Thread: Thinking outside the square

The discussion on bending ply around a tight radius has got me thinking about other applications of veneers / ply in our turnings. This is by no means a tight bend to achieve, but it would not have been possible with traditional "plywood." From memory the veneers are streaky myrtle, wenge and silver ash. The diameter of the box is approx 80mm.

GDW-2009-AWTEX-Weisflogg-inspired-boxes-web.jpg

This is an older work, one of my entries in the 2009 AWTEX Novice class. It is heavily inspired by Hans Weisfloggs work with the box profile being a copy of his rocking boxes. I wanted to use them in the pair category but wanted to make them stand above the surface so I opted for a bent veener stand. Each veneer has the grain running around the curve and were steam bent independently then glued with polyurethane glue and pressed as an assembly in a form. I learned a lot from this exercise, one being don't use polyurethane glue! The glued assembly was trimmed and trued up then the recess for the box base turned using a face plate jig with a sacrificial block behind to prevent grain tearout on the underside.