Rough Turning Boxes

I used to use tenons and often had to re-round the tenon after complete drying. I used a hole saw in the drill press. After a cut was started I removed the center drill bit and finished the whole tenon length. Then I trimmed off the offcut with a heavy knife.

Now I nearly always use dovetail recesses. Some woods do ok after drying and some really get oval making a poor grip with the chuck. I clamp the item in a jig with a hole in it the proper size and re-round the recess with a router with a 12 degree dovetail bit and a guide bushing. Works like a charm.

I learned the following technic from Dan Ackerman. He mounts the box blank on a waste plug. Built into the waste plug is a nut. The nut is centered in the nut and positioned such that when the nut is tensioned the box and nut are held firm to the lathe.

The drive on the lathe has a bolt attached, this could be with a custom drive (what he does) or a collet with a bolt mounted.

The point in this system is it only ties up the waste block and nut, but allows you to remove the box, set it aside, and remote it later, in exactly the same position as before. Unlike using a tenon in a chuck, there is no issue with the tenon changing shape and the box not being centered

I've done a number in wet black walnut. I had no problems once they were dry. I don't think black walnut gets very oval, especially when your turning end grain.

Someone brought to a woodturning club meeting, a lidded oval birch box. He had turned the box and lid from very wet wood to as finished surface as possible. He then let them dry and change from round to oval shape. As I remember, many of his attempts at this did not work but enough did to keep him trying. Anyway, by this process he avoided the remount problem entirely.

I rough turn all of my boxes, no matter how dry the wood is. They all 'adjust' to having the bulk removed. Turn the cylinder, part off the lid and bottom, rough out the centers (I use my hollowing tools as they are a lot faster than a forstner bit) leaving about 1/2 inch in the top or bottom, and maybe 3/8 inch thick walls. I tape the ends together, and let them adjust for at least a week. Then I will glue them onto waste blocks. I glued some on once before they had time to adjust and lost about half of them as the wood shrank, but the glue and waste block didn't.

robo hippy

only wood turners want boxes with "pop" lids - no one else wants them that way - literally everyone else wants loose fitting lids (not sloppy) that lift off with one hand. So, the worry about the wood changing shape (which it does, robohippy is right) is a non-issue if you make the fit that most want.