The only things left to do are adding the handle and applying the finish. First, the handle:
The handle is made from the same round stock as the lock bolt, bent to shape. I tried making fancy ends, but that didn’t really work out so I opted for a more minimalist look. The brackets are strips of steel formed by folding around a piece of round bar and then clamping in the vise.
I marked the slots on the lid, drilled a few holes and cleaned out the rest with a chip carving knife.
The handle hardware was blackened using the same process as the rest of the metal. The handle itself got two coats of oil.
The handle assembly ready to be installed.
A few taps with a rubber mallet did the trick nicely.
Here you can see the ends of the brackets on the bottom side of the lid.
I spread the ends of the brackets by levering them apart with an old chisel, then did most of the bending by hand. A couple of hammer taps finished the job.
The last thing to do was applying a coat of boiled linseed oil to the whole box, inside and out, wood and metal. I plan to do a couple more coats later, but I think this is pretty much the final appearance. This was, as usual, a very enjoyable project. It’s always nice to see a complex object that began as very simple raw materials.
