Challenge request

[Webb Willmott]

I would like to make a cookie jar and it seems like a lidded box large enough to be a cookie jar would me a good challenge. Given the talent I have seen, I can only image what boxes would be produced. What say the administrators?

 

[Darryl Fective]

Might be cool to make it be a Beads of Courage challenge.

 

[Ron Solfest]

My wife has been asking me to make a cookie jar for years…maybe I need to do this

 

[John K Jordan]

Might be cool to make it be a Beads of Courage challenge.

I think the cookie jar/Beads Of Courage challenge idea is an excellent one!
Some of my favorite Beads of Courage boxes would have made practical cookie jars.

For those unfamiliar, here the BOC webpage with info. Many of the children who get the beads are cancer patients.

Home - Beads of Courage

Beads of Courage - Home

beadsofcourage.org

This page is specifically for woodturners.

Woodturner Artists - Beads of Courage

Beads of Courage - Woodturner Artists

beadsofcourage.org

JKJ

 

[Webb Willmott]

I love the idea of a Beads of Courage box but I think it should be a separate challenge after reading (thank you JKJ) about BOC wood turning donations. I think a cookie jar the size my grandmother had would be too large for a bead box or a bead box wouldn’t be large enough for a cookie jar.

Therefore, my request is doubled. A cookie jar as originally requested, and then a BOC box which will be donated.

Regardless of a challenge or not, I now have two projects waiting on me. The first will make my bride happy and the second will make me happy to bring joy into someone else’s life.

 

[John K Jordan]

I think a cookie jar the size my grandmother had would be too large for a bead box or a bead box wouldn’t be large enough for a cookie jar.

I'll measure, but I make Beads of Coiurage boxes pretty large, big enough for cookies at our house. (We keep most home-baked cookies in the freezer and get out some as we need or to give them to others.) The BOC people suggest making turned boxes 6" diam x 5" tall but then say bigger is better. Some cancer-patient kids get a LOT of beads - one for each needle stick, one for losing hair from radiation treatments, for every procedure - they put them on long strings to get out to tell their stories. Sad thing is I was told of parents who used the box for the funeral ashes.

I make them larger than specified but I can measure the one I have left. I think most were at least 7" dia x 7" tall, not counting the lid knob.

Here are some turned in at our club. Mine is the second one with "Beads of Courage" chip carved in the basswood layer.
That size might not be good for jumbo cookies.


I posted this pic before - here's one of the same basic design I made for a special little boy. These benefit from a stable base.


I made this one from an end-grain blank of y. poplar. Don't remember the size but I could estimate it based on the music box in the lid.


For those who want to make BOC boxes I have quite strong thoughts about the lids and share them in demos and to anyone who will listen. I should post these thoughts and explain why in another thread. It "turns" out there are some bad ways to make the lids.

It was satisfying to watch a guy I know doing a demo on making BOC boxes - he recommended the same method! This was at some point after I made my case and started teaching about the lids.

JKJ

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

The idea that I have could be as big as the raw material would allow. The Scandinavian shrink box was the inspiration for the BOC or canister type boxes.

The process is to take a green log as fresh as possible, mount it between centers as close to centered as possible, turn to round and make a tenon to chuck mount it. The hollowing is than done, the open end groove on the inside is made to receive the bottom and the cylinder is the parted off. The bottom is made from dry wood at a diameter to match the inside diameter of the cylinder with an edge to match the groove in the cylinder. The next step is to place the bottom inside the groove and set it aside to dry. The cylinder will shrink as it dries and hold the bottom in place without glue or any other means of attaching. The normal shrink box is often made with a oval bottom but if you use a round bottom and make the cylinder wall extra thick you can go back and make it round again or add details to the outside. The best wood for this as far as I can see is birch, but I did try it with oak and cherry, which didn't work out as well. The light and dark spots are due to the natural oxidation of the birch as it dries and not removing enough wood after drying

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Sounds good to me. My BOC boxes are substantial. at least 8 tall and maybe 7 wide, but they do change with the wood.

I have a story related to me by the nurse who handles the program here. When the kids go for treatments they leave everything in the room. One little boy would not relinquish his bowl and persisted so finally they had to let him take it to treatment. Demand has slowed so we have not supplied any lately.

 

[John K Jordan]

In looking around at photos of Beads of Courage boxes I found some that look pretty big, for example this from the SWAT website.



A Knoxville club member did a BOC demo about a year ago. This is from Penguin box demo handout and mentions the volume he used compared to the volume suggested by the BOC people. (Again, bigger is better!)



And here's the first page from his Minion Beads of Courage box handout:



Some pretty creative ideas! (Might make interesting cookie jars too.)

JKJ

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

The thing about the suggested size is probably that these kids are very sick and therefore very weak so can handle small better. As to me : they need a place to put all those beads. And they get one for every procedure or doctor visit. Some of the beads are very special. One is made of blown glass for a particular procedure which is very painful.

 

[John K Jordan]

The thing about the suggested size is probably that these kids are very sick and therefore very weak so can handle small better. As to me : they need a place to put all those beads. And they get one for every procedure or doctor visit. Some of the beads are very special. One is made of blown glass for a particular procedure which is very painful.

Our coordinator kept a closet full and let a new patient pick on from the closet. They almost always chose the larger boxes.

A functional lid is an important thing - if it sticks or needs two hands to open they will get frustrated.