Make a wooden box

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dougiemac

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This is a really excellent! I’ve wanted to start doing things like this soon… especially interested in learning how to make things with dove tail joints.
 
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dial1911

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No kidding... 9:30 first picture, 12:05 last picture... 2.5 hours (not including over night gluing/ cutting the blanks) for 4 knobs. One of which has a hole in the top because i drilled a little too deep for the lathe center.
 
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dial1911

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Time for finish. I've been using natural color danish oil lately... it's easy to wipe on and looks good. I'll usually just put some finishing wax on top of 2 coats of oil... but i may put on a few coats of poly on this box.

Not much to talk about... wear gloves, cut a piece of old t shirt for the oil, have some q tips for the corners, and make sure you don't miss a spot. I try to watch out for my finger prints and wipe those smooth after i sit the piece down.

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Love the first coat of oil...

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dial1911

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First coat dried. Now i like to take a clean piece of t shirt and buff all the surfaces by hand. There always some kind of sticky spots where the oil didn't fully absorb. The buffing takes them right off (so long as you do it a couple hours after putting the oil on... wait overnight and it becomes more like dry bubblegum).

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Also found a rough spot or two on the handle. I'll wet sand those with a piece of 220 or 320 grit when i do the second coat later. You can avoid the grain raising up and making rough spots if you mist the wood with water before final sanding (just lightly wet it). That will raise the grain as it dries and you can sand it off then. The light brown areas are a little rough-

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Overall, it's coming along pretty good. There are some minor mistakes, but that's always the case. Keep learning, keep practicing, and chase perfection.
 
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Grunk

Why leave anything here?
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dial1911

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Please figure a price on one of these so I can start scrounging pennies, :geek: I love this!

Well, the good news is that's only about $30-ish worth of wood.

The bad news is it took working in it from Sunday to Sunday every day.

I did go ahead and put in the leather bottom liner. Honestly, there's no need for a second coat of oil on this one. I will buff it with finishing wax once the oil fully sets.

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Grunk

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Well, the good news is that's only about $30-ish worth of wood.

The bad news is it took working in it from Sunday to Sunday every day.

I did go ahead and put in the leather bottom liner. Honestly, there's no need for a second coat of oil on this one. I will buff it with finishing wax once the oil fully sets.

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I don't doubt the time it took. I did some woodworking in the past when my hands would do what I told them to (though I never reached your skill level), so I know it is NEVER as simple as so many people seem to believe.
 
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dial1911

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I don't doubt the time it took. I did some woodworking in the past when my hands would do what I told them to (though I never reached your skill level), so I know it is NEVER as simple as so many people seem to believe.

I'm going to have to plan a trip to the wood store after I'm back up and around. I looked at the walnut i have here and none of it has that crazy grain pattern.

Funny thing is that particular piece of walnut came from a "discount" pile at the wood store. They had a pallet of 6 foot pieces that were only $6 a board foot (normal full length boards are $13/bd. ft. if in remembering right).

That pallet had mostly narrow boards, mostly kinda twisted/ warped, cracked, and generally messed up enough to make you not want to deal with them. But... those twisted, warped pieces had some amazing grain. I bought one to see if i could use it. The best grain patterns come from forks, knots, and generally bad parts of the tree.

Half the board is too crooked to use. But you could cut some of them down, straighten it and have a nice piece. Of course, the other half might be trash, so your back to paying full price (well, $12 /bd ft).
 
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dial1911

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I don't doubt the time it took. I did some woodworking in the past when my hands would do what I told them to (though I never reached your skill level), so I know it is NEVER as simple as so many people seem to believe.

You know, that time estimate wasn't quite fair.

I usually batch process boards because it's much easier to run several pieces once the tools are set up. I looked back through the pictures and made 4 bixes worth of thin pieces, 3 spare knobs, and at least one other box top.

Just guessing, but if i could reuse all those materials (but i can't exactly because the knob material doesn't match most of the board i cut down), but anyway, i could probably turn out at least 2 (maybe 3) boxes this week (surgery aside).

That's not including several details like making knobs. I have several store bought metal drawer pulls intended to be used as knobs. That would speed up production, but it's not the same as a knob made of the same wood.
 
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