Heirlooms by John Grosz
call: 605-280-1242
About Jewelry Boxes....
The jewelry boxes you see here are known as "band saw" boxes. Multiple layers of wood are bonded together to form a block, then following the cutting sequence as outlined in Lois's first book, the individual jewelry box comes into being.
The individuahtv of each creation starts to come into view as the cutting continues, showing the uniqueness of the end grain on each side and top. The creations differ from other woodwork where all efforts are made to cover the end grains. The cutting and glueing continue till the creation is complete in a rough form.
The finish starts with routing, hand craving, grinding and sanding till John feels the jewelry box is ready for the final two steps.
Drawer Flocking
The interior of each drawer is flocked. Meaning a coat of color complementary adhesive is brushed in to the drawr cavity, followed by the applying of matching swede-tex fibers. John prefers to use rich deep colors to enhance the beauty of his creations.
Final Finishing
Clear Satin Polyurethane by the Min-wax Co. is currently being used. Each coat is allowed to cure
for three days, then hand rubbed with very fine steel wool. Eight coats are minimum.
Wood Selections
The beauty of the boxes are two fold. The unique shape of each creation and then the grain of the wood used in the construction of each jewelry box. And of course the polyurethane brings out the color ofthe wood and it's grain. Honduras Mahogany, White Oak, Maple, Hickory, Popular and Walnut are shown. Also have used Pine. John also has Birds-eye Maple and Birch on the lumber rack. And is always on the look-out for a supply of better wood for his art.
Lois Keener Ventura
The designs you see here were created by Lois Keener Ventura who lives today in the Appalachian Mountains. She wrote several books on creating band saw created jewelry boxes. Woodworking was a life long passion of Lois's and we thank her here for her inspiration.