Suggestions about lid making

[Bill Jobe]

About a year ago I rough turned a pair of walnut canisters for my daughter using walnut from a tree she cut down that was hanging a little too close to the house. For her birthday last year I turned a live, full bark edge bowl. Turned these hoping to be able to make nice lidded canisters by Christmas but didn't get it done.
My problem is I don't know how to go about finishing the lids. I made them extra large so I knew they would not shrink as they dried, making them useless.
I recently bought a Oneway Stronghold and also ordered the larger #3 jaws, but they are just a bit took small to chuck the lids.
The only thing I can think of is to glue a block of wood on the top side as seen in the first photo. The under side of the lid I coated with CA, as it was showing signs of cracking. They have been wrapped in paper sacks for a year now and seem to have stablized. The wood is hard as a rock. Glad I rough turned them green.

Any ideas on how to finish the lids? This one needs turned down to fit inside the bowl and I don't want to take any more off the inside of it.

I'm having a hard time with lidded bowls, but perhaps now with a chuck my struggle will be over.....that is if I turn the pieces in the right sequence.

[Bob Bouis]

Lidded boxes aren't really my thing, but if it's going to have a finial, you can drill a hole for it and mount the lid using that hole with a (small) screw chuck. That's the best way to do it, IMO.

Otherwise you'll have to make a jamb chuck of some sort, or maybe pinch it between centers to true it up (if you're not going to have a finial, use the face of your spindle and something like a pen mandrel on the tailstock. Or maybe use a vacuum chuck.

[Roger Chandler]

I would suggest that you make a ledge on the inside of the wall of this cannister, and make an inset lid that fits down into the recess at the rim. Turn a knob on it for ease of removal, and you're off to the races. Here is a similar item I made with a finial, but it has an inset lid back several years ago..........good luck!

DSC_0602.JPG Here is a pic of a box with a knob style that would work well with a canister set.....DSC_0420.JPG Between the two, this gives you both a lid and a knob option to consider.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

About a year ago I rough turned a pair of walnut canisters for my daughter using walnut from a tree she cut down that was hanging a little too close to the house. For her birthday last year I turned a live, full bark edge bowl. Turned these hoping to be able to make nice lidded canisters by Christmas but didn't get it done.
My problem is I don't know how to go about finishing the lids. I made them extra large so I knew they would not shrink as they dried, making them useless.
I recently bought a Oneway Stronghold and also ordered the larger #3 jaws, but they are just a bit took small to chuck the lids.
The only thing I can think of is to glue a block of wood on the top side as seen in the first photo. The under side of the lid I coated with CA, as it was showing signs of cracking. They have been wrapped in paper sacks for a year now and seem to have stablized. The wood is hard as a rock. Glad I rough turned them green.

Any ideas on how to finish the lids? This one needs turned down to fit inside the bowl and I don't want to take any more off the inside of it.

I'm having a hard time with lidded bowls, but perhaps now with a chuck my struggle will be over.....that is if I turn the pieces in the right sequence.

You aren’t telling us what size the lid is now (I’d guess about 6”) and if you want to add a knob on it or not, if you want it flush or overhanging.

As I see two hairline splits in the lid, I would use CA to finish the lid, it will fill the grain and the splits, after that you could hot glue a waste block onto the top, with the use of alcohol you can take that off later very easily.

Held by the waste block you can then turn to size the underside of your lid to fit into the box, you can try-fit the box as you go onto he lid.

If you leave the lid larger than the box, it can be lifted off easily, or if you rather have a knob on it, you can reverse the lid and hold it in your chuck, drill a hole through or not, for the knob, then you’d have to turn a knob that you can fit, glue, or screw from underneath, knobs do like to come loose with the changes in humidity levels.

[John Keeton]

I do a lot of lidded bowls and many of them are shown on my website. I also teach a class at JCC on doing lidded bowls.

I make all my knobs with a 7/8" tenon and drill a 7/8" recess in the top side of the lid for the knob.

You can use the recess to fit the diameter of the lid to the vessel and then jam the lid against the vessel with moderate tailstock pressure to turn the top side to mate up well with the vessel. I use 20mm jaws expanded into the recess to finish the underside of the lid. I realize this explanation is lacking detail, but email me if you have questions.

[Bill Jobe]

Thanks for the ideas. My original plan was to use a walnut from the same tree as handles. I can still do that now that I understand I can drill a hole in the lid and attach a wooden handle on the top of the lid to chuck on to finish the bottom side. Don't know yet if I want the lid to sit on top of the bowl or have it rest on both a ledge turned inside the bowl and the top.
I have added more CA to the lid hopefully preventing more cracking. But at this time the wife has so many other things done around here I barely get any time on the lathe. Besides, I still don't have a second 220 plugin for a dust collector and walnut is particularly nasty stuff for me, so I am pretty much at a standstill on these canisters til my son-in-law gets some free time. Or, I might use the shop vac for no more than I'll be using the lathe. I can sit outside and hand sand it.

[Bill Jobe]

Thank you for your coments, Bob.
Roger, I'm giving serious thought to your suggestion of an inset lid.
John, thank you and I will be checking out your website.
And Leo, glad you caught that crack before it ruined the lid. Here's a shot with a CA finish as you suggested.
I'm confident now after you guys have helped me understand how easy it will be to attach a wooden knob on the top of the lid to finish the underside.
My original plan was to use walnuts from the very same tree as knobs for both (I roughed 2 canisters a year ago) when I'm finished and I still may since my daughter is the kind of person who appreciates such ideas. I guess I could throw in a couple of fancy fenials she could attach for a more formal look if she chose.
Just one question about fenials: do you make your own or do most people buy metal pieces?
Some of the lidded pieces with really sharp fenials look very difficult to turn. The reason I ask is because, as I've mentioned before, my best friend wants me to make an urn for his ashes.

[Bill Jobe]

Decided to try an inset lid and I love it. All I had to do after getting it down to size to fit the ledge inside the bowl was press it into the bowl with a piece of paper sack. That made it tight enough to finish cleaning up and sanding the top of the lid.
Then I tried making a fenial (see photo) , but it is not from her tree. I used a piece of highly figured walnut I bought at a private mill.
I think I will make one from the wood I still have from her teee, but instead of a point or whatever, I think I'll turn a platform with a slight cup on top and glue the Walnut to it.
I'd like advice as to whether to make the base of the fenial a but wider then a smaller one on top for the walnut.
Any ideas or suggestions?
One down and one to go. I rough turned 2 identical pieces about a year ago. They did not warp at all so I had little cutting and sanding to do.
Also, I don't know whether to use something to desolve the nut inside or just seal it tight with some kind of finish.

[Bill Jobe]

Somebody? Perhaps no fenial and just the walnut?
My idea is to turn a fenial with a base, a narrow space, then a smaller base to mount the walnut on. Perhaps your thinking the walnut on top is too.....rustic?

[Roger Chandler]

Nice box, Bill. You did good with the sides and flat bottom transition. My humble opinion is that a knob on the top would be the best and most functional, but go for what you want. I have made and sold many boxes, and in my experience the knob seems to be widely accepted. Nice job on the inset lid!

[Bill Jobe]

Thank you, Roger.
I have to make up my mind pretty quick. Her birthday is Friday.