Walnut Trinket Box

You will need:

~A bandsaw or other saw to cut down your wood to size

~ A wood lathe

~ Lathe Tools (tradition or carbide)

~Safety clothing (face shield or AT LEAST safety glasses)

~ Also sandpaper and a rag or paper towel,

~Some wood Finish

~ And some wood of course! :)

Cut your wood blank down to size into a sqare about the size you want your box to be. (You will need a piece for the main box and also for the lid.)

For the next step there are several ways to do this. I will be showing you the method using a chuck with small jaws.

Use a drill press to drill a recess about 1/8 - 1/4 inch deep a little bigger then the external diameter of your chuck jaws when they are almost fully closed

Position the wood with the recess over the jaws and expand the jaws until they are snug but not overly tight.

Start shaping your blank.

I used a square carbide tool but a traditional bowl gouge would also work.

The recess you have in the chuck now is the top of your box. So make another one with your square carbide tool (or a square scraper etc.) about the same size.

Once you have done this flip the blank around,and start hollowing using either your bowl gouge, spindle gouge or carbide tools.

When hollowing is complete it is time to sand. Start around 100 grit and work your way through the grits up to 220 to 400. (220 worked well for me.)

After your box is complete its time to turn the lid!

Mount your lid blank the same as you did for the base.

This time instead of making a recess for the chuck underneath you will want to under cut it to fit the outside edge of the top of your box.

Once this is completed, turn the top into a pleasing, curved shape until you are almost at the center.

Sand through the grits as you did the box.

Use a tip of a skew or parting tool to part off the little bit of wood that is holding yet.

Use a piece of 100 grit sand paper to sand off the little nub that will be left there.

Now its time for some fun!!

Grab your cloth or paper towel and apply a small amount of a wax and oil mixture.

(Mineral oil by itself or another finish works well too.

Using the cloth, rub the finish into the wood until all excess finish is wiped away and the wood is all nice and shining.

Your'e Finished!!!

Now you have a functional little box perfect for keeping your pins, buttons, needles, false teeth, or anything else you choose to!

Hope you had as much fun with this project as I did