Two More Boxes

This time from Maple.........


Just a piece of hard Maple, simple little thing, lid fits just right

I did have an interesting discovery on this one, I was really, really struggling to get a nice clean cut on the bottom inside of the box, the end-grain, I was using a square nosed scraper sharpened like I thought it was supposed to be, no joy.

I went back and watched the AAW sharpening DVD, Bonnie Kline talks about sharpening this tool, and I thought I had followed her instructions, turns out I missed the small point about the front of the tool having a very slight curve or radius to it Did that, and BOY does it work, no catches and man did I get a nice cut!


Again Maple, but this time I tried some of the blue pigment stain I have........

...... it was put on over a coat of sanding sealer, but it still looks very blotchy and I'm not real impressed with this stuff, can't wait till the dye gets here!

Cheers!

Stu those are some beauties. Not sure I like the blue but thats just me. Well done. I like the forms.

Hi Stu ,
Those little round boxes are so cute. I like them both and think the blue one will not sell as fast but would go for a higher price.
Keep pushing the limit.
I remember turning a piece one time after I had soaked a dowel rod in dye for a while, let it dry, forstner a few holes in the turning block, insert with glue the colored dowel and turn on lathe. Thought of this as you mentioned the dye.
Lovely pieces.
Shaz

Thanks guys.

I don't like the pigment stain blue as well, but it was an experiment, like you say Shaz, you got to keep pushing to find out what works and what does not, this one will likely stay "In the family"

Man, you're getting the box-making thing down, Stu. I agree with you on the blue one, but you did a great job on both.

Little turned boxes are addictive. Those are nice Stu. Did you put a radius on both sides of the square end?

I personally think the blue would look great if you sanded the top back down to natural color. The contrast of the sides bleeding into the blue back into the top being natural.......I'd buy it for sure!!!

Yeah Stu, nice smooth looking inside, well a roundnose scraper works very well for small objects, like your lidded box.
When bigger I use the hollowing rig in combination with a multifacenet scraper. I made these scrapers from a 2mm thick skating blade, works well too.

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Stu, you are progressing really rapidly on your boxes. I am not too sure about the blue but I do understand your desire to do something about the "plainness" of the maple. I am looking into lots of options for doing something to some of the maple I have for boxes. Even if it has curl it can be hard to display to its best advantage in a box and the end grain usually had little or nothing of interest.

It is nice when the fit is right, isn't it? That is what it is all about for us box turners!

Lookin' good, Stu! I've gotta try these some day.

Stuart Ablett said:

This time from Maple.........

View attachment 14810 View attachment 14811

I went back and watched the AAW sharpening DVD, Bonnie Kline talks about sharpening this tool, and I thought I had followed her instructions, turns out I missed the small point about the front of the tool having a very slight curve or radius to it Did that, and BOY does it work, no catches and man did I get a nice cut!

Click to expand...

Stu, one thing I have done to my square scrapers besides creating a slight radius from the left corner to the right one is to create a slight round on the left corner so you don't have a dead square corner inside the box. I have also relieved the entire left side of the scraper so that the bottom edge does not come into contact with the side of the box. Another thing I found that helps is to remove the burr after sharpening and hone the top with a diamond stone. I feel that a sharp burr has a tendency to self feed more than a sharp edge.