Making a mini winged box out of a spruce dowel and a scrap iroko piece

Tools and materials I propose:

Bowl gouge

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Chuck kit

Forstner bit set

Block plane

Mineral oil

Gooseneck scraper

You can get NAGU carbide cutting tools from my friend and fellow woodturner Kostas Annikas Deftereos here.

These kind of boxes are interesting to turn. It is hard to sand their curves. So your tools need to be sharp and you should pay attention to the direction of the grain. This way you get clean cuts and as a result you will need less sanding.

First of all I flattened the bottom of my dowel with my block plane. This way I could mount it a bit easier between centres on the lathe 

I then marked the centre of my dowel and mounted it on the lathe. Using my bowl gouge I started shaping the exterior of my box. Try to follow the direction of the grain in order to reduce tear out. The cleaner your cuts, the less sanding you’ll have to do.

I created the tenon for my chuck with my carbide cutters. I sanded the piece with 100grit.

Then I reversed chucked the piece. I used the bowl gouge again to finish my shaping. I hollowed my box with a forstner bit. 

Using my block plane, I planed the tenon flat. I also used the plane to shape my wings a little bit. 

With a gooseneck scraper I cleaned any tear out I had. I then sanded the piece with 100, 220 and 320 grit.

On the table saw I cut a piece of iroko to make my finial / cap. 

I mounted the piece on my pen turning jaws. I used the roughing gouge to turn the finial true. 

With the carbide flat scraper I created the cap’s tenon. 

Then I used the skew to create the basic cone of my finial. 

I came back and forth between the skew and a spindle gouge until I had the shape I wanted. 

In these small and delicate finials I like to use my finger as support while I push the tools against the wood. I also took light cuts.

Once I was happy with my shape, I sanded it and parted the piece off.

I finished my little box with mineral oil.

This was an interesting little project and I really enjoyed it.

But anyway, I hope you liked it, because that was it, see you soon with a new project video.

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