Haven't posted in a while...

[Jamie Donaldson]

One of my favorite woods Mike, even though it is often hard on sharp tools, and of course the boxmaster's signature style. The spicy/peppery scent reminds me of exotic spices, and as the wood ages turns a much darker color but still shows grain patterns. BTW, your box hollowing process is exactly the same as Ray Key's, as I saw somewhere that a class with Key is still on your bucket list.

[Michael Stafford]

Jamie, I first learned of this hollowing technique from a written description in one of Keith Rowley's books. I did not realize that it was the same way Ray Key hollowed until I saw one of his box turning videos. Interestingly enough I ended up with the blunt grind through trial and error and then discovered that Mr. Key's grind on his signature gouge was almost exactly the same when I was able to examine his tools at a symposium. What a fine gentleman Ray Key is!!!!

[David E Keller]

The spicy/peppery scent reminds me of exotic spices...

Hmmm... It smells like pickles to me... Not even exotic pickles... Just pickles.

[Jamie Donaldson]

But David, pickles are GOOD!

[charlie knighton]

hi'ya Mike, nice box, see'ya down the road

[Mark Cothren]

In the land of boxes, Big Mike is the King.

[Baxter Smith]

Great use of a very pretty piece of wood. Beautiful box Mike!

[steven carter]

Very nice box Mike! I printed a pdf years ago of yours that detailed the steps in making a box. I still have the pdf and refer to it when it has been a while between boxes. Thank you for the instruction!

[Michael Stafford]

Steven, and the rest of you who have responded I can only say thank you.

Steven that tutorial has some age on it now although it is still what I provide my class when I teach. It does continue to describe the techniques for turning a basic box. It is gratifying to hear that it helped you. Thank you.

For those that are interested I have had a couple of box turning articles published in Woodturning Design magazine which describe how to turn slightly different boxes. And a third article is coming in a future issue describing how to turn a box similar to the box in this thread.