Mother's Day Wood Turning Marathon-Discussion and Plans - Blue Mahoe and Hickory Lidded Box for Sarah

Hi Everyone,

I'm going to change the project for this year's marathon from a salad bowl to a lidded box. Here's the story behind the new project:

I have a lovely cousin who sent me a small block of wood that she gathered during a recent trip to Puerto Rico. The wood is called Blue Mahoe and it's grown as part of a sustainable forestry project there (http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/). Here is a photo of the block she sent:

The wood is light in weight, fine grained, and has many colors in it. It rather reminds me of poplar. It also has large annual growth rings so this tree grew at a rapid pace. It has a dark heart wood and a light colored sap wood and you can see a strip of sap wood along the edge.

Discussion

I looked at the block and given its size I decided to make a lidded box and use the blue mahoe for the lid. If I used it for the box part it would be overshadowed and by the lid and not terribly visible so the top it is.

The bottom of the box is a block that I've laminated out of a short piece of hickory:

The hickory blank is butter yellow and this should provide a nice contrast for the color of the lid.

Plans

I've taken the blue mahoe block and cut it in half on the bandsaw:

I'm going to use the top piece and set the other half aside for a future project. Next I mounted them on the lathe and turned them into turning blanks:

And I'm going to stop here. I'll be re-mounting the hickory blank first and shaping and hollowing it out. Then I'll turn the top. After a good sanding, I'll figure out a finish.

Ok, the wood is ready to go. I'll clean out the shop, sharpen up everything, and get ready for Mother's Day.

See you all on Sunday,
Best,
VW