Day 149: Misc

2 projects tonight, the first is prep for a demo next month.  I'm planning to do several small multi axis turnings and want to have some of the prep work done ahead of time.  This will be a 3 sided multi axis box with a twist.  I plan to have the inside of the box complete prior to the demo starting so I only have to do the multi axis turning and finish the top and bottom during my demo.  The rest of the process for doing this box is pretty standard for most woodturners so I don't want to waste much time on it.
A tenon has been formed on each end and the 2 halves of the box have been separated.  If I wasn't turning this multi axis I would have turned the body round.

The tenon for the lid has been put in a chuck and the inside of the lid has been turned.  I didn't form the recess on the lid like I normally would because the wood feels like it still has a fair amount of moisture and will likely move a bit.

Now the body has been hollowed.  I would normally form a tenon to fit the recess on the lid but because I think it may still be a little wet I don't want to do that at this time.

Both halves have been put in a paper bag where they'll sit for a couple of weeks.  Then I'll true up the inside and turn a recess on the lid and a tenon on the body. 

I also worked on another small project.  A friend emailed me a while back to see if I had any ideas for business card holders that could be done on the lathe.  I put a few thoughts together and tonight decided to give it a try.  I cut some squares out of some Walnut and then cut a 3/8" wide groove with a dado blade on my tablesaw.  2 of the cuts were centered and the other was intentionally off center.

I then mounted the blocks onto a sacrificial partical board backer plate and mounted that to my lathe.  The 2 on the outside were turned on just 1 center, the one in the middle was the one with the off center groove and was turned on a total of 4 centers.  If I were to do this again I'd angle the dado cutter, I left it at 90 degrees to the table, tilting it about 10 degrees would have been better.  I also wouldn't have done quite as much off center work on the middle one, it's a bit much in my opinion.