Flying Scrap Lidded Box
Today's project is a bit of an over achiever. It took flight not once, but twice! Ha Ha. Seriously though, my pen blank scrap bin was starting to overflow. So I thought they would make the perfect lidded box along with some clear resin from TotalBoat.
I took some random scraps from my pen blank bin. I mostly used acrylic pen blanks because I seemed to have more of those than the wooden ones. Plus, the acrylic ones are way more colorful. I used most of the wooden ones to fill up the middle portion that would be turned away. The TotalBoat resin system makes it very easy to measure out the correct resin and hardener. After taking it out of the pressure pot, I used some 5 minute epoxy to attach a glue block.
I used the Easy Wood Tools Mid Size square carbide with a negative rake cutter. Those cutters are amazing and leave zero chip out, but man is it tough cutting through wood with them. It made quick work in truing up the outside, but there wasn't much too shaping since I was fine with the shape of the container. Next came hollowing out the inside. I got a good head start with a 2" forstner bit, but it would prove quite challenging getting past that 2 inches. I thought it would be a good idea to use the standard square carbide to thin the walls a bit. Well that proved to be a big mistake. As you can see from the video, I was taking very small cuts, but it had a catch and boom....it came flying off the lathe at 1,500 RPM. To say that it shocked me would be an understatement! I tried a little more to thin the walls down, but the tools just bounced and didn't really cut. So, the walls and bottom are thicker than I would like, but I have since ordered a 2 3/4" forstner bit and that should allow me to get the walls to the thickness that I feel is better. I finished the box by sanding the inside and out from 80 to 600 grit. Since there was so much acrylic, I wanted to try the micro mesh which goes from 1,000 to 12,000 grit. It left the same finish as on the pine cone lidded box where I did not use them. I applied Mylands Sanding Sealer, Ack's Abrasive and Polishing Pastes, and finally Myland's Friction Polish. I really feel like the Myland's Friction Polish does a great job at covering up the fine scratches on resin projects. I used a 1/8" parting tool to remove the finished box from the glue block. I didn't realize how far I cut in and it came flying off the lathe for a second time.
Next came the lid. The first step was to attach a piece of walnut to a glue block with some 5 minute epoxy. I was able to quickly turn the blank round using a 1" roughing gouge. I formed the lid using the 1/2" & 3/8" bowl gouges, square scraper, and Easy Wood Tools Detailer. To finish things off, I finished the lid using the same process as the box itself.
I hope you enjoyed this video and please let me know if you have any project that you'd like to see me do.
Ack's Abrasive & Polishing Paste: https://ackswoodpaste.com/
Use WOLF10 at checkout to get 10% off your order
Please leave a comment if there are any questions you have or if you feel like I missed explaining a step.
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