For the lid lift and drawer handle, I used some ebony salvaged from an 1895 piano headed for the dump. From what I've learned, old pianos cost a lot of money to tune and/or repair...as in thousands of dollars. People end up not wanting them because of this, and once they decide they don't want the piano in their home any more, there's nowhere for it to go. Sad, really.
The box is finished with shellac, then buffed with wax. The finishing process is much more complicated than that simple sentence conveys. It's really 9 steps in all (couple coats of 1# cut shellac, wet sand, more shellac, wet sand, more shellac, wet sand several times, then buff with wax). The result is a beautifully smooth surface that you have to touch to understand.
See my previous post about some of the other construction details.
