I have mostly only done bowls and hollow forms, but I've recently done some triangle boxes. Because of the grain, corners and the imperfections/variance in the triangle shape, the lid only really fits one way. Yes, I could've probably googled it, or searched the forums here, but I was wondering what methods other turners prefer to employ for making a lid go on correctly.
My fist attempt was a twisted box I did for a club demo. I ran out of time about the same moment I realized the loss of material, (from parting off lid and truing faces) combined with the twist, was going to make an ugly grain mis-match when corners lined up. I finished the piece at home and added a spacer to make up the lost height. I didn't think I could sand it flush easily, so I went oversize and tried to sand a round bead edge on it. (didn't pull that off real well) I decided to cut a V in the tenon and glued a small diamond-shaped piece of wood to engage in the V cut. It works, but not all that great looking.
The second piece was done at home. It was my backup blank in case I really screwed up and had to start over. I wanted to try inserting the spacer before turning the triangle shape so that it would be flush and clean looking. I parted off a piece for the lid and glued on the spacer. I used some 2-sided tape to put it back on the body. I did the layout and put it between centers for a twist, but the tape wasn't up to holding the lateral forces. I worried sufficient tailstock pressure for turning would just slide the pieces apart. I continued on without the twist, doing just a straight sided, slightly tapered triangle box. I drilled both top and bottom and used an 8d nail that I cut and polished as a pin. Again, it works, but not all that pretty.
I'm curious what others use.
My fist attempt was a twisted box I did for a club demo. I ran out of time about the same moment I realized the loss of material, (from parting off lid and truing faces) combined with the twist, was going to make an ugly grain mis-match when corners lined up. I finished the piece at home and added a spacer to make up the lost height. I didn't think I could sand it flush easily, so I went oversize and tried to sand a round bead edge on it. (didn't pull that off real well) I decided to cut a V in the tenon and glued a small diamond-shaped piece of wood to engage in the V cut. It works, but not all that great looking.
The second piece was done at home. It was my backup blank in case I really screwed up and had to start over. I wanted to try inserting the spacer before turning the triangle shape so that it would be flush and clean looking. I parted off a piece for the lid and glued on the spacer. I used some 2-sided tape to put it back on the body. I did the layout and put it between centers for a twist, but the tape wasn't up to holding the lateral forces. I worried sufficient tailstock pressure for turning would just slide the pieces apart. I continued on without the twist, doing just a straight sided, slightly tapered triangle box. I drilled both top and bottom and used an 8d nail that I cut and polished as a pin. Again, it works, but not all that pretty.
I'm curious what others use.
