Small Box With Bullet

A friend of mine wanted a simple box to put something in. I had just recently read Chris Schwarz's article in Popular Woodworking on the making the 1839 School Box (from the book "Joiner and Cabinet Maker"), and using it as inspiration I thought this box project would be the perfect application to sharpen my limited skills at handcut dovetails. I had scavenged some rough sawn mesquite and even rougher sawn walnut off of Craigslist and never having worked with either, I decided to use a bit of both on the box. I started by ripping the mesquite boards to rough width and running them through my planer. I had just replaced the blades in the planer, so it was cutting very nicely when I looked down at the outfeed table and saw a slivver of metal in the mesquite. My heart sank. The brand new blades were ruined. I grabbed a screwdriver and disgustedly poked at the metal to try and pry the metal out of the board, but it was too soft. Soft?! It was lead. It was a bullet! (My blades were safe!) I called my friend up and told him he had a decision to make. Did he want the bullet side of the board on the outside or the inside? "Bullet side out! (Of course.)," he said. But that wasn't the only surprise this project had in store for me. The two walnut boards I had were very rough cut, 8/4 (2" thick), about 10" wide, and about 10' long. One of the boards looked broken off on one end and since I only needed a short board for the top, I decided to cut the top of the box from that end of the board. I used my radial arm saw to cut the piece as close to the end as I could, then took the board over to the planer and ran it through. After a pass or two, the most spectacular flaming fountain figure emerged from the board. I was absolutely stunned. I had never seen anything like it. The rest of the project was less eventful. I finished the box and made some interior boxes from bits of aromatic cedar I had laying around the shop and sent the box home with my friend.