Wooden Handbag/Brief Case_Array of Leaves : 9 Steps

When it comes to the bag making, wood may be the last material in one’s mind because of its inflexibility, heavy weight, and weak weather resistance. This project was one of the trials to make a useful light-weight wooden handbag/brief case revisiting and appreciating the beauty of the natural color and texture of the material.

Step 1: Design & Drawing

The wooden body of this bag consists of two parts: front part and rear part. Each part is 14.5” wide, 9.2” high, and 0.80” in depth, and to be carved out from a 17” wide, 10.5” high, and 0.825” deep wood slab by CNC machine (Shopbot Buddy) based on the drawings below. To exhibit two different woods, 4 leaves and 16 leaves were polar arrayed with a gradually changing rotational gradient on both parts respectively. I designed and drew these in AutoCAD.

Step 2: Woods and Bits

I chose Padauk for the wooden body of this bag because Padauk is weather resistant and has beautiful orange/red color (this color will be getting darker, dark red/brown as it is aging and exposed to sun light). For the array of leaves to be inlaid to the Padauk, white oak was used.

Bits used for the project Endmills for CNC carving and cutting: 0.5”, 0.25”, 0.125”, 0.0625” V bit for CNC inlay work: 0.25” Round-over bit for table router: 0.25” Slot cutter bit for table router: 0.125”

Step 3: CNC Carving and Cutting

Step 4: Inaly

1. CNC work: 0.25” 60 degree V bit was used.

Pocket depth: 0.15” Inlay start depth: 0.08”, Inlay flat depth: 0.12”

2. Glue both part and clamp

3. Cut away the inlay part with band saw, and smoothen the pocket part with palm sander

Step 5: Round Edge and Combine Rear Part

1. Round edges of both front and rear part, using table router with 0.25” round-over bit

2. Make a 0.1875” deep slot on the upper/lower joint of the rear part using table router with 0.125” slot cutter bit 3. Insert 0.125” diameter metal rod in the lower joint slot and cap with same Padauk wood piece. 4. Insert the lower joint with rod into the upper joint slot and cap with same Padauk wood piece.

Step 6: Complete Front and Rear Parts

1. Apply two coats of shellac on the both inside and outside of the front and rear part.

2. Now it is ready to combine the front part and rear part into one with wood glue. 3. Apply two coats of spar urethane on the outside of the combined one