question about turning lidded boxes

[Hilel Salomon]

Having made over a hundred bowls (none very nice) I'm thinking of trying new forms, including lidded boxes. Can you turn these green? I just had to cut down an old cherry tree and have a lot of 4-8 " wood and most of the grain is quite pretty. What I won't use for bowls, I was hoping to make into small boxes. Do you folks rough cut boxes and then let them dry, in the same manner as one does bowls?
Thanks, Hilel.
PS, as soon as I cut the tree down, I screamed " I cannot tell a lie." and my neighbors are seriously thinking of having me committed. The wife has wanted to do this for years.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Hilel - I've turned one lidded box and that was out of fairly dry birch. I do recommend checking out this site and the how-to on a Yew box. You'll find it towards the end of the page. Hope that helps.

http://alcoholsoaking.blogspot.com/

[Dave Stoler]

I am by no means a authority but I have made quite a few lidded boxes.
Wood movement is very important when making two pieces fit together so I make sure the wood I,m useing is stable and I,ll even let dry wood sit a day or two rough to let it stablize.

[Bruce Pennell]

Hihel I have turned a few lidded boxes, all green out of mesquite. Only one showed signs of movement over the past few months. The one that moved had a large bark inclusion in it. I should have epoxied it with some coffee grounds, but I thought it would be OK. It has since opened up 1/8 of an inch. I made the lid loose on this one, just sat on top. All the others where made tight, no sign of movement. A lidded mushroom box I made for my Granddaughter is so tight you can pick it up by the lid. She loves it because all her friends don't know there is a secret hidding place.
I've done a very thin one out of mesquite, you can feel it flex when you remove the lid. I would think you could rough turn boxes, like you do bowls. Cindy Drozda rough turns her lidded boxes. Here's a Link.
Good Luck they are fun to turn....Bruce

[Nathan Hawkes]

Hilel, I don't think you're in any danger of getting committed yet! Your neighbors might know differently, but I think you're alright. Just tagging along for the discussion on this one. I haven't turned any lidded boxes yet. Are you going to try and chase threads on these?? Good luck in any case.

[curtis rosche]

arent we all on the mental hospitals most wanted list?

[Paul Engle]

I done a bunch , some green and once dried out recut the the openings/bases , green tends to move even when processing as for DNA, soap etc.I cut the openings over size so as to leave enough meat to recut the conection points and flatten the base only , the warped boxes are intresting as people ask how I got em to look funny but the lids fit nice and they sit flat.. end grain maybe best as you won't have the bi-direction strain and risk spliting me thinks. And if you have enuf wood then experiment .....

[Jim Underwood]

I've been taught that even when turning boxes from wood you think is totally dry that you should rough them out, tape the lid to the box body, date it, and set it aside for a year. The thinking is that there is that no matter how dry the wood, once you open the wood up, there are tensions and stresses there that have been released, and to ensure a permanent good fit, you should allow it to stabilize before finalizing the form.

I would certainly think this would apply to green wood also. In fact you might true it up after a year, and then let it sit for a couple weeks to be on the safe side.

A lot of it depends on the wood. If you're working with Sweet Gum or Pecan, it's going to move on you no matter what you do. Some woods are extremely stable, and others just wiggle like a snake.

Whatever you do, have fun. I really like turning little boxes. I have three on the desk as I type this (the two I really like in a show at a local art center) and I frequently pick them up and admire them (is that awful to say that about my own turnings?) and I will have a hard time giving them as gifts at Christmas...

[curtis rosche]

if you make one of those lids that snap on perfectly when it is made, and then set it aside for a year since its green, you could end up with a box that wont open, but that might be a neat trick to do, make it seem solid but it isnt. hmmmm....... (the lightbulb just went on for making lighter ornaments!) you would have to make more of a lipp, so that it wouldnt make a visible gap when re-rounded.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Hilel how are ya? I have made probably a hundred lidded boxes and have found yes you can use green wood. I rough them and leave them thick. I soak in DNA for about 72 hrs or more then wrap with the ends open and let them dry for a several weeks. I make sure they are good and dry. The best way is to get kiln dried wood and then you can take it from start to finish. I have never had a problem with the lid using kiln dried wood. I don't like the lids that snap or pop when you pull them off. I like them to hold just enough you can pick them up but yet can be pulled apart softly.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Yes you can turn boxes from green wood, come to think of it, all wood was green at one time
Anyway, yes rough-out the wood and let dry, return and finish but leave the final tweaking to the fit, wait for a day or two, than do the final fit turning.

However the final fit might have to be quite loose, if the box is larger than say 3" D., and side grain, as the side-grain wood will change size in the width more than the length of the grain, so if you make a tight fit when dry you'll end up with a box that can't be opened at best or a split box if the movement is too much.

The wood movement with end-grain is much less of a problem to the fitting of the pieces, as the wood does move al around and both top and bottom pieces will move much alike.
But again there's a catch, drying wet end-grain wood likes to split on the ends, so you have to deal with that, either seal the ends or dry slowly in a bag or box, works best if you do a bunch at the time, but make sure you keep the pieces together, so the grain lines up when finished.
This brings up one other thing, use nice straight grain wood, as it is much easier to keep the grain lined up with that, than with curly grained wood .

[Dick Latshaw]

You may wish to pick up Richard Raffan's video entitled (strangely enough) 'Turning Boxes'. Most informative - he turns them green.