Stanchions glued in. Used yellow glue rather than hide glue since they are structural. They stood proud of the side. Foolishly, I used a #4 plane, which is as big as the lyre box, to bring down the posts. Only half-way through my first coffee, so naturally I slipped and took a chunk out of the base. Squared the damage with a chisel and inset a piece of rosewood. If I ever need a pick-up, this is where it will go. Lesson learned: small tools for small jobs.

So, brought down the posts with sandpaper. Checked for level and square to the sides. Finally, trued the upper ridge.

With the posts set in place, I glued on the top with yellow glue. Sanded the sides flush to the top. Then sanded the entire box for a couple of hours, running eight steps from 80-grit up to 600-grit. Gaps are visible around the posts, so I’ll fill them, then add banding to cover the flaws.

Here’s the bottom with the patch:

And the finished box:

Everything goes on hold now for a two-day intensive Latin Camp. We’re going to learn PIE to Latin. After all, there just aren’t enough people who can identify an Oscan epenthetic vowel in an Old Latin borrowing.