Bottle Openers

I took the day off so I would be here for a furnace maintenance person could tell me why my furnace won't turn on. While waiting, I turned the following 2 bottle opener handles. These are for a kit that Rockler sells. They have a chrome version, as well as the pewter color that I bought. There is an insert into the handle that you screw the opener into. Anyway, one handle in Myrtle wood, the other I don't know. The unknown wood version had a pair of cracked knots that I filled with green epoxy after the initial turning. I then cleaned up the mess on a final pass. While I like the larger size, (big hands) I think the preferred size would be the smaller (green) one. I'll keep one and the other goes into a 'Beer Basket' a group of us are preparing for an action at work.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

Lathe Steady

This is a shop tool that I made to help make it easier to turn thin spindles. But it will also help stabilize a bowl or urn when turning the inside by reversing the side it is mounted on. I started this project by buying a pair of used roller blades from a local Goodwill for $10. That gave me 8 wheels to work with. The body of the steady is made from Corian. I laid out the wheels on a piece of paper to start so I could get a feel for their size and the position I needed so they were close together. I was also able to lay out where the mounting hole would go where this attaches to the vertical riser. I laid out and drilled the holes, then cut the Corian to shape. I then rounded all of the corners. After that I mounted the wheels to test the fit and saw that clearance was needed between the wheels, so after removing the wheels I cut a V shape in the center on the bandsaw and rounded those corners also.

The next part was making the support, so I started this with the vertical riser. To position the hole I stood the riser on the lathe and using the tailstock center as a guide marked the first of 2 holes I drilled. I drilled the second hole directly beneath the first and used a file to smooth out the slot this created. Then I took a long base piece and cut a notch on one end so I could glue the riser to the base. Again I smoothed out the cuts with files. I glued the riser and base together with medium viscosity super-glue using a square to make sure I kept the riser straight up. As it was setting, I grabbed a 45 degree scrap I cut from the wheel assembly and also glued that to the riser to provide additional support.

After attaching the wheel assembly to the riser I realized the knob I wanted to use had too short a bolt on it and it would not reach all of the way through 2 pieces of Corian. So I removed the wheels again and drilled a hole large enough to put in the nut and epoxied it in place.

I wandered away for about 4 hours to let the glues dry.

When I got back I assembled the steady and located where I wanted to place a slot on the base support. I marked one spot as if the item I was turning was about 1/8 inch thick. I made a second mark where I would be able to steady a 5 1/2" object. I drew a line between to two marks and headed over to the drill press. I then drilled holes all along this line. After that I took a jig saw and connected all of the holes. It was still rough so using files I smoothed the slot. Since the slot was done I was able to mark an end of the base, which I cut and again rounded off the corners.

In the pictures you can see the parts individually and the assembled unit. I still ran into one final problem. The metal base and 5/16" screw on a handle that I had were not long enough to fit, so I need to get/make a handle for the lathe steady base support with a 2" screw.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

Still Halloween.

Just to show you I'm not all wood stuff. I drew the pumpkin freehand, scanned it to the computer and darkened the fill using Paint Shop Pro.

Have fun.

It's Halloween!

So I had to make a pumpkin. Okay, I had no plans and winged it. Not my best effort, but I learned along the way. I found a couple of cedar fence boards in the wood pile and ran them through the thickness sander to knock off the high spots. I laid out a design that I could make using just the two boards. Using pocket screws and glue I attached a set of boards together for both the front and back of the pumpkin. Naturally the boards were so warped that neither set was flat, so I ran them through the sander again to knock off the new high spots. As this pumpkin is layered on the front I needed a decent surface to glue the next layer onto.

Using paper patterns, I cut 3 pieces for the face of the pumpkin and sanded them to almost make them fit. There was no need for perfection or I would lose the 'feel' I was attempting to achieve with this design. These pieces were screwed to the backing group cause the boards were not flat enough to glue. I also routed a lip on the inside of the front and back of the pumpkin to provide a mounting surface for the boards that join them. These first three pictures show it a bit better than I am describing it.

I layed out a design for the face and cut that with a jig say, very carefully. After the face was cut I painted the interior parts of the pumpkin with a black paint as it was easier to do now instead of later. While the paint was drying I cut a bunch of 3 inch long blocks to tie the front to the back. I did not take enough care when assembling the pumpkin so the whole thing has a sideways cant to it that was not on purpose. But air nails and glue kept me from taking it apart and trying again. That frustrated me some, but I got over it.

After assembling the pumpkin I grabbed a small can of orange paint and painted outside of the pumpkin and called it good for the night. 24 hours later the paint did not dry. I grabbed a spray can of orange and gave another pass over the pumpkin trying to only hit the wet spots. At least it seemed to cover the 'wet' paint and made it so I could handle it. By then I was really pissed at my attempt.

About a week later I finally went out to try and finish painting the pumpkin using an airbrush I had. Below you see the results. While not a great project, there were parts that were fun, and I did learn. The pumpkin will go on the front porch this year, but may be firewood later this winter. Not decided yet.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.