A few lidded boxes completed over the holidays.

[Nathan Hawkes]

I wanted to share a few of my recent turnings. I thought I'd try my hand at some lidded boxes; I made a couple years ago, but this is another stab. I've read and re-read Richard Raffan's "Turning Boxes" book over and over, and taken lots of inspiration from the shapes and profiles in his book. Hope you enjoy!

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In the order the pictures appear on the screen, the species are as follows, Red Maple (with ambrosia beetle markings), Red Mulberry, Pecan, and Black Walnut.

[Nathan Hawkes]

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In the order the pictures appear, the woods are: spalted Sycamore, Honey Locust, Pecan, spalted Red Maple, and curly "Black Rock" hard maple.



A few more pictureshttp://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=222280http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=222281http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=222282http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=222283http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=222284http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=222285http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=222286http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=222287

[Nathan Hawkes]

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Last pictures. I don't know why in the second post I couldn't get the thumbnails to appear--I had to insert them as full size pics to get them to show up.

The box on the left is figured black maple, and the group shot represents all the others posted above.

[Ted Calver]

They are beauties Nathan. I like them all so much I can't pick a favorite. Nice job.

[Graham Sugar]

Hi Nathan
love your boxes and I agree with you about Richard Raffan he is a fantastic turner and also a top teacher. I had the pleasure of doing a full day workshop with him some years ago and I think I learnt more in that day than I had in the previous 4 years of turning I still go to his video to refresh some point or other
What are the timbers you used in the boxes ????
Regards
Graham

[Nathan Hawkes]

Thanks Graham! I had to miss a recent Raffan demonstration, and really regretted it. If he is anywhere near my area again, I'm going out of my way to make sure I'm there. I've edited the posts to show the wood species for each box. I knew there was something important I'd forgotten!

[Kathy Marshall]

Very nice bunch of boxes Nathan!
I'm hard pressed the pick a favorite, but I think it would be the figured black maple or the ambrosia red maple. Nice job on all of them.

[Michelle Rich]

great grouping. very pleasing boxes

[John Keeton]

Excellent work, Nathan, and while they are all very nice, I am drawn to the last one posted - a very unique style.

[Roger Chandler]

Very nice work, Nate............those are truly Raffan -ish ..............I think you did a great job. Hope you bring them to the CVW meeting on the 21st and show them off. All are very good, but I am partial to the abrosia red maple and the tall one with the domed lid.........good stuff!

[Bill Hensley]

It's obvious you've mastered that process. Well done on all!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice work on all the boxes Nate! I like the variety of styles and that you still managed to keep all the grain aligned!

I checked into the photos that didn't display... there is nothing there. Maybe you can try deleting the placeholders and uploading again. I am sure everyone here would like to view those additional works!

[Joe Herrmann]

Nice bunch of boxes--good job.

[Baxter Smith]

Great boxes. Every one of them is a winner!

[Harvey Ghesser]

Beauties, all of them!

[steven carter]

+1 on all of them! Nice vareity and excellent workmanship.

[Jim Burr]

Well don't those look textbook! Really well done Nathan, grain match and beads are right on.

[David E Keller]

Great job! There's something oddly satisfying about a nice suction fit lid... You've got a great gaggle of them!

[Doug Herzberg]

Agree re Raffan. Nice execution, beautiful boxes.

[Harry Robinette]

Really nice work Nate, but question I live in OH and never herd of Black Maple what is it. Red,swamp,sugar, rock,ambrosa,tiger,curly,birds eye,but no Black.

[Donny Lawson]

Nice set of boxes. I need to make a few of these.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Really nice work Nate, but question I live in OH and never herd of Black Maple what is it. Red,swamp,sugar, rock,ambrosa,tiger,curly,birds eye,but no Black.



Black maple is Acer nigrum. It's a very hard maple, the leaves are very similar to sugar maple, perhaps a bit "droopier". Sugar maple, aka rock maple, is Acer saccharum, hence the "black rock maple" local name. It is from a friend's farm in PA.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Thanks for all the compliments everyone! A good suction fit is a wonderful thing indeed. A bit of a learning curve on a few that aren't pictured here--they ended up in the burn bin!! :eek::mad: As Raffan stated in his book, if you don't have failures, you're not trying hard enough. That's good advice for me to follow. Happy turning everyone. I'll post more pictures as I finish projects. Maybe I'll even put in some pictures of the roughing process for boxes--I have probably a couple hundred that are drying for finish turning.

[Ron Radliff]

Very nice indeed. I've never tried my hand at turning boxes, but plan to in the near future. Can lidded boxes be turned with green wood, or should dry wood always be used?

[Nathan Hawkes]

Ron, I rough out green blanks to a thick wall then leave them for several months minimum, preferably longer. Green wood can be used, but you can't expect a suction fit to last. You may not even be able to get the lid off if there is a lot of distortion. I'm not great at always practicing patience in waiting for things, but in this case it pays to let things sit and dry as long as possible.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking bunch of boxes Nathan. I do like you and rough turn them green then when dry finish them. Have one sitting on the bench as a reminder with a broken lid due to being impatient and being green.