basic box guide

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130
hello all, a rare mid week day of for me today so i went in my workshop :D

This is how i choose to do my box's- its up to you to find and turn the way which suits you and your tools etc this is only meant as a guide not a strict how to do.

so the blank was mounted between centres and a dovetail spigot made on one end ready for my o-donnell jaws.here it is in my chuck
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mark out where you want the lid to be and form another dovetail spigot for that
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mount the lid in the chuck and hollow out and form a parallel spigot.
it very important that the spigot is as good as you can get it, i check mine with a pair of calliper things!!
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sand and apply your finish now, i do not sand the spigot.
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take the lid out the chuck and mount the base into it, hollow out the majority of the inside
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form a spigot to match your lid, i dont measure it, i get it close to the size then form a taper, i stop and try the fit until it just goes on, it should leave a little burnish mark, i reduce the spigot now to slightly larger than that burnish point and try the fit again, i want a tight jam fit, but not that tight that i cant get it back of!!
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once i'm happy with my fit i sand and finish the inside of the base
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now the lid gets jamed on and i can see how my grain is going to line up.
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i shape the lid at this stage, you can take it on and of tto check the wall thickness as often as you want.
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now i shape the base, and then sand and finish it all.
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now is the make or break point for me, the final fit of the lid!!! some people like them tighter than others but we all agree we dont want them too loose!! :roll: no photos of this bit i was concentrating too hard :lol:


i mount a scrap in the chuck to make into a jam chuck for the base
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jam the base on, i use a little insurance tape here, this wont hold a bit on but it will stop your base flying of and getting damaged
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sand and finish the base- and thats it
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i dont normally make a box from start to finish like this, the fit of this lid should stay o.k but to be sure i would have normally roughed the box out first and set it aside to stabilise before returning it to the lathe to finish.
heres on i did in 2004 so it should be stable by now :roll: :roll:
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to rough turn you partially hollow out of the lid and base, date it tape them together and forget about them for a few months (or years)
be sure to store them in the house eventually but not too soon if the wood was really wet. on the day you want to make the box take it from the house into the workshop and then back into the house dont leave it in the workshop overnight.

please ask any questions
 
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yes Frank - the lid is jammed on, you need a good tight fit but not too tight or you'll either A. never get it back of :eek: or B. split the lid
then once the lid is complete you can take a thou of the tenon and hopefully get a nice suction fit lid.
 
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yes Frank - the lid is jammed on, you need a good tight fit but not too tight or you'll either A. never get it back of :eek: or B. split the lid
then once the lid is complete you can take a thou of the tenon and hopefully get a nice suction fit lid.

Interesting. I would never consider doing it that way unless first shown, by someone like you, that it is a doable technique. Thanks. :thumb:
 
Thanks George.

As a newbie turner, this process will be the starting point of my first real box building project. I have done only one other attempt, which didn't come out too badly.

Thanks again

Joe Penney.
 
George nice tutorial. You and I must have either watched the same video or read the same book. Once or twice bad words were said when I heard that sound and saw the line.:bang: I knew. Oh well that how ya learn. Great job George.
 
Tutorial

Nice post. I learned from Bonnie Klein more than a few years ago. Her old DVDs are still very good. Bernie if I may call you the that its why turner need to get more accurate or have lCA close at hand, Thanks foe all your cogent comments!!
Peter
 
I just went back to look at the photos again, and it says the pictures have been deleted by photobucket. Any way to get them up again?

Ken Easley
 
sorry folks i have had some sort of problem with my photobucket account- all of my pics have been either moved or deleted and i have no back ups.

could admin please remove the affected threads
many thanks
george
 
sorry folks i have had some sort of problem with my photobucket account- all of my pics have been either moved or deleted and i have no back ups.

could admin please remove the affected threads
many thanks
george

D-mned, :( I usually copy a tutorial like this and file it in my tutorial file for reference... didn't get yours done in time. I saw it yesterday, but got interrupted before I could copy it. May still keep the text.
 
o.k but i'd still like the affected threads to be deleted then i when i get time i will re-do them from scratch
sorry about this
 
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