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Salt and pepper shakers are usually drilled out, then plugged with a rubber bung, which is often difficult to remove and insert when you need to refill the container. A screw top makes more sense and you can create a bigger interior space by turning. This 1⁵⁄8-in.- (42mm-) diameter, 4-in.- (100mm-) tall boxwood shaker sports a bead between the lid and base to make the join less obvious. Inside, the top of the lid beyond and above the flange widens to make chasing easier and the lid thinner. To make your shaker, use a dense hardwood held in long chuck jaws to provide maximum support, particularly when hollowing the base.

After you’ve trued the blank and before you part off the bulk for the base, turn the end slightly con-cave (A). This will be the bottom of the shaker, and it pays to turn it now because it’s really a nasty job later when it’s jammed on a chuck. Part off the base section (B).

Hollow the lid (C), ensuring that the flange is cylindrical. Chase the thread in the lid either by hand (D) or on a jig, then use the bevel side of a skew chisel to chamfer the inner lip of the rim (E). On a typical box, I would apply finish to a lid at this point; however, with this sort of container I don’t, because I want the wood to absorb the aroma of the contents.

While the lid is gripped firmly in the chuck, turn as much of the outside as you can with a small,

3⁄8-in. (9mm) detail gouge (F, G). Measure the A

C D

E F

G

B

inside diameter of the lid (H), then widen the caliper jaws for gauging the diameter of the base flange. I’m using 16-tpi chasers here so I

widened the jaws about ¹⁄16in. (1.8mm).

Establish the diameter of the base flange (I) keeping it short, maintaining as much bulk as possible in the blank while it’s hollowed. Next, hollow the base using scrapers (J). Mark the depth on the tool blade so you don’t go through the bottom.

With the inside completed, prepare for threading by extending the flange to about ¹⁄2in. (13mm) long, using a skew chisel or a wide parting tool.

Then ease in the corner of the skew at the base of the flange to create a clearance chamfer (K) (see A on p. 177). If, when you come to turn the flange, you find that the blank shifted off center during hollowing, try to relocate it accurately in the chuck. If you can’t, then cut off the flange and turn another that runs true.

Chase the base flange (L) and check the lid fit (M). Before aligning the grain, finish shaping as much of the base as possible (N). With the lid off, you’ll be able to check the wall thickness quickly with your fingers.

H

J K

L M

N

I

Now screw the lid on, line up the grain, and draw a reference line across the two portions (O).

Tighten the lid so you can assess how much of the flange shoulder to remove to bring the grain into alignment (P). Here it is almost a whole turn, so I mark almost the width of the thread on the shoulder (Q) and use the side of the skew chisel bevel to turn back to that line, keeping the shoul-der flat (R).

When the grain is almost aligned, screw the lid on and finish shaping it (S). When turning fine detail like this, I use 3X magnifiers that clip over my spectacles. Their depth of field requires get-ting very close to the action. Although it’s uncom-fortable bending over the lathe so near an object that could explode in the event of a catch, at least I can see what I’m doing.

Once the lid is turned, mark a circle on which to lay out the holes. This shaker was always des-tined to hold the ground pepper I use for cooking, so I drilled three holes using a Dremel grinder (T).

After drilling the holes, sand the whole profile, but polish only the lid.

Finishing the lower portion of the base over a jam chuck is difficult because of the ever-present pos-sibility of catches ruining the job. Therefore, the more work you can do in the mechanical chuck the better. Shift the blank in the jaws so it’s gripped by the very end (U) and use peeling cuts with the skew chisel to shape all the way to the chuck jaws (V).

O

Q R

S T

U V

P

Reverse the workpiece over a jam chuck (W).

Use your left hand to serve as tail-center support while the thumb stays in contact with the tool on the rest (X).

It’s safer is to use tail-center support with the job pressed against a protective block that is as wide as the rim of the base. Turn away the surplus with a ³⁄8-in. (9mm) shallow gouge, working into the protective block as need be (Y), then gently use the skew chisel to peel away the remainder of the waste (Z).

Finally, turn a small chamfer on the rim of the base, using the skew chisel’s long point (AA). If you failed to turn the base at the beginning, it now needs to be dished very slightly so the shaker sits on the rim only. Use your left hand to keep the job running true and a ³⁄8-in. (9mm) shallow gouge to make a very light cut to center (BB, CC).

W

Y Z

AA BB

CC

X

A lthough the term face work typically applies