What tools to use

[Jay Jolliffe]

I've never made any turned boxes with tops & I was wondering what tool would be the best to get to the bottom. Someone gave me a 6x6x4' piece of walnut so I want to do something with it & I thought I could try a few boxes. I mostly use carbide insert tools so what would be the best tool to use.

[Jeff Gilfor]

Well, that depends.

if you want a flat/square bottom, the square carbide tools or a flat scraper will work fine.
if you want a round bottom, you'll need a radius insert carbide tool or a round nose scraper, or any of the smaller insert type tools (Oland tools).

May I recommend any of the excellent videos on YouTube that cover this exact topic? Watch one or two, and you'll learn a whole bunch.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Not really a tool, although it could be. If you choose to make a square bottom bowl, it can be difficult to sand that corner. I use a dowel with stick-on sandpaper. You can turn a short dowel from some scrap. Stick the sandpaper on the "front" flat part and the round part, (2 pieces). You sand both the side and bottom at the same time. So, I always make a rounded bottom, just to avoid the task of sanding that corner.