Archie's Wood Box from heart of a burl

 I had a section of a burl and the outer sections had gone bad with lots of worm holes pulpy sections.  This box was made from the inner section.    

I used CA glue on the bark and was able to retain a small section of the bark.  The lid has lots of worm  holes and was a little pulpy.  I used CA glue on that area.  As I turned some additional worm holes appeared and they are lighter as the CA treated worm holes turned dark.  

This the box with the lid off.  You can see where a knot went thru the lid.

The finished bottom has some decoration.

The bottom of the inside has some interesting grain patterns.

the bottom of the lid shows some interesting grain pattern and a few worm holes.

To turn the lid I turned the lid using a mounting block and made lid so it would fit into the opening of the box.  I then used rubber jaws to hold the turned edge and turned the top of the lid.  The knob on the top is a different section of wood that was glued between the lid and the mounting block. 

14 May 2022 Club Meeting with Presentation

 At the 14 May 2022 Woodturners meeting Steve Promo showed a hard maple leg he turned for a butcher block he is currently refurbishing.  He explained the process he used and gave some other helpful hints on turning spindles from square stock.  The maple leg blanks are from laminated lumber and were lined up and the transitions marked so they all match.  He suggests mounting the first spindle turned behind the lathe next the new turning for a visual comparison, in addition to using layout lines on the wood and calipers for critical diameters he also  put the layout lines on the tool rest for reference.  Here are some pictures.

This is the butcher block he is restoring.  Lots of sanding.  Note the old legs under the butcher block that is setting on as steel frame.
 

Steve laid out all four leg blanks and added the layout lines across all four to all are marked the same.  

As Steve suggested he built a rig to hold his first finished leg behind the one he was currently working on so he could make them all the same.  Note the flat corners on the upper part of the leg.  Steve used a table saw blade set at 45 degrees to trip the corner off adding a beautiful touch to the legs.

Steve's work is so process that all four legs are identical.  Well done Steve.  Thanks for sharing.

Above are the finished legs for the butcher block.

The finished professional butcher's block of hard maple.  Wonderfully done Steve.   I would hate to actually cut meat on it being so pretty and all.

 

Also at the meeting Sam Staffan gave a talk on his work turning scrap and rejected wood using resin casting.   Here are two of his projects more are shown in the video.

Sam used to run a sign shop and developed many skills like etching glass.  Here is a etched vase mounted in a turned wood base.  Considering he has only been turning for about a year his work is as Steve calls it spectacular.  

Here Sam placed sea shells in a mold and filled it with resin and then turned a beautiful candle holder.

Watch the video of his presentation to see more of his work as he talks about how he works and what he has tried as he learns turning.

Contrasting Wood on a Slant

 I have toying with the idea of making an object with a center section of wood that is slanted.  I had made a box with different horizontal layers but thought how about one where a section of wood was at an angle to the general turning.  I looked at having the wood cut at 30, 60 and 45 degrees to the axis,  I finally selected 45 degrees to the axis.  To cut the wood on an angle I choose to use my table saw.  Since the block of wood was short, I decide I needed more control.

I glued the block of wood to a board.  You can see the paper bag I used between the board and the block of wood to allow easy separation later on.  

You can see how I mounted the board to the miter to ensure I would get a smooth cut and no wiggling.   I used an Incra 1000 SE miter with adjustable slide wheels that remove an slop in the miter slide.   It also has more area to clamp the board to.  

Unfortunately, the blade did not cut completely thru the block.  I use the band saw to cut the remainder of the wood.  I choose not to use the band saw for the actual cut because I have had the band saw blade bend and I wanted a smooth surface for gluing.   I got rid of of the edge using a belt sander.  

To glue the contrasting wood on at a 45 degree angle I secured the board in my vise at 45 degrees and then used a weight to press the wood down.  I noticed that I did not have the wood aligned correctly and removed the wood before the glue set.  Notice in the picture below that I drew lines to help align the maple wood correctly.

To keep the dark wood in place and not slide, I CA glued a small strip of wood a the base to keep the wood from moving while clamped.  

Clamps removed.  You can see the lip I added and the alignment lines on the maple. 
 

I then glued another piece of birdseye maple on the bottom using the board to help align the wood.  

 

I used a screw driver to remove the board from the block.  You can see the remnants of the paper bag.  

I used a band saw to cut the maple that was sticking out past the dark wood.  I then glued a mounting block to the bottom to make turning the bottom easier.  

Here the wood has been turned round and the finishing touches need to be done.  The darker wood is actually softer than the maple with a courser grain. 

This is the finished shape.  As I was turning it the cracks in the end became more difficult to work with and were cut off and the two section mounting block separated and I had to clamp on to the darker wood of the mounting block.  I used a Forstner bit to hollow out the main section of the wood using an extension to get to the depth I wanted.   I then set up my stabilizer wheels to hold the extended wood secure and used my boring bar to hollow out the inside past what the Forstner bit did.  

I turned the wood around to finish the bottom and here in lies another story.  The rubber feet holding the top section in the chuck I made using a wood dowel and clear rubber hose.  For this small of a diameter I could only use four pads on the chuck.   As I was cutting a recess on the bottom I discovered the bottom was too thing and I had three small holes in it.  It was so thin light would come thru the bottom.   I cut a hole in the bottom without the stabilizer wheels and it was off center.  Badly off center.   I decided I would use my drill press to drill a hole using a Forstner bit.  That missed up the end real bad as I could not hold the piece of wood steady.  Back to the stabilizer wheels.  To protect the finish I wrapped several layers of masking tape, which is easier to remove from wood then duct tape, and then added the more durable duct tape on top of that.  Once Stable I was able to  cut off the damaged wood and use a 2" Forstner bit to cut a recess in the wood.  I cut a section of darker wood as an insert into the recess.  My mistake turned into a feature.   Below is the finished product.  The top two inches of the inside are sanded and finished.   Finish is gloss wipe on poly. 

 

Above is the engraved bottom with my mark and the date finished in Huron Beach, Michigan.

 

Above is the box with a lid I made for it using birds eye maple and the same darker wood.  Now both the top and the bottom have contrasting inserts.