Butternut Powder Box

[OGYT]

Just finished this little Butternut Powder Box... it's as close as I can remember to the shape of my Mum's old powder box. :p
100mm dia X 75mm tall. Sanded to 400 and finished with my lacquer wash and buffed. I burned the rings with formica.
It's easy wood to turn... pretty soft, but hard to sand smooth. I put several coats of the lacquer wash on it, and it raised the grain every time, so the last one I just let it set for a while then buffed it.

[Manuka Jock]

Nice . :2tsup:

[littlebuddha]

Nice little box inside is do well also, lot of people don't spend the time on the inside and spoil there work, i find on some woods where the grain tends to come up to put a this super glue over the item, where i am you can get 5 10g bottle for a £1 so very cheap does a great job, like glass.
Boxes are great things to make as wood here as in exotic woods come very expensive so small woods are great for boxes. nice one. Oh on another note like the birdhouse that you done, as in the way, one piece and cut bottom. very good, have done some for the christmas tree, the other half is over the moon in the good books now, could get a promise out of that bigggggggggggggggggg luck.

[TTIT]

Nice one Al.:U Good grain match on the lid too!

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

So it's not just my SWMBO's cooking that makes the Butternut Pumpkin seem woody? :D

Never heard of it before, but a quick Google says it's a type of NAmer. Walnut, yes?

[ticklingmedusa]

So it's not just my SWMBO's cooking that makes the Butternut Pumpkin seem woody? :D

Never heard of it before, but a quick Google says it's a type of NAmer. Walnut, yes?


Yes, also a member of the genus Juglans.
The word juglans is the classic Latin name of walnut, meaning nut of Jupiter.
Pass the squash please.
Nice work Al.
tm<O:p</O:p

[hughie]

Looks good to me Al, :U good finish to the inside :2tsup:

butter nut....hmmm thats a new one for me.

[cedar n silky]

A lovely job Al. And yes the inside is just as important! Ever look at a customer and a turned wooden object? I worked in a craft shop once, and they pick it up, smell it, look underneath, and look inside if it's a box. Great finish inside:2tsup:

[OGYT]

So it's not just my SWMBO's cooking that makes the Butternut Pumpkin seem woody? :D
Never heard of it before, but a quick Google says it's a type of NAmer. Walnut, yes?

You'd be right on target about the wood, Skew. I found this:
Butternut (juglans cinerea), or White Walnut, is the lesser known member of the Black Walnut (juglans nigra) family.
It doesn't grow around my neck of the woods. A friend bought it to do some woodcarving, and asked me to saw it to the right size. Then he gave me the off cut.
Now, what's this about Butternut Pumpkin? :? That's a new one on me.

Never thought about tryin' CA on the raised grain.... Thanks, everybody, for the nice comments.

[Doc Ron]

Nice job! Lovely stuff, butternut. I know what you mean about the grain raising - very hard to smooth the end grain sections on the inside. Next time I do one I will try the lacquer or CA trick.

[Hardenfast]

Super job Al! Way ahead of the pack (meaning me) as usual. Can I ask a couple of questions?


How did you finish the inside of the lid? By that I mean how did you chuck the piece etc? Sequencing?
When you say you "burned the rings with Formica", what does that entail?
Lacquer wash? I remember watching a turner working on a bowl in a YouTube video, and he regularly applied some sort of "lacquer wash" during the sanding process (can't remember the name he used). The object was obviously the same as yours - to raise & remove the detached fibres (grain) for fine finishing. Interesting idea with the CA glue- wouldn't that get somewhat expensive? Do you use a regular product or have your own special mix?
Do I have any more questions? Absolutely!Great attention to detail overall, sir. Impossible to fault, in my humble opinion.

Wayne

[OGYT]

Super job Al! Way ahead of the pack (meaning me) as usual. Can I ask a couple of questions?

How did you finish the inside of the lid? By that I mean how did you chuck the piece etc? Sequencing?
When you say you "burned the rings with Formica", what does that entail?
Lacquer wash? I remember watching a turner working on a bowl in a YouTube video, and he regularly applied some sort of "lacquer wash" during the sanding process (can't remember the name he used). The object was obviously the same as yours - to raise & remove the detached fibres (grain) for fine finishing. Interesting idea with the CA glue- wouldn't that get somewhat expensive? Do you use a regular product or have your own special mix?
Do I have any more questions? Absolutely!Great attention to detail overall, sir. Impossible to fault, in my humble opinion. Wayne

Thanks for the comments, Wayne. I'll try to give you some decent answers:p
1. Inside the lid - I turned a spigot on each end. That way, when I separated the lid, I had a tenon to hold the lid in the chuck.
Don't understand the "sequencing", unless its the turning sequence: I turn the outside shape, and do most of the finish sanding, then part the lid off the tailstock end; make the lip for the lid, hollow the inside, finish the inside of the box. I always mark the #1 jaw (in case I need to remove it and put it back) then take the box out, and insert the lid in the chuck. Make the inside of the lid to fit tightly over the lip of the box. Sand, burn the rings, and finish the inside of the lid.
Then I insert the box into the lid, (remember, it's tight anyway), and bring up the tailstock to remove the spigot from the box bottom. Before you totally remove the spigot, cut the grooves (see #2) around the box (one at the joint, and one on either side) and then burn them in. Finish sanding the outside. Finish the bottom except for the nub. Remove the tailstock. Finish sanding the lip so it fits the way you want it to. Then tape it up around the joint, and sand the nub of the spigot off the bottom. Untape it.
Use the cole jaws or just expansion mode in the chuck, depending on the size of the lid, for getting rid of the spigot on the lid. Some tape around the jaws will keep 'em from marring the inside of the lid. Finish the outside of the lid. Yer done.
2. The rings - I used a 3point tool to make small grooves. Then I sharpened a point on a scrap of Formica, using my belt sander... sanded the plastic finish-side off, too, so it wouldn't melt up over the edge of the groove. Then I turned up the speed of the lathe to about 12-1500rpm, and stuck the point into the groove. A little pressure, and Bob's yer uncle. Start with the smallest circle first, that way you have a better point left to use on the next larger one, and so on. Hard to explain, but you'll see when you try it. I do the burnin' between the 220 and 280 grits or thereabouts.
3. Lacquer wash/CA glue - Glue first... After thinking about it, I think it would cost me too much. I pay 2.97USD per 1.8ml. I already average about 2 to 3 bottles a week, when I turn all day... depends on the piece.
The Lacquer wash is my own mixture of 25&#37; Lacquer/75%Thinner. I keep it in a small (1/2 pint) jar, so the thinner doesn't evaporate so bad before I use it up (it'll evaporate some, even with a lid). I use it on nearly everything... before final cuts and before infilling because it keeps the CA from bleeding outside a crack, and on the outside of hollowforms, cause it helps to keep it from dry-cracking while I'm hollowing it. It sands away, so I can use a Danish Oil finish if I want.
And if I don't want any finish other than that, I'll apply it before I use 400 grit and brown paper... it buffs beautifully.

Well, hope this gives you the answers you wanted... if not... ask again...This may not be the best way, but it's the way I did the few of 'em I've done. :U

[ticklingmedusa]

OGYT: Now, what's this about Butternut Pumpkin? :? That's a new one on me.



<BIG>Pumpkins in Australia:</BIG> I know in the U.S., you eat pumpkin mainly as a dessert. Over here, it is a main course meal, very rarely used in sweets. Roast Pumpkin is the absolute favorite of most Australians. When roasting a piece of lamb, beef, turkey, chicken, etc, place a piece of skinned pumpkin in the meat juices with the potatoes, carrot, etc.There is nothing better in the world than roast butternut pu

Botanically the pumpkin & squash are close relatives.
Now eat your vegetables:D

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

There is nothing better in the world than roast butternut pu

...provided it hasn't been cooked in such a way as to become a turning blank! :rolleyes:

[Manuka Jock]

...provided it hasn't been cooked in such a way as to become a turning blank! :rolleyes:
If one did petrify in the oven , it'd make a great mallet :D :D

[ticklingmedusa]

...provided it hasn't been cooked in such a way as to become a turning blank! :rolleyes:

tm scratches his furrowed brow and ponders what organic form a pumpkin between centres might assume when the steel touches it.:oo:

[OGYT]

Okay, tm, all of you Blokes got me to searching. I found this in Wikepedia: Butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata), also known in Australia as Butternut pumpkin, is an edible type of winter squash with a vase-like shape. ...

What you call Butternut Pumpkin, we call Butternut Squash. I understand it now. It is shaped like a carver's mallet, as Jock wisely alluded to. :)
We eat 'em all the time. Her Majesty slices them down the center, turns 'em upside down in a baking dish with a little cookin' oil. Bakes 'em 'til soft, then we add some butter, maybe a little brown sugar, and eat it liked mashed potatoes.
I'll have to get her to slice one up as your post suggests, tm, and give it a try. :D

[Hickory]

Nice . :2tsup:

Me too... Nice . :2tsup:

But question.... where you going to get the powder to fill the box? Not a joke, just a question. I would make some for folks but don't know that they (women) still do the powder thing.... Never see compacts any more.

I remember mom did and grandma did as well. but wife never and never see daughter either. I be not versed in the primping practices of the female gender but think the box is a neat project and would do so if I thought I could refill the box as intended.


Thanks for the post and picture. And the fodder for thought.

[Manuka Jock]

Make up people in the theater may be interested in powder pots etc.

[Gra]

But question.... where you going to get the powder to fill the box?

Well I know this guy, imports it from south america.......:roll:

Oh not that type of powder....


Nice lidded box.

[ticklingmedusa]

Okay, tm, all of you Blokes got me to searching. I found this in Wikepedia: Butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata), also known in Australia as Butternut pumpkin, is an edible type of winter squash with a vase-like shape. ...

What you call Butternut Pumpkin, we call Butternut Squash. I understand it now. It is shaped like a carver's mallet, as Jock wisely alluded to. :)
We eat 'em all the time. Her Majesty slices them down the center, turns 'em upside down in a baking dish with a little cookin' oil. Bakes 'em 'til soft, then we add some butter, maybe a little brown sugar, and eat it liked mashed potatoes.
I'll have to get her to slice one up as your post suggests, tm, and give it a try. :D

You can call me tm, just don't call me late for dinner:D

[OGYT]

Hickory: But question.... where you going to get the powder to fill the box?
Didn't intend for it to be a powder box... just the same shape. :) I don't know if any woman wants to go back to that, what with all the new stuff nowadays. Might be able put baby talcum powder in it and say it's for a new Mother.
Thanks, Gra... but I never thought about that powder... no one I know of uses it... at least, that I know of... :D