This box was an interesting one for me. I bought a piece of very dark hardwood at my woodturning club recently and as it was dark and very dense I thought it would be good for using for enhancing on my Rose Engine lathe. It was marked up as Mexican Rosewood (which I later found to be most commonly known as Bocote). The label on it was from a company that had closed down at least 15 years ago and so it had been in store somewhere for a long time.

Once I started to turn it I found that it was very dry and dusty and the beautiful grain started to show. As a result it was too nice to go on the Rose Engine and the pattern would likely have been hidden in the attractive grain. Rather than just making it flat topped I used the tenon to turn into a small flat button for the lid which I put one of my white CZ stones in. Finished in lacquer and it is 70mm in diameter and 50mm tall.

This box is made from Boxwood and has a painted ceramic cabochon in the centre, it is 50mm in diameter and 50mm tall. The basket weave pattern was cut using a 3mm wide cutter and an 18 bump rosette. The lid is decorated using a 0.75mm end mill and an F8 rosette. The underside of the lid was decorated with a 0.75mm end mill and an F7 rosette, it has a red CZ stone in the centre. It was a birthday gift for a friend.

This ornamental box was made in Purpleheart and is 80mm tall and 70mm in diameter. The basket weave pattern was cut using a 3mm wide cutter and a 18F rosette I then fluted the top and bottom rims 18 times and lined the flutes up with the gaps in the basket weave.

The top of the lid was ornamented with a Fire Flower rosette and a 0.75mm end mill. The resulting pattern was then filled with gold embellishing wax and a yellow CZ stone inserted in the centre. The inside of the lid was decorated with an Arch 5 rosette and carved using a 1.2mm end mill cutter and again a yellow CZ stone in the centre.

The underside of the base was carved using a 30 bump shallow amplitude rosette that was phased to give the patter and a single point cutter was used. Finished with gloss lacquer.

This box is made from Mopane with a Bloodwood knob it is 80mm in diameter and 75mm tall and finished with gloss lacquer. The staggered basket weave pattern was made with an 18 bump rosette. The top of the lid used an 8PB rosette and a 3mm wide end mill cutter for a much more defined pattern. The inside of the lid was decorated with the Ice Flower rosette and has a Green CZ stone in the centre. The base is decorated with a phased 30F rosette.

This is my latest ornamental box from Purple Heart and spalted Boxwood. It is 40mm tall and 50mm in diameter. It is much smaller in height than I had intended as a moments inattention whilst I was was cutting the basket pattern and I forgot to phase the rosette. As a result I had to reduce the height and make a new base from spalted boxwood.

The basket weave pattern was made with a cutter 2.6mm wide with a curved profile. I found that 2mm spacing between rows gave a more pleasing result rather than using the conventional width of the cutter. The basket weave was cut using a 20 bump rosette.

The inside pattern was cut with a high amplitude 10 bump rosette and the pattern was then filled with embellishing wax prior to lacquering. The top was cut using an arch 7 rosette and the inside of the lid was cut using an unnumbered rosette. The top and inside the lid were enhanced with white CZ stones. The box was finished with several coats of acrylic gloss lacquer. This box is now for sale in the Damselfly Gallery in Louth.

I have placed three of my recent boxes for sale in a local gallery Damselfly in Louth, Lincolnshire.

This box is made from a Purpleheart body with a Spalted Boxwood lid is 55mm tall and 50mm in diameter. The basket weave pattern was created using a 18 bump rosette and a 4mm cutter.  The top of the lid and the inside were decorated using an Arch 7 and an F7 rosette respectively. The top also has a red CZ stone in the centre. The box is finished with multiple coats of gloss lacquer.

This latest box of mine is one I made at a recent demonstration for the West Suffolk Woodturning Club. It is made from Boxwood and is 65mm tall and 48mm in diameter. The basket weave pattern is 3mm wide and made using an 18 bump rosette. The top is decorated with an Arch 7 rosette and has a red CZ stone in the centre. The underside of the lid was decorated using a flower rosette. It is finished with gloss lacquer. It will be prize in the club raffle.

My latest ornamental box this time in Mopane measures 60mm tall and 50mm in diameter. The basket weave pattern on the side is cut with a 2mm wide cutter and a 12 bump rosette. The top was decorated using a flower rosette and a universal cutting frame and has a yellow CZ stone in the centre. The inside of the lid is decorated using a rosette that I don’t know the name of and a drilling frame. It is finished with 3 coats of gloss lacquer.