# A multi-purpose cube



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Here is something a bit different to my normal type of project, a cube turned in the lathe, I hope my metal lathe will forgive me for abusing it. I have no idea what order the photographs will end up in, but they are self explanatory.


----------



## Joe Lyddon (Sep 11, 2004)

Pretty... Nice!


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

*Some possible uses for multi-purpose cube*

Whilst I thought that this project would turn-out as firewood,because it didn't, here are a few possible uses for it, for those not familiar with it, the wood is West Australian Jarrah finished with three coats of low sheen Poly.


----------



## curiousgeorge (Nov 6, 2006)

Nice work Harry. The jarrah wood is beautiful.


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

HI Harry Looks Nice 

Are you a pipe smoker ??? by chance, it would made a nice humidor if you had a lid for it.
Or a great gift to a mate that is a pipe smoker  

Bj


----------



## Dr.Zook (Sep 10, 2004)

Exceptionally nice Harry. It definitely is a multi-purpose cube. Beautiful wood also.
That is some kind of tool post you use there. I have never seen one quite like it. Keep up the great work.


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

*The cube*

Thanks for kind words. No Bob I'm not a smoker, (not since 4.00pm May 20th 1982) that's when I had a heart attach, but I may well make a lid for it anyway to store small cookies! Dave, does my home-made four way tool post look better? Notice that I gave the lathe a thorough clean this morning. Finally, it was nice to hear from you George, how is template routing progressing?

I just took a shot from where I'm sitting showing the present home for the cube


----------



## Dr.Zook (Sep 10, 2004)

That toolpost I know Harry. Made one just like it. Little different handle tho. I then got ambitious and made one of the quick change style. Half dozen holders with different tooling in them. Made changing tooling easier. Glad to see the lathe clean. Those metal lathes don't like saw dust. TaTa for now.


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Hi Dave, the tapered ball handle I made basically freehand, I doubt that my co-ordination operating the top slide and carriage at the same time would be good enough now, some twenty three years on. I drool about having a set of interchangeable tool holders but they are VERY expensive here.The handle is actually the second one that I made, the first turned out fine 'till I drilled the hole and it was way off centre so I filled it with weld and re-drilled the hole only to find IT was way out so I thought "stuff it" I'll start from scratch.


----------



## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

Harry that is a beauty. I really like the wood and idea's you have for it. Nice job.


Bernie


----------



## challagan (Feb 7, 2006)

Way to go there Mr. Harry! I like that. Gives me some ideas too!! Harry, what is the router bit that you used, is it a finger joint bit? I think there is a lot you could do with boxes and turning. A week or two ago in another thread Bob posted a cool box, made with box joints etc and the lid was turned on the top. Very cool. Thanks for all the photos. 

Corey


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Hi Corey, the cutter is actually a triple bead bit but only utilising the tips. This box used the same cutter set to it's full depth. I seldom make two boxes the same (even if I set out to I doubt that they would end up identical) I do make lots of mistakes these days but have become adept at turning errors into features!


----------



## challagan (Feb 7, 2006)

Oh ok, I got yah, couldn't tell in the first pic that it was a beading bit. I like that edge treatment you did on that box with it. Thanks for the info. 

Corey


----------



## Rolf Maxa (Feb 8, 2005)

Great cube, I especially like the use of the beading bit around the outside. I think I'm going to give that a try on my next box project.

Rolf


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Thanks for the kind words Rolf,I have started a lid for the cube and will post pics. in a couple of days. Here are two further ideas for the same beading cutter.


----------



## challagan (Feb 7, 2006)

Very nice Harry, never have used one of those beading bits. Might have to pick on up!

Corey


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry and Corey

That's a neat way to use the bead bit, Harry  they can be used in may ways here a link to a great price for one if you are thinking about getting one to put in your router bit box,, Corey  

Bj 

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-pc-1-2-Shank-...3664777QQihZ003QQcategoryZ50386QQcmdZViewItem

Most of the bits he as listed are about 1/3 of the going price and I have got many of them and used most of them and they are great bits for the price.

http://stores.ebay.com/Super-Carbide-Tools

Bj


----------



## Joe Lyddon (Sep 11, 2004)

harrysin said:


> Thanks for the kind words Rolf,I have started a lid for the cube and will post pics. in a couple of days. Here are two further ideas for the same beading cutter.


Harry, that's a good way of using the bit... think outside the box...

The flowers, especially the ones on the left, ... did you inlay them?
Marquetry... or what?

Thank you...


----------



## berry (Oct 17, 2005)

Very very cool!


----------



## challagan (Feb 7, 2006)

Sweet BJ, I have this guy book marked. Been looking at his stuff. Is this the same bits that Sommerfield is selling? Definitely need to get me a beader like that though. Thanks Harry for waking me up on this profile. 

Corey


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Corey

"same bits that Sommerfield is selling?" I'm not to sure, the same color (yellow) but they look more like the ones you would see in H.D. (American Vermont. I think) , they are sharp and cut well and do last. 


Bj 

Here's one for you have you used a bit with a sq. bearing on it ?

I know pie are sq. but bearings are round but in this case the bearing are sq.
They are great no burns marks or nasty bearing marks on the stock. 


-




challagan said:


> Sweet BJ, I have this guy book marked. Been looking at his stuff. Is this the same bits that Sommerfield is selling? Definitely need to get me a beader like that though. Thanks Harry for waking me up on this profile.
> 
> Corey


----------



## challagan (Feb 7, 2006)

Yeah, alot of these "contractor" grades are pretty much the same thing probably coming out of the same factory. I buy alot of the Ryobi branded ones at Home Depot and I have bought a bunch of these yeller ones from Menards real cheap. I was told by Pat Warner that there are only a handful of manufactures of router bits and many make these "contractor grades" sold by Grizzly, Ryobi, Porter Cable, Wood tek, Woodcraft house brand, Rockler house brand etc. Some manufactures like Eagle make some for other manufacturers... just depends on the tooling they have. So I don't get too crazy with router bit manf.. most of them are good, even the cheapies. When I need a real good router bit like spirals or some big honker I usually support Freud since Charles does such a good job in the forums. I always buy Freud forstener bits I love them and I use nothing but Freud blades as well for this reason, plus there blades kick butt on 100.00 blades in my opinion!

Corey


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi 

Now that one should get you a new blade from Charles    or to say it should 

Now we just need to get Charles M. to read it  LOL 
He drops in about 7:00 to 8:00 AM ever day but not on the weekends,no show then.


Bj


----------



## challagan (Feb 7, 2006)

LOL... it's true though. He gives excellent CS in the forums. Whether you have a problem with a blade or having problems with your cuts he can help you out. I use nothing but these two blades anymore: I got this one for 43.00 not long ago on Amazon and they were as low as 23.00 for a few days. 
http://www.amazon.com/FREUD-LU84R11...37-0437659?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1177380447&sr=8-3

And the thin kerf which I just went ordered my second one and received. $43.00 as well. 

http://www.amazon.com/Freud-LU83R01...7-0437659?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1177380447&sr=8-11

Awesome blades!! I still need to get one of those glue line rippers. I also have a Freud laminate/melamine blade. You just don't have to spend wads of dollars for good tablesaw blades. 

Corey

P.S. Harry, I apologize for taking your thread in another direction, I need to watch that.


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Joe, the flowers on the white jewellery box lid were a decal applied on top of a couple of coats of high gloss white followed by two or three coats of high gloss clear lacquer.


----------



## Joe Lyddon (Sep 11, 2004)

Thanks Harry... I know of a guy that could do that using Marquetry... I thought I just might meet another person that could do it... awesome work...

Nice touch to your box...

Thank you...


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Knowing just ONE guy with such skills is as much as one can hope for in a lifetime Joe.


----------



## Joe Lyddon (Sep 11, 2004)

harrysin said:


> Knowing just ONE guy with such skills is as much as one can hope for in a lifetime Joe.


OK, I will share some of his work...
This flower arrangement is all wood and done with Marquetry... same for the bird...
http://www.woodworkstuff.net/JCPetMar.html
http://www.woodworkstuff.net/JCCD2.html
... just more of his work...
http://www.woodworkstuff.net/JCurvcab.html
http://www.woodworkstuff.net/JCCD1.html

http://www.woodworkstuff.net/woodidxunusual.html

http://www.woodworkstuff.net


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Joe, after viewing Jerry Cousin's work, I can only repeat that no one can hope to know more than one person with such skills in a lifetime, his work is beyond praise.


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

*Multi-purpose cube,making of the lid*

Here is a photo shoot during making of the lid.

#1......About to start,outline drawn in pencil
#2......Surface one finished to line
#3......Reducing thickness
#4......Upper-side finished
#5......The knob
#6......Underside

No prizes for guessing what the hole is for. Answer in next post


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

*The Cube-Completed*

I have no idea why the photographs did not appear as thumbnails as they have in the past.
Here are the final photos.


----------



## gregW (Mar 14, 2007)

Very nice Harry. Thanks for sharing the photos. It was very cool to see the sequences that you went through to complete the project. 

Greg


----------



## challagan (Feb 7, 2006)

Excellent Harry! Really nice work on the whole project. Thanks for all the photos as well. The lid and knob compliment the box nicely!

Corey


----------



## Joe Lyddon (Sep 11, 2004)

harrysin,

Thank you for the Pics... I noticed that you inserted a small amount of text into each picture... The Pic.#...

May I make a few suggestions...? 
(if the answer is "No", ignore the following.)  

1. Select the color of the text... Don't be afraid to choose "White" and place text over dark areas... like in a corner, etc.
2. Change the size to as large or small that can be read easily.
3. In addition to the picture #, add other information like:
. . . a. Title; what is it. (Maybe centered across the top or bottom)
. . . . . . (the rest tucked in a lower corner...)
. . . b. Number and Other brief description.
. . . c. Date
4. Don't be afraid to enter more than one line. Like having each item, noted above, on a new line.
5. Select a good, easy to read, Font... sometimes making it Bold is better too.


Like, in this batch of pics, the description could have been inserted into the pics... Then, it would not have been necesary to describe them in the post... Just post the pics... Looks like they want to be uploaded in the Reverse Order, so they can be in proper Display sequence...  

Looks like you're getting the 'hang' of it... now you can expand on it's use in other ways...


#1......About to start,outline drawn in pencil
#2......Surface one finished to line
#3......Reducing thickness
#4......Upper-side finished
#5......The knob
#6......Underside


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

May I also make one ..

If you are going to tag the snapshots I would do something like below.


Bj


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Thanks guys for you're help and suggestions, they have been taken on board. There's more to learn on this forum than simply making sawdust.


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry

One more tip, I'm not sure why the jpg are not showing up as thumbnails but you can over ride it by using 
http://i49.photobucket.com
http://photobucket.com/
OR
http://tinypic.com/

To post your snapshots, Photobucket is the server/service Corey is using it to post his snapshots.. 

They are both FREE and will resize your pictures by default.

The one below is now on tinypic.com
It can be view at any time from any computer on the NET
By using the web address below.
http://i15.tinypic.com/2gsfr7b.jpg










Bj


----------



## Joe Lyddon (Sep 11, 2004)

harrysin said:


> I have no idea why the photographs did not appear as thumbnails as they have in the past.
> Here are the final photos.


By George... I think you've Got it!

Now, that wasn't hard was it? :sold: 

Good job...


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Bob, I will check out those programmes but only after I learn about the arrow heads etc. By the way I just realised that apart from the change in the way attachments appear, the width of the display was excessive. I thought that the format had been changed to wide screen so I got the forum up on my wife's set-up which has a 16 x 9 wide screen but the display still had to be slid from side to side. Perhaps these questions should have been addressed to Mark.


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Silly me, I must have clicked on EDIT instead of POST and have overwritten a previous post which went something like this:
With the benefit of hindsight, no it wasn't that difficult but I must confess to having several of you helping me! I now feel ready for lesson number two, how do I superimpose arrow heads and lines to indicate dimensions? I'm sitting by my computer awaiting the flood of replies.


----------



## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

Excellent work Harry. Thanks for the pictures.


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry

LINES,ARROWS.ETC. are easy in PaintShop Pro. but not to easy in Paint.net that's why I use both programs..  

see snapshots below for some help. 


























Bj 

-----------------------





harrysin said:


> Silly me, I must have clicked on EDIT instead of POST and have overwritten a previous post which went something like this:
> With the benefit of hindsight, no it wasn't that difficult but I must confess to having several of you helping me! I now feel ready for lesson number two, how do I superimpose arrow heads and lines to indicate dimensions? I'm sitting by my computer awaiting the flood of replies.


----------



## Joe Lyddon (Sep 11, 2004)

Harry,

Here is another, simpler (to me) solution.

You probably have the program "Paint" by Miscrosoft in your computer already... it's one that seems to always be there when you buy one... 

Hope the attachment works OK...

In this screen capture, the "Line" function has been selected...
You position cursor to start point, push mouse & drag to desired position (you will see the line being drawn as you move it around), then let up on the mouse... Bingo... line drawn... Then you can draw arrow heads, etc.

Those gismos, below the main tool selections, is where you can set the line thicknesses...

Cool & simple...


----------

