Beads of Courage box for Jack

[John K Jordan]

A while back I made a BOC box with "Beads of Courage" chip carved around a layer of basswood sandwiched between layers of cherry. At the time I offered to custom make one with a child's name carved into it if the local children's hospital BOC coordinator (Drue Hogland) could identify a candidate. A couple of weeks ago they gave me a name - Jack will get this tomorrow.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=367169&d=1504445984

Cherry and Basswood.

This is the one I did before. I didn't look at the photos when drawing out the new one but it sure ended up almost the same. I might be stuck in a rut. (but there are probably worse ruts to be stuck in!)

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BTW, I like to make the lids with a significant taper so they can be more easily removed and replaced by small or weak hands. This makes them loose but not sloppy. These have an internal taper on the lid but it works as well the other way too.

BTW2, Since finding a block of dry wood big enough to make these is difficult I like to use a modified method that Harvey Meyer shows in his 3-video set on YouTube, modified to use more than two layers. This makes the hollowing of hard, dry wood MUCH easier. I have a handout I did for a demo if anyone is interested.

BTW3, for anyone not familiar with the Beads of Courage program, it's an incredible program. This might be good to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMCcJxO9mnY Woodturners (and flatworkers) all over the country are making many hundreds of these, often coordinated by local AAW chapters. There are so many seriously ill children that the need for these probably won't go away.



JKJ

[allen thunem]

always wondered about "beads of courage " and its origin, can you offer some history on it??

[John K Jordan]

always wondered about "beads of courage " and its origin, can you offer some history on it??

The Beads of Courage website has some history: http://www.beadsofcourage.org/pages/about.html

The AAW has a blurb: http://www.woodturner.org/?page=2015Charitable
I heard there were over 800 turned boxes turned in at the AAW symposium last year.

I don't know if you can access it but this is what I did at the club in August: http://www.smwts.org/sites/default/files/newsletters/August%202017%20Newsletter.pdf
My (hastily written) handout: http://www.smwts.org/Documents/Demonstrators/August%20Demo%20Handout.pdf

Harvey Meyer's videos on preparing, flattening, and gluing two pieces to make a blank. I think this is great but three layers can give more volume inside.
Part 1 https://youtu.be/6G7j6KikTV4
Part 2 https://youtu.be/UwPofNfkwS0
Part 3 https://youtu.be/_dZJEIKZIMw

In case you are interested here's another one I did, this one from a single block of poplar with a music box in the lid. (I've posted this before so you may have already seen it.)
367195

This is an incredible program. Some of these kids have such a hard life and unfortunately perhaps a short life and anything we can do to add even a tiny bit of happiness is so worth it. Woodturner Jamie Donaldson said he's been making these for years and what really brought it home to him was when a couple of parents contacted him and told how they used boxes he had made as funeral urns for their child.

JKJ

[Jay Mullins]

John, The turner's club I belong to is getting this program started, could you post the handout?

Jay Mullins

[Jay Mullins]

John, I got your post, thank you very much. Several of our mmbers have been turning the BOC boxes for some time. Or club president wnts to get more members invoved.

[Frederick Skelly]

This always looks like such a great way to help. This, and Keith's "pens for the Troops" project. Problem is, I'm just not a good enough turner and I'd be truly embarrassed to donate something less than perfect to either cause. But one day I'm going to practice my turning a great deal more, then help with both of them. I applaud and thank all of you who do these now.

Fred

[John K Jordan]

This always looks like such a great way to help. This, and Keith's "pens for the Troops" project. Problem is, I'm just not a good enough turner and I'd be truly embarrassed to donate something less than perfect to either cause. But one day I'm going to practice my turning a great deal more, then help with both of them. I applaud and thank all of you who do these now.


Fred, I can appreciate the feeling! I want things perfect or I want to throw them away.

However, my take is there is perhaps another perspective. Imagine what a very sick child would feel like when she was giving a box - like someone cared, someone was thinking of her. Even a piece that is not gallery quality would be cherished. I like to say I suspect most of those children are not art gallery owners. Some might not even be art critics or art collectors! I've heard from people who interact with some of these children that when offered a choice of boxes it might be surprising which ones they pick. Some may like them for the size, the shape, the color of the wood. They might not even notice differences in the quality of the turning and the finish! From what I've seen there is a huge spectrum of boxes donated and in children's hands today. For example, some perfectly useful boxes have been made out of stacked plywood, glued up; some have been quite rough on the inside. I was told that some children will paint over the finish with their favorite colors, regardless of the expertise or hours we might put into perfecting them. I think the important thing is that they are done, and available when needed. How sad if a child enters treatment and sees others with a box and there are none in the BOC closet to even choose from. :(

And different people see beauty in different things. For example, I gave the ugliest bowl I ever turned to my vet for an outside cat food dish and made her promise to NEVER EVER tell anyone where it came from. Visiting later at a party she announced "Hey everyone, here's John, the guy who made this bowl!", used to hold nuts in the middle of a table. I felt like crawling away but several people told me how wonderful it was. :)

I did a demo yesterday on making BOC boxes and several people told me afterward they were going to start making them. The same thing happened the last time I did this demo. Sorry, I don't remember were you live but if you get over this way come visit and I can show you an easy way to make these.

JKJ

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks for the perspective John. I'll think about it some more.
(Wish they could use a flatwork box or a bandsawn box.)
Fred

[Pat Scott]

(Wish they could use a flatwork box or a bandsawn box.)
Fred

Frederick you CAN make flatwork boxes (http://www.beadsofcourage.org/pages/woodturners.html), in addition to turned boxes or bowls with lids. The link gives general guidelines as far as size, finish, etc.

I'm the President of the Front Range Woodturners in Denver. Our club has donated in years past but we relied on another club to collect our donations once a year. The contact at the other club isn't collecting bowls for his club anymore which meant our club stopped donating or we had to start doing it on our own. I contacted the BOC home office and they put me in touch with a local Children's Hospital who is thrilled that we want to donate! Kids get sick more than once a year and this is such a worthy cause that I wanted our club to participate more. So we are. I now have two members who volunteered to collect donated bowls every meeting and take them to the hospital every month - whether 1 bowl or 10 bowls. I just can't describe the happiness that Children's Hospital has for the bowls, both for the kids and for the kids families who are affected just as much.

And I echo John's comments about thinking that your items are "not good enough". We have beginners to advanced turners in our club just like any club. I encourage everyone of all skill levels to donate a bowl. Some of the bowls have torn grain, are too thin in spots or too thick in others, have tool marks, etc. You keep trying and practicing and the next one will be better than the last one. We're our own worst critic and if you wait until your boxes are perfect, you'll never donate.

[Frederick Skelly]

Thank you Pat - I missed that on their website. Now I CAN help because I'm pretty good at flatwork. I will order their kit today and make them something nice!

And John, as I get further into turning, I'll give you another shout for advice. As always, thanks for being willing to help me learn!

Fred

[Pat Scott]

If you order the package of ceramic logo beads, they are about 1/4" thick. That may be too thick to inlay into a bowl or box depending on design. One of our members used a Dremel tool with cut off wheel and was able to cut them in half without cracking. He tried cutting them dry and it wasn't working very well so he used a few drops of water for lubrication which made all the difference.

[Frederick Skelly]

If you order the package of ceramic logo beads, they are about 1/4" thick. That may be too thick to inlay into a bowl or box depending on design. One of our members used a Dremel tool with cut off wheel and was able to cut them in half without cracking. He tried cutting them dry and it wasn't working very well so he used a few drops of water for lubrication which made all the difference.

Thank you!
Fred

[John K Jordan]

If you order the package of ceramic logo beads, they are about 1/4" thick. That may be too thick to inlay into a bowl or box depending on design. One of our members used a Dremel tool with cut off wheel and was able to cut them in half without cracking. He tried cutting them dry and it wasn't working very well so he used a few drops of water for lubrication which made all the difference.

The bead in my hand is a little thicker than 1/4", closer to 5/16". I use a 20mm Forstner bit to drill a hole for the standard bead.

You can always epoxy it in and leave it proud of the surface. The edges are smooth and nicely rounded.

One thing I've done for a turned box is put it under the lid, leaving a little extra wood inside the lid for the bead. I hold the knob in place with a wood screw and hide the head under the bead. (I epoxy the screw into the handle and glue the handle to the lid so it can't be loosened.

370228 370230

Another thing I have done is put the bead in the knob/handle which can easily be made thicker. I've seen them glued in a recess at the very top of the knob. For this box I turned a knob, flattened the sides, drilled and put a bead in the handle:

370229

The bead does have a hole through it sideways. I plan to put one on a metal shaft in a thru hole in the knob so the child can spin it with a finger. For a flat wood box it might be fun to make a lid handle with two spin-able beads, maybe one on either side of the grip.

JKJ

[Jay Mullins]

I saw your BOC box for JACK on this website:

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&source =hp&biw=1280&bih=634&ei=0zZZWs7MIIGMgge 1maGoBQ&q=beads+of+courage+boxes&oq=beads +of+courage+boxes&gs_l=img.3..0.2660.11890.0.1 2377.27.16.1.10.10.0.66.783.14.14.0....0...1ac.1.6 4.i mg..2.25.832.0..0i30k1j0i24k1.0.XKyqeEN5XLo

(Edit: attempt at fixing the link. JKJ)
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=634&ei=0zZZWs7MIIGMgge%201maGoBQ&q=beads+of+courage+boxes&oq=beads%20+of+courage+boxes&gs_l=img.3..0.2660.11890.0.1%202377.27.16.1.10.10. 0.66.783.14.14.0....0...1ac.1.6%204.i%20mg..2.25.8 32.0..0i30k1j0i24k1.0.XKyqeEN5XLo

It shows the many, many types of boxes being made for this noble cause.

I have been making the boxes with staves about 6 inches in diameter and 5 inches tall. With the furniture manufacturing near by there is plenty of scrap wood to make these. Thinking about trying some segmented boxes.

By the way, the platter demo for our club was great.

Jay

[John K Jordan]

Thanks, Jay!

I see three of my boxes in that Google search list. It's nice to see all those ideas in one spot (and to see they link back to the threads here in case someone want's to know more or who made them.) I have another demo coming up next month on that way of making them.

BTW, I couldn't get the link to work until I deleted a space character. Here is the corrected link - I'll see if I can fix it in your message.
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=634&ei=0zZZWs7MIIGMgge%201maGoBQ&q=beads+of+courage+boxes&oq=beads%20+of+courage+boxes&gs_l=img.3..0.2660.11890.0.1%202377.27.16.1.10.10. 0.66.783.14.14.0....0...1ac.1.6%204.i%20mg..2.25.8 32.0..0i30k1j0i24k1.0.XKyqeEN5XLo

Thanks for the feedback from the demo at the Greensboro club. I had a great time and the audience was wonderful! You sure do have a lot of active and attentive woodturners. Something about living in an area chock full of hardwoods and with a long history of woodworking? Or maybe it's something in the water. :)

JKJ



I saw your BOC box for JACK on this website:

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&source =hp&biw=1280&bih=634&ei=0zZZWs7MIIGMgge 1maGoBQ&q=beads+of+courage+boxes&oq=beads +of+courage+boxes&gs_l=img.3..0.2660.11890.0.1 2377.27.16.1.10.10.0.66.783.14.14.0....0...1ac.1.6 4.i mg..2.25.832.0..0i30k1j0i24k1.0.XKyqeEN5XLo

It shows the many, many types of boxes being made for this noble cause.

I have been making the boxes with staves about 6 inches in diameter and 5 inches tall. With the furniture manufacturing near by there is plenty of scrap wood to make these. Thinking about trying some segmented boxes.

By the way, the platter demo for our club was great.

Jay

[Patrick McCarthy]

John, sir, you are a class act. As are all of the ww’s participating in this program. I have always been impressed with your efforts on behalf of our next generation of leaders.

Best, patrick

[John K Jordan]

Why thank you for the encouragement! I may print this out and read it when I'm feeling particularly worthless and lazy. (I did have a lot more energy back when I was 67!)

I'm impressed by the creativity and huge variety of the BOC boxes I've seen. Some made from plywood, some staved or segmented. One in particular from the Crossville club was an incredible corroboration between a turner who didn't draw well and an artist who couldn't turn. The two clubs I attend also turn Christmas ornaments and sell and auction them to help kids. I believe the ornaments in Knoxville alone brought around $4000 in each of the last two years, 100% of this going to the Children's Hospital. I can't begin to imagine how much the combined efforts of all the clubs and individuals in the country and world have helped.

JKJ


John, sir, you are a class act. As are all of the ww’s participating in this program. I have always been impressed with your efforts on behalf of our next generation of leaders.
Best, patrick