Basic Box Making by Alan Hewitt

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1 Whilst it is possible to make boxes in many different ways I will introduce you to my method of box making. I am indebted to many of the top wood-turners for their demonstrations of box making, and the many tips they passed on. They are much too many names in number to detail. Many of the techniques are ones picked up from these demonstrations. The most usual grain orientation is with the grain running the length of the lathe bed. It is possible to make your box with it running across the lathe but you have to then take into account the non-uniform shrinkage of the material. Always pre-plan how you intend to make any project. This will ensure that you do not get to the stage where it is extremely difficult to carry out the next operation. Allowances will also have to be made for your chosen method of chucking. If a contracting collet type chuck is on hand this is to my mind the easiest to use. Very little timber, if any, is wasted and the work piece can be re chucked many times without loss of concentricity. If you do not have this type of chuck then do not despair it will just mean that you have to do some preparation before-hand taking extra care to pre-plan. Remember it is relatively recently that this type of chuck has been available. When I started turning you had to use jam chucks. Prepare the material for the holding method. With contracting chuck. 1. Between centres turn to a cylinder or as close to one that you can hold the timber in the appropriate jaws. 2. Turn the ends square and form the correct sized spigot on each end. 3. Part off the lid section, using the thinnest parting tool available, sufficient to enable the correct proportions to be maintained. 4. I will not go into details of these proportions but refer you to the excellent book by Ray Key who is perhaps the highest profile box turner and gives a detailed account as to what proportions make for a successful box. 5. I like to leave my box tops flat. This gives a wide scope as to decorating, using; chatter, texturing, inlay of a wide range of materials, or in my case ornamental turning. 6. I leave the box lid in place on the chuck. 7. The first section to be hollowed but almost the last to be finished. 8. Hollow out to the require depth, using whatever is your preferred method. 9. I use a spindle gouge. 10. Turning from the centre outwards with what could be described as a scraping cut. I first push the tool in to the centre, like a drill, then with this scraping cut remove as much waste as possible. 11. Then with a square ended scraper form the inside shape. 12. I radius the corner of the scraper so that the inner corner of the lid has a similar small radius. It is them much easier to polish the inside of the lid with no sharp corner to contend with. Ensure that the scraper is very sharp for the final cuts, producing an excellent surface requiring little sanding. C:\Program Files\PDFConverter\temp\alan_hewitt_basic_box_making.doc Alan Hewitt Page 1 11/12/2007

2 13. The centre is always difficult to get flat so take care to ensure flatness. I like to put some decoration on this internal surface. This shows that you care about your turning even on a mostly hidden surface. 14. Sand the inner surface and apply your finish. If it is a decorative box I use a wax polish. On others I would use a cellulose based sanding sealer, or melamine polish. Each of these would be thinned down by about 50%, ensuring no unsightly build up. Two or three coats I probably all that is required. Followed by a final abrading with wire-wool or webrax. Buff with a soft cloth if a shinier finish is required. 15. Put this lid section to one side, marking it with its matching base section should you be turning several at one time. Chuck the base section. Then hollow. I drill out the centre with either a drill bit or the spindle gouge. If you are going to use a large drill, i.e. forstener, saw tooth or flat bit, rather than just an engineers type bit. Take care to allow for the centre points so as not to leave an unsightly hole in the centre or worse still, one through the bottom. Clean up the sides and base with a square ended scraper. I like to leave the final part of the turning for some time to allow the timber to settle. It is often a cause of poor fitting lids that the lid is fitted before the material is given a chance to settle. Ray Key says that he turns a batch of boxes allowing a day before fitting the lids and finishing the outsides. 1. Mark the length of the lid spigot with the point of a skew chisel. 2. This should beat least ⅛" (3mm) a little longer will enable you to ensure that it is parallel. 3. Using a parting tool form the spigot turning just a small amount at one time, trying the lid for fit at each stage. 4. Don't turn too much before trying the lid for fit. If a mistake is made it can be corrected before wasting too much timber. 5. When this first section is a push fit continue to the full length. The final fit will have to be adjusted after the whole of the outside has been completed. 6. With the lid in place turn the outside. Inserting any detail required at the join line. 7. Often a small 'v', bead or step can help to break up the grain pattern and help to hide any miss-match of grain. a. Lid join detail 8. Turn the top to shape adding detail or inlaying as required. 9. Sand to a finish. Apply the finish of choice. 10. I tend to prefer thinned cellulose based sanding sealer or melamine polish. 11. I have always found spirit based finishes, whilst very acceptable, take much longer to dry as several coats are applied. If time is of no importance then this method could be used. 12. Now adjust the lid fit. A 'pop' fit is the one preferred by most turners but if the box is to be used for, say, a jewellery box where one hand only is used then the lid should be a looser fit. 13. Removing the lid and then base from the chuck, put a scrap blank into the chuck and form a recess to take the reversed base. C:\Program Files\PDFConverter\temp\alan_hewitt_basic_box_making.doc Alan Hewitt Page 2 11/12/2007

3 14. Turn off the base waste turning flat and adding detail as required. 15. Sand and apply finish. Without collet chuck. A small face plate or screw chuck can be used with a scrap block. The blank having been turned to a cylinder, one end square, is glued into place in the scrap block. Leave to dry preferably overnight. The lid is to be turned first. 1. Form a spigot for reverse chucking. 2. Part off the lid section. 3. Fit the spigot into the base section. 4. Turn and finish the inside of lid as above. 5. Hollow the base section as above. 6. Leave to settle for as long as possible. 7. Turn and finish inside. 8. Refit the lid turn and finish the outside and top. 9. Ease the lid fit if required. 10. Remove from the scrap section. 11. Fit reversed base section into this scrap. 12. Turn the base and finish. A screw chuck can be used with out the scrap block. 1. If this is the case then a hole must be drilled in one end of the correct size to fit the screw. I always drill this hole prior to turning. 2. The base should be turned slightly concave, this will let the outside to be screwed firmly in contact with the chuck face. 3. When the screw is inserted into the hole and tightened an amount of waste is extruded. 4. This will stop the timber bedding down if allowance is not for it. 5. The section of timber taken up by the screw will be waste which can be kept to a minimum if a piece of ply is used as a spacer between the work and the chuck body. 6. The waste can be used as a jam fit chuck. 7. Turn the box as above. Cross-grained timber If it is decided that the whole or part of the box is to be turned with cross grain timber it is more important still to allow the material to 'settle' before finishing the lid fitting. Remember that timber shrinks to its maximum amount around its annual rings, with very little along the grain length. This gives differential shrinkage. The excavated hole will go 'egg shaped' as it settles. Even a very little ovality will stop the lid fitting in any but its original direction. Providing that you allow sufficient then a final fitting will be possible. C:\Program Files\PDFConverter\temp\alan_hewitt_basic_box_making.doc Alan Hewitt Page 3 11/12/2007

4 Tools. Many different tools have been developed for box turning. I have used many of them and whilst they can make life easier unless you are turning any number then I have found that the normal turning tools will suffice. The only slight modification is to the square ended scraper This I grind with an angle much less,(45º), than the almost vertical one it is supplied with. This allows the tool to be used inside much smaller diameter work. The edge will blunt more quickly so be prepared to sharpen more often. The tool is sharpened on both the end, and the side. The angle between the two cutting edges being just less than 90, allowing you to work on either the side or the base without both edges cutting at the same time. We are always told that a burr is important when scraping, unfortunately if the burr is left on when scraping the harder timbers the tool may 'bite' causing damage or even loss of the work. The burr should be removed with an oil stone flat on the top of the tool. The tool will lose its edge very quickly but can be re-sharpened by using the oil stone on the bevel. Turning the exterior of harder wood boxes can also cause problems in some instances, the fibres can pluck out when using a skew. In order to prevent this a tool with an angle closer to a scraper gives a better finish. I remember being told when I first started that certain timbers had to be turned on the outer face with scrapers. I saw a program on T.V., about turning the pipes for bagpipes out of African blackwood. The turners were using a tool like a square ended skew the cutting edge slightly convex, the lower bevel as a normal skew, the upper one close to vertical. The tool was used like the skew. It worked like a dream, shavings coming off in ribbons with no surface tearing. Adapted skew for turning difficult timbers C:\Program Files\PDFConverter\temp\alan_hewitt_basic_box_making.doc Alan Hewitt Page 4 11/12/2007

5 For better grain match. For anyone wanting to minimise, even more, the miss-match of grain, it is possible to insert a separate spigot into which ever section you prefer. 1. When I have used this method I inserted it into the base. 2. Turn the box as previously, but do not turn a spigot on the base. 3. Instead turn a slight step to about the depth of the final spigot and of the same diameter as the inside top. 4. Now on another piece of timber turn a cylinder sufficient to just fit this, the same size as the previously turned recess. 5. Hollow out to a wall thickness of about 3mm. 6. Part off a section at least twice as long as required. 7. Fit into box recess using glue sparingly. 8. Allow to set. 9. Turn this insert to fit the lid in both length and width. 10. If required this spigot could be threaded along the whole its length and fitted into the correct section. 11. The lid could then be fitted by similar threading. 12. Allowances must be made on the lid for threading. C:\Program Files\PDFConverter\temp\alan_hewitt_basic_box_making.doc Alan Hewitt Page 5 11/12/2007