well it's done, learned a lot and also am left with questions on finishing.
the small scale of this sort of project magnifies every little mistake. i chose a Watco danish oil finish with a few coats of wax. I'm left a little disappointed in the result with patches of a nice satiny gloss, and then some dull spots. perhaps not the best finishing schedule for redwood.
Previously, I mentioned having built the carcass wide. I saw no alternative but to remake the tail boards, 1/16" shorter. I traced them off the pins of the front and back, which is the reverse of how I normally do this operation (tails-first). the results are what they are. this is very delicate wood and fractures across the grain very easily. had to bob off the bottom of the pool on my toes to get one nostril above the waterline.
a note on these hinges. Brusso makes them. they're kind of like regular butt hinges, but htey stop at 95deg opening. I had to prune the screws a bit in order to not punch through the lid. The hinges are marvelously made, but I dont think i'll be using the 95deg kind again as I don't like the load they might put on the screws. A heavy handed user might wear out the threads of this soft redwood pretty quick. we'll just have to see.
These hinges were my first chance to use the new Lee Valley mini router plane. it was a joy to work with.
Just enough of lift off these little feet to hover the box over the surface a bit.
