September 5, 2011
A Box
I started with a firewood log (very well seasoned – that, of course, made it difficult to cut).
Turned it into a cylinder with a tenon at each end and cut it into two pieces 1/3 from the top with a hacksaw. Cut a lip in the bottom and hollowed it out. And then mounted the top in the chuck and cut a recess in the top whose inside diameter just matched the OD of the lip on the bottom half. The top fits snugly.
I won’t bore you with all the details (mainly ’cause I didn’t photograph each step this time).
The interesting shape (not intentional) at both the top and bottom is because I got several catches and had to cut them out.
That turned out to be good because the original shape was somewhat unimaginative – no loss.
It was sanded on the lathe. Haven’t decided how to finish it yet.
I couldn’t tell what kind of wood it was when I started. But it’s very hard and now looks like white oak (i.e. the grain is filled). It could be some other kind of oak as well. But it’s not red oak, tho.
This looks darker in real life, so I imagine it will show some good grain etc when I finish it.