The Nichols Small Lidded Box Evolution- August, 2022

I started turning some small boxes several years ago. I have always enjoyed turning wooden stuff on the lathe. These first small sized boxes were threaded (with my home made threading jig) and were originally designed as a container in which musicians could carry their picks. They were small enough to be carried in a pants pocket. They were finished in lacquer and featured curly maple wood. After making some and trying to sell some, I realized that these boxes were a little too sophistocated for a lot of musicians. 

I also discovered that a lot of ladies use these small threaded boxes to carry in their purses to hold earrings and other small items. I recently did some conversions on my wood lathe and started experimenting with some other small box designs. This was further enhanced by some wood that I got from my brother-in-law, James Vaughn. He had a piece of wood that looked like a cut off from a bar or table top. It was hard rock maple and was laminated together in about one and a quarter inch strips and was around 1 1/4 inch thick.

Pictured above are two of the boards I got from my brother-in-law. The thickness of these boards and the size of my lathe chuck pretty much dictated the size of these new boxes and lids. The hard rock maple is an excellent turning wood and I didn’t want to do any further laminations. To retain reasonable proportions, I experimented with several designs and settled on the ones pictured here.

I recently discovered a texturing tool and incorporated this into the design of these boxes.

These last boxes are not threaded. The top has a built in handle to lift them.

These small boxes are smoothly finished inside and out with Johnsons Wax, lacquer, or a water based polyurethane finish. They are intended to be stationary and without the threading are not well suited for carrying  around in a pocket or purse like my threaded ones were. These boxes are not for sale to the general public. They are designed to hold jewelry and small items. They are not intended to store food items and are not finished with a food safe finish. I have given away a lot of them to special friends and family. They are a limited edition and fabricated one at a time. The amount of time involved in making these boxes and lids would prohibit me from pricing them at a price that most folks would be willing to pay, so I just give them away to special folks.

Update October, 2022, I recently made a video showing how I make these boxes. It is on my YouTube channel. Here is a link to that video: