Thread: Mulga Box

Great box making skills you have and the timber is great also.

That is a very nice box, well done.

Jim

Nice result! I bet the wood tested your skills.

Stunning. Absolutely beautiful.

And it’s times like these that reminds me to get off my A and get back into it and finish my daughters Beaty set I started back in 2019. She keeps asking me when is she going to get it? I think she’ll appreciate it now, not as an 8yr old.

Wow that is beautiful use of bookmarked timber you should be quite proud of the finished result.

It sure did, along the length edges alone the grain changed direction twice so it was a matter trimming one way then the other and then back again. Blade sharpening skills were also put to the test.

A great result. The book match lid really shows the beauty.
You have made the most of the Mulga.

Beautiful work.

And I understand your comments about working with mulga or gidgee. Have about half a tonne of gidgee still lying in the back yard and am slowly in the process of resawing it into usable blocks. Also about to get another tonne or so from a neighbour who wants a tree removed from his back yard. This time I think I will cut into blocks / lengths as soon as the tree is cut down, and better seal the ends than I did the last lot. Hopefully I will not end up with so many cracks and splits this time.

I use mainly in wood turning - it makes very nice pepper / salt grinding mills. I have made a couple of small boxes and pen cases, but they are nowhere near the standard of your work.

Originally Posted by BMKal

Beautiful work.

And I understand your comments about working with mulga or gidgee. Have about half a tonne of gidgee still lying in the back yard and am slowly in the process of resawing it into usable blocks. Also about to get another tonne or so from a neighbour who wants a tree removed from his back yard. This time I think I will cut into blocks / lengths as soon as the tree is cut down, and better seal the ends than I did the last lot. Hopefully I will not end up with so many cracks and splits this time.

I use mainly in wood turning - it makes very nice pepper / salt grinding mills. I have made a couple of small boxes and pen cases, but they are nowhere near the standard of your work.

When I was working I did a bit of research for a retired colleague. He thanked me with a gift of a turned gidgee pen stand. I haven't done much turning, but I imagine it's pretty hard to do well with gidgee. The stand is beautifully smooth and has a beautiful finish.

Originally Posted by AlexS

When I was working I did a bit of research for a retired colleague. He thanked me with a gift of a turned gidgee pen stand. I haven't done much turning, but I imagine it's pretty hard to do well with gidgee. The stand is beautifully smooth and has a beautiful finish.

Gidgee is not really that difficult to turn, though it does blunt your tools very quickly. I have a bench grinder with CBN wheel and Wolverine sharpening jig set up right next to my lathe, and am regularly touching up the edge on turning tools when working with gidgee and similar timbers (most of the timber natural to this area of WA is very hard). Gidgee sands and polishes well - I generally use EEE Ultra shine and either a home made friction polish or Ubeaut's "Aussie Oil" after sanding.
Very nice timber for making pens and pen cases etc.

Edit: I'm making pepper grinding mills as gifts at the moment. Finished this one today from a nice piece of gidgee branch from my stockpile. Managed to keep a bit of the sapwood in it for some contrast. Very nice to work with and finished easily using the usual Ubeaut products on the shelf.

IMG_3292.jpg IMG_3293.jpg