Little Goncalo alves box.....

[Michael Stafford]

Joe Tonich gave me this piece of Goncalo alves last Summer while we were at Dick Parr's. I have been carefully letting it dry to box wood turning dryness. The piece Joe gave me was 12 inches long and on one end there was a big worm hole. So I cut a 4" piece from that end and decided to try turning my first box from this material. By the time I had worked my way down to worm hole free material my box had shrunk to 2" tall and 2 5/16" in diameter.

This marks two firsts for me, my first, but not my last box in Goncalo alves and my first box with totally square corners in the interior bottom. Tough to cut without tear out and impossible to sand so it has to be cut cleanly.

I think you will agree that this wood polished up like glass. Thanks Joe!:D

[Mark Cothren]

Mike, that is one super box! Beautiful wood and a great finished piece!

Thanks for the pictures!

[Keith Burns]

Big Mike, you have done it again, created a totally excellent box. Great form. Great finish. Great grain match. Great everything:) :) :)

[John Hart]

Another Beauty Mike! You are truly the Master. I have a general box-making question though. When you have a grain pattern that will be disrupted by the severing of the lid from the box, how do you ensure maximum matching while getting an inner lip? Or, do I have to wait til September for that answer? :o :)

[Jim Ketron]

Mr. Box Master strikes again!:D
Joe gave you some awesome looking wood and you turned it into a beautiful box! Nice Job Big Mike!
Keep them boxes rolling!

[Mark Singer]

Mike , Great work! How did you like working Gongalo alves...it is a little tough?

[Michael Stafford]

John the truth is that there is almost never a perfect match. The thinner the parting tool and the shorter the overlap the better the grain alignment will be. But if I were to rotate the box slowly around and take pictures of it you would see that that the grain does not align all the way around the box. You can twist the lid to make it align in one spot and 180 degrees opposite it will not be in perfect alignment. The grain would have to be perfectly straight for that to happen. So now the secret is out.....:o ;)

But thanks for the compliments. I do appreciate them.

Mark, I loved turning it. This is my first box but my second turned piece in the wood. The other piece a bowl was much different in appearance. This wood cut so cleanly that even the end grain looked polished after cutting. I am looking forward to turning the rest of the stick that Joe gave me.

[Andy Hoyt]

Gorgeous looking wood. Thanks.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Another winner, Mike.

Bruce

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful box Mike. Great job.

[Dick Parr]

That is sweet Mike, great job.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Great looking box Mike. How thin is your parting tool?


Ernie

[Travis Stinson]

That box looks silky smooth Mike, sweet!

[Michael Stafford]

Ernie, I have a 1/16" thick Sorby fluted parting tool that I use to separate the tops and bottoms of my boxes. It is one sweet tool and cuts like butter. On some boxes however I still use my Craftsman 1/8" diamond pattern which does a great job.

[Kurt Aebi]

Super Job, Mike (as usual, LOL)!

Another fine example of your supberb box-turning skills!

As Dick & Travis already mentioned------SWEEEEEEET!