Turning a Clewes Style Box
A pictorial article by Bob Hamilton
The well known woodturning instructor and demonstrator Jimmy Clewes has made popular a style of box that is turned from a rectangular length of stock as opposed to a square or round blank. They are quite attractive and tend to attract attention. The technique is really not much different from turning a "Suspended Bowl". The main difference is that you start with a rectangle instead of a square.
Here I have a piece of ailanthus that I have dressed to a rectangular block. It is about 9 1/2" long, 3" wide and 2" thick. I found the middle of one face and center punched to bore a hole to suit the woodworm screw that came with my chuck. I bored the hole and mounted the piece on my chuck. The face of the blank that is against the chuck will become the top of the box.
Photo #1: Blank for box Photo#2: Mounted on woodworm screw
With the piece turning at about 1200 rpm. I made a light cut across the face to ensure it was true and then removed a bit of material from the middle of the blank to allow me to form a tenon. With the tenon cut I turned the piece around on my chuck to allow me to work on the top face of the block.
Photo #3: Tenon cut on bottom Photo #4: Reversed for turning top