Curly maple box making

[Spike Cornelius]

Greetings and salutations from my kitchen counter! I have made a fair bit of projects with curly maple, I just love the look of it. However, I don’t always love the process of working it. It is hard to work with the grain when it is going all over the place sometimes. My turnings sometimes en up somewhat smaller than they started! My new lathe is making me more ambitious, though. I have started a container of curly maple, 3 1/2“ tall and 3+” in diameter. So far so good, the outside looks really good, no chips or gouges, and the low speed capability seems to really help the sanding, coupled with the ease of rotating the stock with machine off. Mr. smith was a chore to rotate with all of the stuff in the drive train.
So now I have started hollowing this thing. I an making a hole about 3 by 3 inches, and the other boxes that I have made are much smaller. I am cutting deeper than I have in very dry hard maple, I drilled a 1” hole 3” down, and am currently 1” deep using a Sorby multi tip tool with the round end swivel tip. This is rather slow going and I am wondering if there is a better way or do I just need to cultivate patience.
Wow, that turned out to be a bit of a novel! Sorry for the verbosity!
Best, Spike

 

[Spike Cornelius]

Well, I was intimidated by the thought of using a bowl gouge on a deep straight hole, and as I was walking past the lathe I couldn’t resist picking up a gouge and taking a crack at it. Bulk removal with the gouge, then tidying up with the scraper seem to work.

 

[Dean Center]

Quilted maple can be troublesome--you're not alone.

You can use a gouge, either bowl or spindle, and have an easier, cleaner result than scraping. (Note to Reed--I personally rough hollow box bottoms with scrapers for about 1/2 the job)

One thing to keep in mind is that boxes are usually turned end grain, and therefore 'downhill' is different than with face grain/bowls. For the cleanest cuts, we should be cutting from centerline outward and from farther in to less far in to have good support for the wood fibers. In practice, we often don't cut downhill for most of the work. Cut out most of the waste wood in the way that feels most comfortable to you, but when you get close to finished thickness, within maybe 1/16-1/8", try your best to cut downhill, with supported fibers when cutting the rest.

 

[Dave Fritz]

What species of maple? Here in Wisconsin I find quilted soft maple more difficult than quilted hard maple. In Oregon you may be working with Big Leaf Maple I guess.

 

[Spike Cornelius]

Thanks Dean and Dave, I’m wondering how much the curly figure impacts the grain direction when cutting. I have done a fair bit of flat work with hand planes and have an understanding of reading and working with the grain, but what impact does spinning the piece have and all of those convolutions?
I’ve watched videos of that little round nosed bit on the Sorby multi tip tool and thought it was the bees knees, but after using it on this piece I’m a little less enthusiastic about it! I have an inch wide flat scraper that I put a gentle arc on that does seem to work well to smooth the gouge marks, though.
As far as the species of maple that I’m dealing with, I have no idea, really, it is a chunk that had been sitting in the basement of my previous abode for 25 or years, acquired from a woodworker who was downsizing prior to a move.
Best, Spike

 

[Richard Coers]

Thanks Dean and Dave, I’m wondering how much the curly figure impacts the grain direction when cutting. I have done a fair bit of flat work with hand planes and have an understanding of reading and working with the grain, but what impact does spinning the piece have and all of those convolutions?
I’ve watched videos of that little round nosed bit on the Sorby multi tip tool and thought it was the bees knees, but after using it on this piece I’m a little less enthusiastic about it! I have an inch wide flat scraper that I put a gentle arc on that does seem to work well to smooth the gouge marks, though.
As far as the species of maple that I’m dealing with, I have no idea, really, it is a chunk that had been sitting in the basement of my previous abode for 25 or years, acquired from a woodworker who was downsizing prior to a move.
Best, Spike

Curly figure is ALL about grain direction. Each line of curl is the grain raising up and diving back. So on each curl you see end grain twice

 

[robo hippy]

You can use just about any tool for hollowing boxes. Saw a video on making a hollowing tool with a 3/8 inch ball end mill cutter. Fairly simple, and it drills and hollows. Have to try it. For finish cuts on end grain boxes, you can't beat a NRS. Even with the softer and figured woods, you get glass smooth surfaces. A standard scraper can give great finish cuts in end grain, but tend to work better in harder woods.

Spike, odds are about 99% that you have some BLM. We have tons of it in the NW.

robo hippy