Boxes

[Ken Hill]

I hope to try and turn some of the lidded boxes here soon, and from what I have read, many are turning green and then re-turning after dry? Do you make the lid at the same time, green as well?

I can understand the process using dry wood, but the green factor is throwing me for a loop.

I like pictures, so if you can post up some of your boxes I would appreciate it, along with any tips and or suggestions!

[charlie knighton]

i believe most boxes are turned with kiln dry wood, email Mike Stafford, he turns and demos boxes

[Baxter Smith]

Good question Ken! I have wondered the same thing but never asked. I have tried turning some green and am now just waiting for them to dry. Don't know if it will work or not but that doesn't usually stop me from trying.:) I will go out to the shop and take some pictures in a bit.

[Justin Stephen]

I haven't started turning boxes yet but I don't see why they couldn't be rough turned and dried just like a bowl. I am pretty sure that the first box that Richard Raffan turns in his box turning video started as green.

[Randy Gazda]

I started turning boxes after viewing Richard Raffin's DVD on the subject. He starts the DVD by chainsawing out blanks, then bandsawing to size, and then roughing them out. Basically, start with a 2.5 to 4" square and rough out the top and bottom and then tape together to let them dry.

I am probably not explaining it very well, but it works well. Good luck. You can start with dry wood, just creates more dust. :eek:

[Richard Madden]

I haven't made too many boxes, but those I have done were from dry stock.

[Dale Bright]

Ken,

Even if you use kiln dried wood, rough out the lid and box body and let them stabilize for a few days. This will make it easier to get a good fit for the lid.

Dale

[Christopher K. Hartley]

I just finished turning a Holly Box green and end grain. The original turn was done so the lid was snug. I then boiled the box with lid on in an old crock pot for about an hour after the boil started. I had the box in the soup as it heated up. I let it cool and dry for about a week in wood chips. I then took it out and sanded it on the outside and removed the lid which was tight. After a day the lid had swelled just enough that it would not go on so I sanded the inside of the box a little and the lip of the top. The lid now fits snug but is smooth on removal. I have turned other wet wood boxes the same way with success. I am experimenting with a rust ebonizor coat to give the wood some color. I have not as yet hollowed the lid.:) See the box in the following thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=151678

[Bill Bulloch]

I made one with what I thought was dry wood, but when I went back to it several days later I could not get the lid off. Talking about a tight fit.

[Ken Hill]

Im sure someone will post another method or two haha! I figure if you turned the bodt green, and returned it to shape and then made a lid you would be fine. I suspect the design would play into alot of this (bark inclusion or such) If it were just a body with a lip then it could be returned for a lid I would think?

With my vacuum chuck and cole jaws, I was planning on turning both but leaving enough room to return the lid between centers and then using either chcuk to finish it out and cut a spot for a finial if wanted....

Sorry guys, im bored to death but plan on atleast using my brain while im down!:D

[Baxter Smith]

Here are a couple pics of some boxes I am trying. Took a piece of white birch a couple feet long and mounted it between centers. Rounded it into a cylinder then used a parting tool to cut down and make tenons at various intervals. Then cut though the middle of the tenons so I had three pieces with tenons on each end.
168619
Cut each of the sections using the bandsaw so each end had a tenon to grasp. Hollowed out each section.
168620
Soaked the pith with CA from both ends. Will it work? Don't have a clue but they haven't cracked so far. I have done some others but they are somewhere in my piles of bags.:o:D

[Ken Hill]

Whats the dimensions on those Baxter? And thanks for the pics!

From others i've seen, most of teh lidded boxes are relatively small. My wife has it in her mind that I need to be making 3 piece sets for her kitchen counter haha!

[Jim Underwood]

As others have said, definitely rough to size, then let sit for a while to stabilize, even with kiln dried wood. It WILL move on you, and it's best to let it if you want the lid to fit well later on down the road. With green wood it will take a while... unless...

.....For small chunks like this, you could rough it out, then do the DNA soak/dry, or even microwave it dry. Then finish turn it.

If you don't care about a perfect fit, then turn the lid loose so you can lift off the lid with one hand. Even so, I'd still dry it out first.

Generally speaking for proportions, you want the body 2/3 height, and the lid 1/3 height of the box.

[David E Keller]

I've done quite a few the way R. Raffan describes in his box DVD... Rough turn and rough hollow then tape together tenon to tenon and let dry. Return and fit the lid after dry. It works great! I think there's a Raffan DVD floating around here, but I can't remember if it was the box DVD.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I turn quite a few green lidded boxes. I rough them round, hollow the inside but leave it thick. I take a little out of the lid and make sure I leave enough wood to fit the lid. I then soak them in DNA for a couple of days, take out and let flash dry. I tape the tenons together and let dry. Once dry I return to finish.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I hope to try and turn some of the lidded boxes here soon, and from what I have read, many are turning green and then re-turning after dry? Do you make the lid at the same time, green as well?

I can understand the process using dry wood, but the green factor is throwing me for a loop.

I like pictures, so if you can post up some of your boxes I would appreciate it, along with any tips and or suggestions!

I've made a few boxes along the way, but always started with green wood.
From cutoffs to saplings to branch-wood, curly or straight grained or spalted.
Mini ones to quite large, you just have to be patient if you like to be able to use special pieces of wood.
I do rough turn them and seal the top/bottom (endgrain) on most bigger pieces, set aside and I forget about them :o
Anyway when found to be turned again I will finish turn and finish everything but for the final fit rims/shoulder, let them sit at least till the next day and then do the final fit turn.

some pictures

[Baxter Smith]

Whats the dimensions on those Baxter? And thanks for the pics!

From others i've seen, most of teh lidded boxes are relatively small. My wife has it in her mind that I need to be making 3 piece sets for her kitchen counter haha!

Ken, they are 5"OD x 8" tall including the lid. They were supposed to be 3 different sizes but someone didn't lay things out right, or cut on the wrong line. I was just winging it, trying something different and using up some wood.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Some more boxes

[Ken Hill]

I can see why people like turning them, so many variations!