First turned box

Addicted! You are now officially addicted. Good on you. Looking good. Looks like poplar? You have the mechanics down. Finesse will come. Keep at it!
 
Thanks Carol, not poplar, maple. I always wondered about turned boxes. Now I 'get ' why they're so fun!
When I parted the top off I lost the material in the center, so I get to turn a finial. Plus it needs a coat of wax or some such.

Ned
 
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Honestly, Ned I don't know why you think it needs a finial. I think it looks great just as it is.

The beauty in a turned box to me is how carefully you choose the wood, particularly the end grain which is in some ways the most prominent part of a box. If the end grain is dull you can inlay a contrasting piece of wood to brighten it up and make it beautiful. I do that all the time with plain old maple, curly maple, quilted maple and birdseye maple. The long grain of those woods is beautiful but the end grain is blah. Inlaying something else to dress it up makes a bland box into something special.

For example here is a maple box with a scrap of koa inlaid into the top.Maple-Koa 1-1 (Small).jpgIMG_1598 Open 6X4 (Small).JPG
 
Honestly, Ned I don't know why you think it needs a finial. I think it looks great just as it is.

The beauty in a turned box to me is how carefully you choose the wood, particularly the end grain which is in some ways the most prominent part of a box. If the end grain is dull you can inlay a contrasting piece of wood to brighten it up and make it beautiful. I do that all the time with plain old maple, curly maple, quilted maple and birdseye maple. The long grain of those woods is beautiful but the end grain is blah. Inlaying something else to dress it up makes a bland box into something special.

For example here is a maple box with a scrap of koa inlaid into the top.View attachment 86236View attachment 86237

Mike, when I parted off the lid from the blank everything was going fine... until the last 1/4 "... which broke off and stayed with the scrap part. It just tore out, leaving a rough edge. Design mod opportunity, not that I had much of a design beyond 'make a box.' I'm about to head back out to the shop, I'm visiting friends and want to turn a NE bowl for them.
 
Nice box, Ned. You're hooked for sure. Now firewood will never look the same and if you hear chainsaws in the neighborhood you will go see if it's turnable and beg a few chunks, and you will always slow down to check out every pile of wood you see out by the curb.:thumb::D:thumb:
 
Great job Ned!! Print off Mikes tutorial if you haven't all ready...the Gold standard by which all others are judged. You are on a roll!!
 
Mike, when I parted off the lid from the blank everything was going fine... until the last 1/4 "... which broke off and stayed with the scrap part. It just tore out, leaving a rough edge. Design mod opportunity, not that I had much of a design beyond 'make a box.' I'm about to head back out to the shop, I'm visiting friends and want to turn a NE bowl for them.

Ned, somehow the fact that you ended up with a hole in the lid totally escaped me. I still think that you could inlay a contrasting piece of wood that would be visible from both sides. I re-read your post and now understand that you first hollowed the lid and then parted it off from the main blank. If you are going to use that technique you have to 'measure twice' and leave enough wood to keep that splitting from happening. If you follow the box turning steps advised by Raffan that kind of thing will not happen very often.

I suggest you spend a couple of dollars and buy Richard Raffan's video and book entitled Turning Boxes. The hollowing can be done without a Forstner bit. I can hollow out a box in less time than it takes you to set up and use a Forstner. The inside rounded hollow you have could be cleaned up/squared up in just a minute or two with a square scraper. Square boxes should have an interior that closely resembles/mimics the exterior.

Learning to use a square scraper is an important step in creating boxes with suction fit lids.

If you are interested I will be happy to send you a PDF of one of my box turning articles. Just PM an e-mail address.
 
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Ned, somehow the fact that you ended up with a hole in the lid totally escaped me. I still think that you could inlay a contrasting piece of wood that would be visible from both sides. I re-read your post and now understand that you first hollowed the lid and then parted it off from the main blank. If you are going to use that technique you have to 'measure twice' and leave enough wood to keep that splitting from happening. If you follow the box turning steps advised by Raffan that kind of thing will not happen very often.

I suggest you spend a couple of dollars and buy Richard Raffan's video and book entitled Turning Boxes. The hollowing can be done without a Forstner bit. I can hollow out a box in less time than it takes you to set up and use a Forstner. The inside rounded hollow you have could be cleaned up/squared up in just a minute or two with a square scraper. Square boxes should have an interior that closely resembles/mimics the exterior.

Learning to use a square scraper is an important step in creating boxes with suction fit lids.

If you are interested I will be happy to send you a PDF of one of my box turning articles. Just PM an e-mail address.

Mike,
I have watched (albeit not recently) Richard Raffan's box video. I'll drop you a PM for the pdf, always happy to get more knowledge! Thanks!

Also, I ordered a better square scraper from PSI yesterday, hope to have it sometime later this week even with cheaping out on shipping. It's only coming from Philadelphia after all.

All in all, I'm very pleased with this box. It was my First box, and I assure you it won't be my last one.
 
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