Turned boxes - 50 designs

[Oldgreybeard]

I have just completed my second life sentence and decided to mark the occassion by emulating Peter's Box turning Journey (Sturdee - post no. 180444)

Apart from improving my skills in turning small lidded boxes, which are almost non-existant, I intend to put into practice the advice given by a number of members in response to my previous post "Modifying 35mm Nova Bowl Jaws" (post # 189737):

"Hotmelt glue your blanks to a scrap of wood" - turnerted

"Most lidded boxes I turn, I friction chuck" - chuck1

"Why not use a jamb chuck" - mobyturns.

My aim is to complete the 50 designs in 100 days and in accepting the advice above I will endeavour to complete the task without using a scroll chuck. I would like to say that I will also only hand sharpen my tools - not use the Tormek, but that may be a bit too ambitious.
JamChuck.jpg
In preparation, I have made up a few lathe accessories.
Left : Arbor and drawbar to suit the Bonnie Kliene threading jig
Centre Glue block mounted to home made faceplate with M30 3.5mm nut
Centre middle: Screw chuck
Centre bottom Glue block to fit threading jig
Right: M30 3.5 nuts and 75 x 5 MS discs still to be welded up.



Probably the most important component is from the 'advice' of ian thorn ("My apologies" 25/10/14 post # 189457) re Strawberry Jam - "Or a jam chuck".


So I quicklJam.jpgy turned up a small bowl and bought the necessary substance.
I hope I got the right brand





In case anyone didn't get the meaning of the first sentence - Maureen & I are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary today - so you will have to forgive me for being a little cheecky

I should get the book in the mail in the next week to ten days and will post some images as I progress through to 50 designs. But I may not post images of each one individually as Peter has done.

Bob

[MaccaMagic]

Happy 50th anniversary. That's awesome.

Looking forward to following your progress

[powderpost]

Congratulations, that is indeed a remarkable achievement. We have 49 years next July.

Jim

[Dengue]

Congratulations on your excellent woodworking achievement, and on your golden wedding anniversary. Well done!
We have our 45th coming up next year. I feel like a young pup along side you great achievers

[Christos]

Another one to follow.

Cool.

[Bluegum]

Great effort bob on both accounts. Gotta be happy mate.

[elderly]

Well done Bob and wife. I have the book and I have made a number of the boxes they are fun to make.
Cheers Frank.

[george mavridis]

Congratulations to both of you.

[Sturdee]

Bob, I'm looking forward to your journey through the book and the boxes you will make.

As I said in my pm I haven't done any for a while as the concentration on accuracy was too demanding whilst I'm coping with new treatment for my cancer and I'm trying to overcome a massive chest/cold infection.

If anyone else is learning making boxes please post them as well.


Peter

[Oldgreybeard]

50designs004e.jpgThe first 5 boxes were completed this week. Image left shows the basic setup I am using to complete this challenge without using a scroll chuck.
I have been surprised at how stong the hotmelt glue and jamb chucks are. The glue block attached to the 75mm face plate feels much safer when working on such small projects as there are no jaws,etc of the scroll chucks waiting to attack unwary fingers.

For each of the boxes, I will upload either the box I have completed based on Chris Stott's design or a variation of that design. In the second case I will include a line drawing from the book of the original design.


Box #1 - Simple box
50designs001a.jpg50designs001b.jpg50designs001c.jpg

This is as per Chris Stott's design.
Wood is Cypress Pine from offcut of fence post
Finish 240, 320 400 grit, EEE followed by Shellewax liquid and Ubeaut Traditional paste wax.

Box #2 - Chinese hat box
50designs002a.jpg50designs002b.jpg50designs002c.jpg

This is as per Chris Stott's design.
Wood is Liquid Amber from tree removed 7 years ago from our front yard.
Finish 240, 320 400 grit, EEE followed by Shellewax liquid and Ubeaut Traditional paste wax.

Box #3 - Onion-top box
50designs003d.jpg50designs003a.jpg50designs003b.jpg50designs003c.jpg

This is a variation of the original design. To my mind, the original finial was too heavy. In addition to refining the shape of the finial, I chose to also reshape the box so that it mimiced the shape of the onion top of the finial.

Wood is Cypress Pine from offcut of fence post
Finish 240, 320 400 grit, EEE followed by Shellewax liquid and Ubeaut Traditional paste wax.

Box #4 - Finial box
50designs004d.jpg50designs004a.jpg50designs004b.jpg50designs004c.jpg

I like finials on boxes and I enjoy turning them, but to me they should be an adornment to the main box - not the main feature of the article - and I would prefer a delicate, refined finial. For these reasons, I chose to do a variation based on Chris's suggestion of a shape which resembled a lidded wine glass.

I refined the shape of the box, but was then confronted by 2 problems;
1. "Slimming" down the top of the finial (down to and including the ball) it lost a lot of the impact of Chris's original design.
2. The shape of the bottom cove of the finial didn't work - it made it look as though the finial was an after thought rather than a integral part of the project.

I re-turned the finial and stetched and narrowed the bottom cove so that the line of the box flowed up and through the finial. To my surprise, what resulted resembled not a wine glass, but a wine decanter with a turned bottle stopper. I like it and will eventually scale it up to a full size bottle - made in oak and storing a good Tawny Port!

Wood is Liquid Amber from tree removed 7 years ago from our front yard.
Finish 240, 320 400 grit, EEE followed by Shellewax liquid and Ubeaut Traditional paste wax.

Box #5 - Easy box.

50designs005a.jpg50designs005b.jpg50designs005c.jpg

This is as per Chris Stott's design.
Wood is Red Gum recovered from house being re-blocked.
Finish 240, 320 400 grit, EEE followed by Shellewax liquid and Ubeaut Traditional paste wax.

I am enjoying the challenge and would appreciate your C & C, particulary in respect of the design changes which I made.

Bob

[Ron Rutter]

Ah you guys are a bunch of kids!!. We celebrated our 60th this past September!

Those boxes are beautiful!! Well done, & congrats!! Ron.

[Oldgreybeard]

Ah you guys are a bunch of kids!!. We celebrated our 60th this past September!

Those boxes are beautiful!! Well done, & congrats!! Ron.

Thanks for the comments, Ron and belated congratulations to you and your wife on your 60th anniversary.
Bob

[michael_m]

They are gorgeous boxes

I think your design changes are improvements, particularly the changes to the onion box. I agree it looked too top-heavy in the original and I like the mirroring of shape between box and finial.

[Sturdee]

Bob,

Reading your posts is a bit like being in a time warp. I love the boxes and will be following your posts with interest as you go along.

I have been absent from my box turning journey mainly because of health and other jobs that needs doing but plan to go back to them during the holidays.

Hopefully you don't catch up to me in that time.

Peter.

[Oldgreybeard]

Thanks Peter.

Time to crack the whip with the medicos and get back in the shed - I am ONLY 32 boxes behind hahaha!! Seriously, I hope your health is improving and we can look forward to seeing more of your boxes in the near future.

Bob