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How to Make Spice Pots

Colwin Way continues to give a Gallic twist to a kitchen staple
Table of Contents

I hope you enjoyed the first part of our French inspired ‘leaning jar spice rack’. If you recall, the inspiration for this project came from a trip I had to the south of France on a woodturning excursion and a couple of pots I bought from French turner Thierry Martinon. In this issue we’re going to follow the original bit of inspiration very closely and make the pots to fit the rack, but also to make lids for our pots and include a small scoop.

If you’ve kept up and finished the project so far you should have the rack made and experienced some offset turning and made some reusable offset jigs. As much as I enjoyed making the rack, it’s the pots where the real fun is and was the start of my vision when I first saw Thierry’s version all those years ago. As with all our other projects we’re going to cover a lot of techniques, which you will then be able to take to other parts of your turning and improve your skills and knowledge while having fun on your personal turning journey.

I was unsure of the timber to use at the beginning of this two-part project and had looked at beech (Fagus spp) as a starting point, however I’m really pleased with the redwood, and think the vibrant colours of the spices really stand up against the lovely dark reds of the timber. Not only that, it’s been a real joy to use and easy to work, but not all of you will be able to get your hands on some of this mighty tree, so why not look at some alternatives and other softwoods?

Things you will need

• 20mm roughing gouge
• 3mm parting tool
• 10mm skew
• 12mm round nose scraper
• TCT hollowing tool
• 6mm bowl gouge
• 30mm sawtooth bit drill chuck
• Brass brush
• Sanding disc
• Callipers
• Dividers
• Rotary tool

The spice jars

1. The grain on these lumps of burr redwood is pretty tight but has a few bark inclusions scattered around. Start by cutting out all the blanks to the same size of 100 x 60mm ready for turning. Leave the blanks square, but you can cut the corner off if you wish
2. It makes sense to view these pots with a production turner’s head on and think about doing the same process on each before changing the kit around and moving to the next section. This way it will be much easier to keep them looking the same and helps to strengthen your skills by repeating the same process over several times. Start by roughing down all the blanks to a cylinder, measuring each one to the correct diameter of 55mm – this also suits the chuck jaws I have. True one end ready for inserting into your chuck. If your chuck cannot grip 55mm then a tenon will need to be cut to suit your chuck so you can hold the work
3. Mount your chuck on the lathe and mount the blank with the trued end in your chuck
4. I tend to drill all the blanks out before moving onto the next section. Take a 30mm sawtooth bit and drill to a depth of 60mm, leaving enough timber in the bottom of the pot so you can finish the bottom to a nice round profile. I always keep one hand on the drill chuck when I’m drilling to stop the likelihood of the chuck slipping. Keep clearing the waste from the hole as you drill to stop the drill from clogging and always drill with a sharp bit to keep heat down and build up to a minimum
5. Set dividers to 90mm and scribe a line on the blank before using a parting tool to cut a groove 10mm deep. This line acts as a visual stop line and helps you focus on the shape of the pot while turning it and helps you keep all the pots the same dimension
6. Another tip to keep the pots looking the same is to highlight the high spots and keep them in the same place. Use a scrap piece of ply the same length as the pot and mark where the position the high-spots needs to be. I use this technique for many things where a repeated design is needed as it speeds up the process
7. Start shaping the bottom of the pot and shape around to the parting tool cut. Do this by using a bowl or spindle gouge, flute facing 10 o’clock and bevel rubbing. Slowly move the handle around to create the curve while gently pushing through the length of the chisel. Next, do the same to the top of the pot, this time the curve is a much longer and slower curve which translates to a slower movement with the handle. Start with the bevel rubbing only and slowly introduce the cutting edge, this will ensure that the curves are smooth with no points and sudden changes of direction
8. Shape the outside, leaving enough material in the bottom of the pots to effectively work on. This last section can be removed later after shaping the inside of the vessel. Now remove the rest of the inside, remembering that you drilled all the pots to the same depth. The hole needs to widen the deeper it gets, but also radius at the bottom without going too deep. The ideal for these pots is that they stay very stable and for this you need to leave some weight in their bottom section. A 12mm roundnose scraper and a purpose-made 45° small hollowing tool, are used to hollow out the pots
9. Work from side to side, gently at first while you get used to the shape, feeling for the contours. As you find the depth, start rounding the bottom taking out the flat bottom of the drill hole, remembering to keep the handle high and the steel flat on the toolrest as you gently guide the tool creating the desired curve
10. Once the pot is hollowed out, give the outside a coarse sanding up to about 150 grit to eliminate any imperfections. Round over the top of the pot and sand the inside down to a fine abrasive of about 400 grit
11. It’s time to add your decoration. The V cuts are created with a skew chisel used in slicing mode, But on denser woods the skew could be used in scraping mode. Leave a plain band at the top of the pot and the bottom, this makes the lines stand out more and frames the pot
12. After you’ve finished turning the lines clean them out using a brass brush; this can also be used to texture softwood like this and really highlights the striking grain and can be done as a alternative to sanding. However if you prefer a smooth finish sand down to 400 grit
13. Once the pots are fully turned and shaped, it’s time to part off.  While gently supporting the pot use your parting tool to shape and part until the pot drops off. A bit of caution and forward thinking needs to be done as you’re reaching over the lathe. First by looking at anything potentially catching on the lathe such as watches, bracelets, rings and sleeves. Always be aware of the chuck and where any sharp edges are
14. After parting off, sand the bottom. I’m using a sanding disc with a faceplate ring on it mounted to my chuck. If you notice, I’m sticking to the original inspiration pots and sanding the base to an angle. Support your pots firmly while sanding and keep testing the pots by putting them on a flat surface to see if they’re leaning the correct amount
15. The pots don’t have to all lean the same amount and a slightly random collection can look really interesting

Jar lids

1. Now you need to make lids to fit the pots.  You don’t want the lids to fit tightly but just sit in the pot opening so they come out really easy and don’t get stuck if the pots shrink. Start off by sizing the blank to 38mm diameter with a set of callipers and a parting tool before gently sanding with 150 grit
2. Using a bowl gouge, turn down enough timber to allow a small knob to be turned. Use a spindle gouge to turn the knob but do keep the knob nice and round, remembering you need it big enough to be able to hold
3. After sizing and shaping the knob you’ll have a better idea how much space you’ll have to turn the rest of the lid. Use a parting tool and cut a small recess where you’re going to part the lid off after shaping. Using the skew chisel, taper the outside of the lid so it fits into the top of the pot; you want the lid to fit flush into the top of the pot, so measure before parting the lid off
4. When you’re happy with the shape of the lid you can sand it down to your desired finish, either wire brushing or fine sanding. To part off keep the cut straight as we’re going to sand the underside later. Then start again by shaping the next knob and so on until you run out of room

Spice scoop

1. To make my scoop I chose blackwood – dimensioned to 125mm x 25mm to end up with a spoon measuring 115 x 22mm. This scoop started off as a ball on a stick. The ball will be hollowed out later in a small jam chuck. Use a spindle or bowl gouge to shape the ball then start removing some of the waste from what will be the handle
2. Continue taking the diameter of the handle down, working from the tailstock and back to the headstock until you create a nice slender handle. If you look at the line drawings provided you will see that there is a small bead at the end of the handle. When you’re happy with this shape you can sand to a fine finish
3. After sanding your spoon, the untidy ends can be removed by the disc sander before gently hand sanding
4. To hollow out the scoop, make yourself a small jam chuck out of some scrap timber. I’m using a piece of tulip (Liriodendron tulipifera) which is nice and soft and perfect for jam chucks. The idea of a jam chuck is to hold your project with friction, allowing you to reshape or remove hold points. To start with, cut a hole in the jam chuck 2mm larger than the ball of the spoon. Finely taper the inside of this hole so that when the ball of the spoon is placed inside it, it will grab and firmly hold
5. Once the hole has been made you need to make room for the handle, so cut a slot through the jam chuck with a fine handsaw or rotary tool, deep enough to fully enclose the handle
6. Offer the spoon into the chuck and give it a couple of gentle taps with a wooden or nylon mallet to firmly position it. You can see here how the spoon sits into the jam chuck and for added security you can tape the handle in place. Again a bit of preparation is required here to remind yourself that the handle with be spinning free and not easily visible, so fingers need to be kept your side of the tool rest and always stop the lathe when repositioning the tool rest. Alternatively you could make the jam chuck big enough to fully envelope the spoon and handle, leaving nothing hanging out
7. When you’re happy that the spoon’s secure in the jam chuck, hollow the scoop out using a combination of small bowl gouge and roundnose scraper, before carefully sanding
8. Well, there we are. I hope you’ve had as much fun as I have recreating these leaning pots. I would class this as an intermediate project and expect to take a couple of weekends to complete it. However the jigs you make will be with you forever. We’ve made a spice rack but the pots can be scaled to suit whichever use you want them to, right back to the two inspiration pots I use in the kitchen for garlic and utensils. So over to you. Have fun with this one and happy turning

Further reading

Turning Handled Bowls

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