I think turned boxes are wonderful, I love to handle them. They can be a challenge to make as there are a number of steps and the difference between success and failure is small.
All I could see was this old,dried out piece of a branch from the old Jessup rd. orchards. The owners were kind enough to let me and my daughter walk among their apple trees on beautiful summer afternoon and gather up some of the limbs they had pruned off their trees.
I Love this part, where I get to peek inside.
After looking it over from every angle I trimmed off a burly growth on one side, I must get it balanced to spin on the lathe. I will mount the lumpy piece between spur centers.
Getting rounder as I cut my way into it.
I have cut square shoulders on both ends. Next I will remount the piece in a jaw chuck using one of the nice square shoulders so it will turn with no wiggle or vibration.
I will make 2 boxes from it. Each half will be a box.
Here is one of the 2 halves. I cut another square shoulder on the right end of it and before l cut it into 2 pieces. The part mounted in the chuck will become the lid.
The top and bottom of the first box
I must finish the inside of the lid now, I will never be able to get at it again. I cut it to shape and sand it, and polish it with bees wax.
I get a teasing glimpse of the incredible polish this extremely hard wood will take.
I mount the other piece and start to work the bottom half now.
First I very, very carefully fit the bottom to the lid.
It is very disappointing to make a beautiful box with a badly fit lid, the flange and the recess are very carefully shaped.
In any case I must have a snug fit now so that I can work the top of the box.
Oh Boy!
Everything so far has been prep work.
Now I am ready to actually start the real creative part.
I smack the lid onto the bottom piece and I am ready to make the all important outside of the box with what I have left of the branch.
First I check it all out and get a feel for the thickness of all the different parts, and I open my feelings up to what I can feel it want to become
3 times I thought I was finished but then re-mounted it to change things. By the third time I re-mounted it the wood was getting thin and delicate where I was cutting on the top finial. One mis-step would ruin the piece. I am really focused... I don't want to lose it now.
This piece of apple wood is extremely hard and it holds fine detail very well. I make small, delicate cuts to shape and polish the wood.
The Inside of the Box