| To
start, mount your blank between centers. I used a
piece of Cocobolo 2" square, 5" long. Notice
I am using a safety drive, this is a dead cup center
used on the drive end. The reason for this is in the
case of a catch when roughing the stock will simply
stop while the drive spins eliminating the chance
of a catch sending the small piece flying. |
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| With
the piece roughed out, cut tenons on both ends for
the 4-jaw chuck to grip. Then make a parting cut with
the 1/16" parting tool to separate them. |
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| With
the lid and body separated, mount the lid in the chuck
and begin to hollow out the inside of the lid. Take
care to leave enough depth for the tenon on the body
to be able to fit into the lid completely or the box
will not seat completely. |
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| Once
the inside of the lid is turned sand to 600 and finish
with the friction polish. You want to finish the inside
of the lid now as you won't be able to come back to
it. |
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| Take
a quick measurement of the recess on the inside of
the lid. This will help you determine when you are
getting close to the final fit. The true test however
is constant test fits of the lid until you get what
you're looking for, a good snug (not tight) fit that
"pops" when you pull the lid off. |
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| Using
a skew chisel in a shear cutting mode, turn the tenon
for the lid to fit on. To shear cut, bring the tool
rest up a bit higher, lay the skew on it's side and
start with the bevel rubbing. Once you find the bevel,
bring it down until the skew starts to shear cut the
lip on the body to size. You can see in the picture
that the cutting edge should hit about the 10:30 position.
Do not sand the lip. The reason for shear cutting
is to get a clean edge so you don't have to sand.
Sanding the lip can cause it to become less than perfectly
round and can affect the fit of the lid. (Sanding
can cause a "locking lid" where the lid
becomes tight when you turn it 1/2 way and loose when
you turn it further...this affect is undesireable
in a good box.) |
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| Remember
to check the fit OFTEN!!! The one time you
forget to check or decide keep cutting without checking
the fit, will be the one time the fit is loose. |
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| Once
you have the fit correct, align the grain and put
the lid on the body and bring the tailstock up into
the same indention you made with the cup when roughing
the piece. Tighten the tailstock, this will keep the
lid in place and if the fit is good, the lid will
not spin much if at all. If the fit is a little loose,
sandwich a piece of paper towel in between the body
and lid to keep it from moving. |
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| Commence
turning the outside of the box as a single piece.
This will give the form better overall continuity
and will help it flow from top to bottom. Start on
either side of the join trying not to turn away the
material near the join too much, you don't want to
make the wall where the lid meets the lip weak. Once
you have the form right, lightly blend the area around
and over the join with the square shear scraper to
match the rest. If you want to hide the join, cut
a few beads or grooves above and below the join and
bevel the join slightly. This will make the viewer
wonder which is the join and can add interest. |
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| Turn
the piece as much as possible without removing the
tailstock 'nub' as pictured here. Notice the amount
of wood I left behind the piece. This will be used
later as a jam chuck to turn the bottom of the box
body. |
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| Sand
and finish the piece with the friction polish as much
as possible while the tailstock is still engaged. |
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| With
the tailstock still applying pressure apply a couple
of wraps of masking tape around the join. Then using
the parting tool, cut the nub away from the finial,
leave just enough to give you material to turn away
and finish the finial. |
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| Remove
the tailstock from the piece and finish turning the
finial. Sand and polish it to finish. |
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| Remove
the masking tape and re-buff the area around the join.
I use a section of the paper towel I use to polish
to apply pressure to the lid with one hand while polishing
around the join with the other. Otherwise the lid
may come loose and fly off. When your done polishing,
keep pressure on the lid while you turn off the lathe. |
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| Remove
the lid and hollow out the inside of the box body.
The lip should be thin enough to be appealing but
thick enough to not break while pulling the lid off.
About a 1/16" or so is usually good, but use
your best judgement based on the type of wood being
turned. Use the radius scraper to finish off the inside
of the box and the bottom curve. |
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| Sand
and polish the inside of the box to finish. |
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| Part
the body off of the extra "waste" wood.
Don't forget to hold the box while you finish parting
so it doesn't go flying off the lathe. |
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| Use the
"waste" wood to create a jam block. Cut
a tenon that fits into the inside of the box as tight
as possible. Leave the outer most diameter of the
jam block as close to the diameter of the outside
of the box as possible. If you want, you can then
wrap the box and jam block with masking tape for added
security. |
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| Jam the
body onto the jam block, tape if desired and finish
the bottom of the box. You can also refine the bottom
sides of the form if you desire. Sand and polish
to finish and remove from the jam block. |
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| Your box
is now finished! Enjoy! |
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