Sailors Valentine Boxes & display stands – ready to ship

All the boxes and display stands shown on this page are on the shelf and ready to ship unless marked "SOLD".  
Boxes that have been sold are removed from this page periodically.


If you don't see what you want below, you can order boxes made from cherry, walnut, mahogany or maple by clicking here or contacting us by email or telephone.  Custom boxes are available in a wide variety of woods and styles.  Inlays and accents are available to suit your tastes.  

How to remove and install glass in boxes with tight fitting glass trim

click on images to enlarge 

Extras to add to your box order

Additional shipping charges above our standard shipping rates may apply if Art Glass or Mat Boards are ordered without the purchase of the corresponding size Sailors Valentine box.  

"acid-free" mat board

Select by picking the size of your SV
Box and the color of your choice.
If you are buying a mat; but, you are
not ordering a box, then enter a
dimension in the blank space at the
bottom (cut my mat to this width)
click here for pics of mat colors
add mat board
mat board colors
more mat board colors
cut my mat to this width:
click here to learn how to reduce
warping of mat boards
when using water based glues
Glass Trim Removal Tool
#Tool04
click here to see How
To use this tool to remove
the glass in our
Sailors Valentine Boxes
click arrow for
other quantities

“Good value” boxes

The glass is removable, the glass molding is recessed, and the back panel (made of secondary wood) is fixed to the box. 
4" Walnut w/Ebony Trim
“Good Value” 
(3-5/16” x 3/4” inside)
click for options
6" Birds Eye Maple
Golden Amber Stain
“Good Value” 
(5” x 15/16” inside)
click down arrow for options
10" Poplar - Painted Gloss White
“Good Value”
(8-7/8” x 1” inside)
click for options
12" Peruvian Walnut
“Good Value” 
(10-3/4” x 1-1/4” inside)
click down arrow for options
12" Cherry w/Ebony Accent
“Good Value” 
(10-3/4” x 1-3/8” inside)
click for options

“Front/Back Loading” boxes

Both the glass and the back panel are removable. The glass trim pieces are sanded flush with the top edge of the box. The back panel is made of cabinet grade plywood that resembles the wood used for the sides of the box.
8” Plain Maple
"Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints
(7” x 1-1/16” inside)
click for options
8” Cherry  
"Front/Back Loading” 
Deep Box w/plain joints
(6-7/8” x 1-7/8” inside)
click for options
8” Black Walnut
"Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints
(7” x 1” inside)
click for options
8” Curly Walnut "A"
"Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints
(7” x 1-1/16” inside)
click for options
8-7/8” Ebonized Tiger Maple
(Black over Brown Stain)
"Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints
(7-3/4” x 1-3/16” inside)
click for options
9” Honduras Mahogany
"Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints
(7-7/8” x 1-1/4” inside)
click for options
10" Spalted Maple
"Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints
(8-7/8” x 1-3/16” inside)
click down arrow for options
10" Tiger Maple "A"
w/Bluegreen Accents
"Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints
(8-7/8” x 1-1/8” inside)
click for options
10" Tiger Maple "C"
w/Bluegreen Accents
"Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints
(8-7/8” x 1-1/8” inside)
click for options
10" Tiger Maple
"Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints
(8-7/8” x 1-1/8” inside)
click for options
10" Cherry
"Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints
(8-7/8” x 1-1/4” inside)
This item is SOLD
Contact us for one like this or
for something similar.
10" Tiger Maple w/Double Stain Accents
"Front/Back Loading” 
w/plain joints
(8-3/4” x 1-1/8” inside)
click for options
12” Mahogany
“Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints 
(10-5/8” x 1-1/8” inside)
click for options
12” Plain Maple
“Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints 
(10-3/4” x 1-5/16” inside)
click for options
12” Cherry
“Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints 
(10-3/4” x 1-5/16” inside)
click for options
12” Plain Maple
“Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints 
(10-3/4” x 1-5/16” inside)
click for options
12” Honduras Mahogany
“Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints 
(10-3/4” x 1-1/4” inside)
click for options
15" Tiger Maple w/Single Stain Accents
"Front/Back Loading” 
w/mortise & tenon joints
(13-3/4” x 1-11/16” inside)
This item is SOLD
Contact us for one like this or
for something similar.

“Front Loading” boxes

The glass is removable, but the back panel (made of wood that resembles the sides of the box) is fixed into the box. The glass trim pieces are sanded flush with the top edge of the box.
8” Tiger Maple
 “Front Loading” 
w/plain joints 
(7" x 1" inside)
click for options
8” Padauk
 “Front Loading” 
w/plain joints 
(7" x 1" inside)
click for options

10" Octagonal Frames with Domed Glass

The domed glass comes separate and is to be glued in place once your shell design is complete.
Unlike our 3" and 5" ornament boxes which are made from a single block of wood, our 10" octagonal frames with domed glass are made from 8 separate pieces of wood that are assembled with mortise & tenon joints for strength. Unlike the smaller ornament boxes, these 10" frames have a removable back panel so that once the domed glass has been glued in place, you can still access your artwork should the need arise.

Click here for current inventory of 3" and 5" ornament boxes.
10” Octagonal Frame
Peruvian Walnut
(8-3/16" diameter x 1-1/4”
under the center of the domed glass)
This item is SOLD
Contact us for one like this or
for something similar.

display stands

For 3" Mini Boxes
- Cherry -
$45.00

Mortise and Tenon Joints vs simple butt joints

Box sides prepared for a
front/back loading box with
Mortise and Tenon joints.
Box sides prepared for a
front/back loading box with
simple butt joints.
Mortise and tenon joinery is great insurance against glue joint failure due to poor gluing technique or differential expansion and contraction between the sides of a box and a back panel that has been glued into a box with glue that is inflexible when it dries.  Mortise and tenon joinery can also help resist glue joint failure due to wood that may warp due to the expansion and contraction of wood that occurs when the moisture content of the wood changes.  Mortise and tenon joinery can also keep the box from breaking if it is accidentally dropped onto a hard surface.  I recently looked carefully at a group of Sailors Valentines on display at a gallery.  Every Sailors Valentine on display had at least one of the eight joints in the box that was at least partially separated.  That's the sign of glue joint failure.  

The strength of a simple butt joint depends entirely on the strength of the glue and the use of good gluing technique.  I have purchased several inexpensive Sailors Valentine boxes sold on eBay and other venues over the years and tested their strength by dropping them on my shop floor.  Every one of them broke in at least one of their joints on the first drop.  The same would be true for the boxes I make with simple butt joints.  They may survive a fall onto a plush carpet, but falling onto a hard surface is another story.

I visited a local frame shop to test the strength of simple butt joints fortified with V-nails. V-nails are commonly used by framers to strengthen the joints in rectangular picture frames. We tested three octagonal frames that I had made for the purpose of the test. One box was given a single V-nail in each joint; one box was given two V-nails in each joint; and the third box was given three V-nails in each joint. Each box was dropped onto the concrete floor from a height of about five feet. At least one joint in each of the three boxes broke the first time the box was dropped. V-nails might keep joints from separating due to changes in humidity; but, they do not provide the strength of mortise and tenon joinery from impact loads.

In contrast, the much superior strength of a mortise and tenon joint is due to the added strength of the wood tenon which spans across the glue line between two adjacent box sides.  For a mortise and tenon joint to break, not only does the glue line have to break, but the tenon has to break.  Considering that the grain in the tenon runs perpendicular to the glue joint, it is very, very unlikely that the tenon would break unless the box were being deliberately abused.  I tested the strength of my mortise and tenon joints by dropping four different boxes three times each from a height of about five feet so that a corner of the box hit the concrete floor of my workshop.  Not once did a joint break during these tests.  
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