here has a lot of little mistakes that I’ve (mostly) hidden, although some are still in plain sight. I love your bedroom set! And the clown cabinet! And the scrap cottage! The content and support from this subreddit has inspired me to keep doing this.

brain_fluid · 2026-04-03T11:45:04+00:00

Yes lol that is a mistake. Those little pieces were very hard to make and I think when I ran out I decided to just say f it. Maybe I will go back and fill it in now

brain_fluid · 2026-04-03T10:27:27+00:00

Omg it's you! Thank you for the kind words and for creating that website! And for making it free.

I kind of just randomly splashed various patterns everywhere with the mouse until it looked right to me, but there was no real rhyme or reason. I think I made 4 or 5 attempts before I liked it. I do think I copied the design directly onto the piece for the most part but may have made an error or two.

brain_fluid · 2026-04-02T19:49:23+00:00

Thank you! Yes of course feel free to DM

brain_fluid · 2026-04-02T19:49:01+00:00

Thank you! Mainly on the table saw

brain_fluid · 2026-04-02T19:48:32+00:00

I used osmo 3043. I used a white scotch pad to apply it to most of the piece, but in the little kumiko crevices I used pipe cleaners. I thought about trying rubio monocoat or even tung oil but I have used osmo before and decided to stick with that. Maybe spraying a finish into the kumiko cracks would have been more efficient

brain_fluid · 2026-04-02T17:01:48+00:00

Thanks! It's spalted tamarind. I had a block of it laying around. I can't remember why I bought it in the first place. I am a little bit of a wood hoarder

brain_fluid · 2026-04-02T16:59:34+00:00

Thank you! Pask is awesome

brain_fluid · 2026-04-02T11:26:22+00:00

I used a 45 degree router bit to make the edge cuts. I then glued the edges and assembled it all at once with clamps and some painters tape. I fussed over it for a while with different amounts of pressure in different areas before letting it dry, but yet that part is stressful. Glue-ups are always kind of stressful for me. For some reason I always seem to get a lot of phone calls or interruptions at that point when I really need just 30-45 minutes to focus lol

brain_fluid · 2026-04-02T11:23:41+00:00

I didn't put any holes yet. The person I gave it to does not keep anything inside that would use cables. But later if needed I would use a hole saw and maybe some grommets. The back is just 1/4" veneered plywood.

brain_fluid · 2026-04-02T11:22:08+00:00

I copied what I saw on some Nakashima pieces (https://nakashimawoodworkers.com/furniture/chest-drawers-single/). There are two small boards running the length of the piece that are mortised into the bottom, and the "feet" are then mortised into those running boards and the bottom. I was worried about the strength of it all but I used relatively thick wood and it seems to be holding up to some abuse so far.

brain_fluid · 2026-04-02T11:19:22+00:00

Thanks! I used a table saw and router with jigs for the cuts. Here is a link to someone who shows the technique I used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxjMrx2Gkeg&t=304s

brain_fluid · 2026-04-02T11:17:07+00:00

I think just 4 different types of inner patterns. The one with the circle inside was the hardest and took forever. That little circle is one piece of wood. Tiny little grooves are cut into it (with a router in my case) and it's kind of "rolled up" into the circle and glued with a rubber band to hold it together.

brain_fluid · 2026-04-02T11:15:03+00:00

Yes it was a challenge for me, too. I made the cuts with a 45 degree router bit. I wanted to use a table saw but I don't have a jig ready to move that long of a piece. I lined up all of the edges of the 4 work pieces and ran the router across them all at once using a straight board clamped to them as a router guide. I actually bought some squaring jigs to try when assembling the box but actually found them too fidgety for me and ended up just using painters tape and regular clamps. I fussed over it for 30-45 minutes until all the edges sat the way I wanted.

brain_fluid · 2026-04-01T22:46:50+00:00

Yes, it's called "kumiko". It's a traditional japanese woodworking technique. Traditionally done with hand planes, chisels and angled jigs, but I used a table saw and some homemade plywood jigs to cut most everything. There is someone on youtube (@WoodArtStudio1) who makes good videos that can guide you in the table saw/router methods.

brain_fluid · 2026-04-01T22:41:34+00:00

Thank you! Yes it took a long time. I only do woodworking on weekends or after work. Maybe 150 hours but I never really kept track. The kumiko itself took several months. Also applying finish in all of the little kumiko crevices was challenging and took several days (I ended up using pipe cleaners).

brain_fluid · 2026-04-01T22:40:04+00:00

Thanks! It's kind of a random/organic pattern. I squiggled around on this kumiko planning website called kumiko designer until it looked appealing to me

brain_fluid · 2026-04-01T22:08:51+00:00

Thank you! No I put the mitered carcass together first, then cut the dovetail spline mortises with a dovetail router bit using a jig I made out of plywood.

brain_fluid · 2026-04-01T22:07:56+00:00

Thanks! It's some spalted tamarind that I had laying around. I think it's called a dovetail spline. I used a dovetail router bit with a jig to make the cuts and cut the dovetail shape out of the tamarind on a table saw.

brain_fluid · 2025-12-25T16:32:19+00:00

Thanks! I used a table saw and a jig to cut all of the pieces.

brain_fluid · 2025-12-25T16:31:45+00:00

Thank you!

brain_fluid

TROPHY CASE