A Segmented Walnut Egg Box
An Australian viewer asked me to make a wood egg shaped box. The main difference is the shape and no base for it to stand on.
I decided to not make a typical end grain box but instead take a segmented approach. I glued up twelve rings of eight segments each into two stacks. The top rings were plugged with walnut dowels. Each stack of rings was mounted to a threaded wood faceplate. BTW that totals 98 pieces. (8 segments x 12 rings + 2 plugs) I used Titebond extend glue to minimize glue humps at joints.
Then instead of starting with a solid spindle, I started with the two stacks of rings – One for the top and one for the base.
Then
- On the top, form a mortise for the joint, hollow and finish.
- On the base, form a rabbet or tenon for the joint, hollow and finish. I blew it here and had to take off the tenon and start over.
- Complete roughing out the top and part off from the faceplate.
- Place the top on the base with a paper towel to stiffen the joint.
- Refine the overall shape focusing on the top, then finish the top.
- Cut a shallow groove just under the joint on the inside of the base to enable reverse mounting the base.
- Mount the base to a chuck in an expansion grip and finish the base.
In the end, this is a fairly standard box process.
My egg is finished with shellac friction polish.
Sometime in the future, I’ll make a short ring to serve as a stand.