Apple Box - June 2010

I turned one of the biggest pieces of apple branches I have tonight. After rounding it and removing the bark, I discovered that the split I saw on the end and thought I'd cut off before mounting it went halfway down the branch and extended about halfway through the diameter of the piece of wood. Ah well - nothing to be done but work with it - I cut it in half, gluing the good half to a waste block with 5 minute epoxy. (I wanted something quick and fast-drying because I was gluing end grain and didn't want all the glue getting sucked up by the wood.) Worked great - I was able to successfully hollow out the form and create a round box with slightly undercut edges.

Originally, I didn't plan on a cover, but had about an inch of wood left. Since I'd turned a tenon on it slightly smaller than the opening and used a paper towel for a jam-chuck (first time for me), I decided to give it a shot. I used the same 1/4" gouge I used to hollow the box out to round over the top, turning away the waste block as I did so. The epoxy didn't hold when it got down small, so I decided to do the same thing again - turned a hole in the waste block and used the same towel to jam the lid in place. I was then able to finish the top of the lid.

I took these pictures and then applied a coat of wipe-on poly, which is presently drying as I write this. The whole thing is an even thickness, including the top - just under 1/4". I'm very pleased with how it turned out and can't wait to show the guy who gave me the apple wood to use in my smoker a couple years ago. It's still surprising to me that such beautiful wood looks like such utter crap before it's put on the lathe.

Here are a few pictures of it with the final coat of finish on it. The first coat was wipe on poly with 1/3 poly, 1/3 boiled linseed oil, and 1/3 mineral spirits. Subsequent coats were wipe on poly with 1/2 poly and 1/2 mineral spirits. (I found the addition of oil to the first coat accentuates the grain of the wood. Removing the oil from later coats drastically shortens dry time and I can't see a difference between doing it this way and using the finish with oil for later coats.)