This basic turning project recycles interesting little jars and bottles that normally would be discarded, making them into one-of-a-kind custom gift items. It is also a great use for all those little scrap pieces of contrasting wood that seem to accumulate, but you just can’t throw away. I have made many of these beautiful wooden lidded jars; they are a big hit and are often used more as a decorative item than as a functional jar. We have been known to eat some very strange kinds of jams, pickles, relishes, and who knows what else just to get that specially shaped little vessel (see Fig. 1).
Transforming uniquely shaped containers by adding wooden lids is not a new idea by any means. Years ago, a variation of this sort of lidded container project was presented by the well-known woodturner Ernie Conover, who has written many articles (see Woodturning Issue 17, 68 Woodturning Design December 2013 Trash to Treasures Woodturning Design Project by James Duxbury Wooden-Topped Jars November 1993). And in the previous issue of Woodturning Design (#45), Scott Roberts explained how to cap ordinary plastic water bottles with wooden tops made from scrap.
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