Lattice Box

[Tony Morton]

Well the day with a nice conkerberry blank and as I got into it I found cracks hairline,so out with the super glue the outer surface was perfect but when I started inside a couple of pieces let go so that was the end of the conkerbrry blank I had cut up a log 600 long x 150 diam penblanks and intarsia wood, yes Ken a good piece would be good for the project. No 7 a tallowood burl blank turned beautifly achieved a result my challange complete I have photos of the progress but from different blanks so when i coordinate them I will put them on.

Cheers Tony

[ElizaLeahy]

What's the yellow wood?

These look great! They are on my list of things to try, but I have a feeling (from the one failure that I have) that my skills aren't on this level yet.

They really do look beautiful :)

[Tony Morton]

hi Eliza

The one on the left is tallowood burl and the other is conkerberry ,
cheers Tony

[kdm]

Nice box, shame about the conkerberry.

I'm looking forward to some WIP photos - I don't have a clue how this is done!!

[ElizaLeahy]

shame about the breaks - but my it's a pretty wood!

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Yes, shame about the conkerberry. :C

I started one today - or rather, a lattice insert for a pot-pourri box in the box challenge - and had finished cutting all the rings, when I noticed a slight chip out on the outermost edge while it was offset chucked.

So I thought "a quick touch of the scraper will fix that..."

I think it did. I don't really know... 'cos it did a and took off down the drive, disappearing into several square metres of undergrowth.

Bugger. :B

Somehow I don't think my WIP will make it online... yours will have to stand by itself. :;

[Ozkaban]

I like those lattice things. Will have to give one a try one of these days.

I assume you aim for square sides to each groove and a square bottom. How do you achieve this when it's one a mm or two wide? Which tool do you use?

Cheers,
Dave

[Tony Morton]

Hi Dave
Yes the grouves are square although Hans takes a small chamfer off the topedges of his. The tool is basicly a square scraper about 1mm wide and to get round the radias of the first rings its tapered away at the botton see photo.

Cheers Tony

PS Have most of photos now will upload tonight.

[tea lady]

Geezz That's small. Tony :pi: Wonder if I can have a go at that "wrong" cheapy spindle gouge to make one? :think::D

[Tony Morton]

This is the lattice box made from boxwood by Hans Weisfogg at Turnfest 2006 and again at Turnfest 2008 that inspired me to take up the challange to make these boxes number 8 attempt today, yes I had a blow out today one grouve not quite deep enough on the top then when I tried to open up the underside I went too far and lost the first five rings on the middle but it is a way of learning the importance of accuracy.

Ken I didnt have any olive wood but have some native olive from Tasmania it worked well.

Cheers Tony

[Tony Morton]

Photos and notes Lattice Lidded box

1 Blank 60mm in diameter x about 50 mm high rounded and parting off aprox 15mm for lid.
2 Ditto
3 underside of lid mark centre with point of skew and 20mm radius
4 drill 2 x 6 mm holed about 8 mm deep to allow for mounting an chuck on right.
5 mount on chuck and true face dead flat this will become the top of lid , cut 1x1mm rebate on edge of face this will act as depth mark for grouves.
6 Remount lid offset on chuck and mark centre when spinning with point of skew
7 Drill 1mm hole imm deep
8Proceed to cut grouves with scraper to the depth of 1mm the first three you will have to guess as they wont reach the edge with the depth mark on it. Stop the lathe and check after each cut too shallow and the cut from back wont come through and too deep and you willbreak out on the otherside.
9 With all the grouves cut light sand and brusk out grouves.
10 Change to soft jaws or jamb chuck cut recess for fitting to base and hollow to 2mm thickness must be wery flat and sand.

second part to follow.

Cheers Tony

[Tony Morton]

Lattice Lidded Box part 2
10 continued after sanding mark centre with point of skew and drill 1mm hole 1mm deep care must be taken in next few moves as this is the crisis point in other works success or start again.
11 proceed to cut the grouves imm deep stopping to see wheather you have reached depth or not if deep enough you will see small diamond shaped holes where you have broken through the bottoms of the grouves on the top. As tis is an opperation that needs the finest of control after a few cuts you can hear and fel the point of break through but you need to check sometimes two or more times on each grouve to steady myself for this delicate move I found leaning tight against the lathe with my armpit resting on the tailstock so that the forward movement of the chisel was restricted and guided by my left handfixed on the rest and the thrust forward by thumb and fore finger the over cut of the most minor measurement here is critical.
when all the grouves are completed remove from chuck and clean debree from grouves some may not holes may not be clean these can be pushed out with a pin the wipe a wire brush in direction of grouves for final clean.
12 Now mount the base in the chuck and finish the base and sand.
13 turn dase around and remount with top facing out and cut recess for lid jamb fit lid and clean up sides and sand.
14Hollow out base and sand.
15finished box
16 Bottom
The finished box was given a coat of wood oil and wiped dry.
The timber used in this box is native olive from Tasmania.
I hope I have explained the process clear enough for you to understand. however if something is not clear please ask and I will doo my best to help.

Cheers Tony

[tea lady]

Wow! Thanks Tony. That is fantastic. Beautifully done. :2tsup: (Wanders off dreaming of chucks and1mm rings.:D )

[kdm]

Yes thanks for explaining that. Not something I'm going to attempt any time soon but nice to know how it is done.

[Rum Pig]

:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:very good and thank you for sharing:2tsup:
When I have mastered the whole box making thing I will give it a go:)

[ElizaLeahy]

it's a very pretty effect!

[Frank&Earnest]

Ditto, looks like an "angel" made by a kid in the snow. The bottom of the angel's "skirt" is a weak point of the design, though, relatively long unsupported arcs. Ken's "wheels", on the other hand, give a more mundane geometric pattern but are more structurally solid, more suitable for a "usable" box.

[Tony Morton]

Hi All
Thanks for the comments, as for the usefullness of the lattice box Hans the master turner from Germany sells them for from US$ 250 so I think this would be good return on the price of his blanks useful or not.

Cheers Tony

[jefferson]

Tony, nice work. :2tsup:

You can look at some of Han's work here:

http://www.delmano.com/artists/wood/hWeissflog/portfolio01.htm

Inspirational stuff.

[Tony Morton]

Hi Jeff
Thanks for the coments and the site with Han's work on I've dreamed of some of these boxes I cant afford one so I will have to take up the challange and make myself one but not today. Four years ago i bought a set of Crown tols for Chinese Ball making they havent been out of the bag yet but this week I have made a chuck for making them so here is hoping that they wont be far away.

Cheers Tony

[tea lady]

Hi Jeff
Thanks for the coments and the site with Han's work on I've dreamed of some of these boxes I cant afford one so I will have to take up the challange and make myself one but not today. Four years ago i bought a set of Crown tools for Chinese Ball making they havent been out of the bag yet but this week I have made a chuck for making them so here is hoping that they wont be far away.

Cheers TonyWhat is Crown tools and what is Chinese ball making.:doh::rolleyes:

[powderpost]

Crown tools is a specially designed set of "hook" tools used to make Chinese balls. "Chinese" balls is a set of turned balls with a series of balls turned within a ball, all out of one piece of wood. The early sets were made from ivory.
Jim

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

And seriously challenging work! I wish you luck with it, Tony! :)

[tea lady]

Aah! I see.:cool:

[jefferson]

And seriously challenging work! I wish you luck with it, Tony! :)

Me too, Tony. Good luck and please post some pics of your successes (and failures?).

I was talking with Ken W yesterday (I think) and he was .5mm out on one piece and apparently it exploded. That made me feel good. :D:D:D Mere mortals we all are, afterall.

[KenW]

Hi Dave
Yes the grouves are square although Hans takes a small chamfer off the topedges of his. The tool is basicly a square scraper about 1mm wide and to get round the radias of the first rings its tapered away at the botton see photo.

Cheers Tony

PS Have most of photos now will upload tonight.
All of the rings are rounded over with a skew. This lets you see the bottom of the ring better, and makes rings look finer.

[kdm]

Is that with the skew used as a scraper Ken?

[Old-Biker-UK]

.........what is Chinese ball making.:doh::rolleyes:
Chapter & verse here (in French but you'll get the idea) http://pagesperso-orange.fr/robert.bosco/bouleschinoisesen.htm
If you've got a few minutes, checkout the rest of the site, when I first saw this guy's work I nearly chucked my tools in the bin and took up flower arranging.

Mark
Whoops, sorry if this is 'thread drift'

[tea lady]

Chapter & verse here (in French but you'll get the idea) http://pagesperso-orange.fr/robert.bosco/bouleschinoisesen.htm
If you've got a few minutes, checkout the rest of the site, when I first saw this guy's work I nearly chucked my tools in the bin and took up flower arranging.

Mark
Whoops, sorry if this is 'thread drift':D Thanks for the info though. :cool:

[KenW]

Is that with the skew used as a scraper Ken?
Keith, the skew is used as a scraper. Hans only rounds the inside rings, the outside rings are a lot more difficult.
Be careful if you decide to have a go at rounding rings, not all wood scrapes well.
Tearout can be a problem on 1mm wide ring.
I have several boxes made by Hans and his son Jakob, if you think they look good in a photo, wait until you hold one.

[KenW]

Me too, Tony. Good luck and please post some pics of your successes (and failures?).

I was talking with Ken W yesterday (I think) and he was .5mm out on one piece and apparently it exploded. That made me feel good. :D:D:D Mere mortals we all are, afterall.
Jeff, are you making up stories again?

[jefferson]

I have several boxes made by Hans and his son Jakob, if you think they look good in a photo, wait until you hold one.

Wait until you hold one? I and my wife Annie were invited into the home of Ken and Helen some months ago..... And I just got the shakes up. Some of Helen's collection - not only Ken's stuff - is much too delicate to hold. :) I humbly suggest you take a valium and a camera and just let the wash of great boxes go over you.....

And Hans does make nice boxes. :2tsup: Very nice boxes. (Apparently he measures five times much as Ken W. so he must be even more anal. ) Oops, I promised not to say that, but after the Grasshopper stuff, I couldn't resist. :p:p:p

[Tony Morton]

Hi Jeff

As I said in earlier post I'm used to working with measurments of about that what-ever when you start on this kind of work its not mms but microns which i have nothing to measure with so its take a wisker off stop and measure some grooves take 4 or 5 stop starts.
Been off the boxes this week I ended up with about 6 last week, the stubby wondered what hit it this week first up 1 metre split turnings I hate spindle work but it was a Love job for the local Mens Shed then finished a large yellow box burl bowl and 3 lazy susans 450 -600 mmdiam. we have a show on at the end of September at the Panthers in Port Macquarie so I need some stock I hope the recession is over am looking for some sales to add to timber stocks.

Cheers Tony

[RETIRED]

I hate spindle workHeretic!!!!!!:D

[Tony Morton]

if you had of been closer i would have put the job your way, but can you handle red cedar.

Cheers Tony

[KenW]

if you had of been closer i would have put the job your way, but can you handle red cedar.

Cheers Tony
Real woodturners (spindle turners) like , can handle anything.

[jefferson]

Ken,

it's OK for novices like me to believe that can turn (almost) anything.

He doesn't need the likes of you giving him a wrap-up. The pair of you are almost unbearable..... :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I don't know whether can turn "anything"... but the sign of a real pro is when they can convince you that you don't want what you thought you did; that his way is better. :;

[Tony Morton]

Hi Everyone

Here we already half way through the month and we only have a handful of people presenting their boxes there are plenty of others with questions and comments but no pic or wips comming, are they waiting till the end of month or just hoping this chllange thing will go away.

Cheers Tony

[ElizaLeahy]

I'd have more but I have a dreadful situation at the moment. My lathe is almost in full sun most of the day!!! And the temperature today was the high 20's. I stand out there for 10 minutes and the sweat starts running! Sorry, horses sweat, men perspire, ladies glow - the glow starts running, especially when I drop the bottle ;)

Certainly slowed down my turning. I made a pair of hair sticks to order today, and it was actually fun to do something I didn't have to think about!

[Tony Morton]

Hi Eliza
I know how you feel when I first startad I worked in a carport morning sun and afternoon sun and the house was on top of a hill so the wind blew fiercly. Some times when it was windy I had to stop turning because the winf made the timber crack on the lathe it had that extra drying power.

Cheers Tony

[Calm]

I'd have more but I have a dreadful situation at the moment. My lathe is almost in full sun most of the day!!! And the temperature today was the high 20's. I stand out there for 10 minutes and the sweat starts running! Sorry, horses sweat, men perspire, ladies glow - the glow starts running, especially when I drop the bottle ;)

Certainly slowed down my turning. I made a pair of hair sticks to order today, and it was actually fun to do something I didn't have to think about!

Not sure if you are taking the Pi&& out of us or you are serious.

Here in Ballarat for the last 2 months (and most likely the next 1 or 2 as well) it has hardly reached double figures and you complain about 20+ deg :oo::oo: we only dream of that. think of gas heater, coat, 2 jumpers, flannelette shirt, singlet and you are geting closer to Ballarat/Victoria

Cheers

[ElizaLeahy]

Soon (I hope) the sun will be higher in the sky and the back yard should be in the shade all day.

And then the grasshoppers will come out...

[rodent]

I don't know whether can turn "anything"... but the sign of a real pro is when they can convince you that you don't want what you thought you did; that his way is better. :;
But it is !:;

[jefferson]

Hi Everyone

Here we already half way through the month and we only have a handful of people presenting their boxes there are plenty of others with questions and comments but no pic or wips comming, are they waiting till the end of month or just hoping this chllange thing will go away.

Cheers Tony

I'm one of many Tony yet to post a WIP of a decent box. WWW (Wraight, Weird and Wonderful) and will no doubt get me back on track next week, I promise.

[Tony Morton]

Hi Jeff

You may be able to twist the Wierd and Wonderful and the Spindle Turners arm a bit when you see them.
Cheers Tony

[Tony Morton]

As I've neglected the box Challange since the first week I thought that after five large pieces of turning I would do another box. As a lot of people have added finnials this was another challange to combine a box with finnial. Ebony and Ivory well faux anyway no WIP turned conventonial methods using pin jaws and jamb chucking finished with eee and buffed.

Cheers Tony

[KenW]

Tony, nice looking box. The finish looks to be first class too.

[Ed Reiss]

nicely done Tony:2tsup:

I take it that your comparing the box size to the coin...not being from Oz, what coin is that and what's it's size?

[Ozkaban]

Aussie 20c. diameter is 28.5mm, about 1 1/8"

Cheers,
Dave

[Sawdust Maker]

and it's worth about 15c your dollars :doh:

And Tony - nice turning