I wanted to experiment with exotic woods. This rib box was made of Purpleheart and (if I recall well) Nigerian Ebony.

Purple Box

Rib boxes are easy to make, you glue the contrasting ribs to one side of a box, then sand it, finish it on the inside before gluing the other sides. In some cases, I cut the long rib in two at about 2/3rds s of the length, whereas the long side of the box was cut at 3/4ths of its length. In this way, the lid and the body of the box can slide upon each other.

Some other models using the same technique:

Driedoosjes

The above three boxes are Congolese “Pay Kongila” black wood ( Thank you Bea), (reddish) tropical Padouk, and (white) local boxwood.