Stocking Fillers - Spinning Tops

[UKTony]

Looks like the whole family is expecting something in there stocking off the lathe, i think the simplest thing to make would be some bottle stops, i have some of those plastic things Does anyone have any ideas/pics of what you can turn for a bottle stop, that won't look like just a lump of wood on the end of a cork, i have some nice Yew/laburnum/ash etc i could use, what size should the blank be etc????

Tony

 

[blurk99]

my father in law has just turned all the ladies in the family pot-pourri bowls with those pierced pewter lids that axminster/turners retreat/whoever sells... maybe a thought

jim

 

[Hans]

Does anyone have any ideas/pics of what you can turn for a bottle stop, that won't look like just a lump of wood on the end of a cork
Tony

Tony,

Did you look at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopper/ ?
It seems you have to register before you get access to the pictures.

Hans

 

[UKTony]

Hans

Welcome to the forum.....now i have seen it all a site for people interested in bottle stoppers, amazing. Well ive added myslef to the group hope i get some nice ideas.


Jim

i added some of those pewter lids to my axminster order today seem, to be cheaper by .50p than Turners

 

[Taffy Turner]

Tony,

I have done a few bottle stoppers as presents. I try to tailor the design of the stopper to the person it is intended for. For example, a lot of my mates are cricketers, so they got stoppers in the shape of a cricket bail, one is a bell ringer, so got one in the shape of a bell, one likes his wine, so a got a stopper in the shape of a wine bottle, one likes a game of skittles, so his stopper was skittle shaped, etc, etc (you get the idea!).

I have also seen some very nice ones that were made to look like miniature fruit, apples, pears, oranges, plums etc (felt pens are good for colouring the wood).

Hope this helps.

Gary

 

[UKTony]

Gary


Many Thanks, i made a couple last night, very enjoyable - the yahoo group mentioned above has hundreds of pics and links some great ideas worth a look if you get time, i like your idea of relevent pieces, heres hoping everyone in my family likes Chess :lol:

 

[Taffy Turner]

Crikey - it is easier to become a Freemason than join that group!

I have filled in my application, now I have to wait to be accepted by the group owner!

I am not sure if I can stand the suspense!!!!

 

[UKTony]

Nearly done now i have made a few Bottle stoppers and some lovely Pot-pouri bowls with nice Pewter lids, i am now onto spinning tops the brass that came with the kit screws into the top my problem is how i hold the blank so top and bottom look finished at some stage i need to grip only one end to get the point on the end, one thought is to finish the top end screw the brass in and then hold the brass in a drill chuck???

Many Thanks

It should look like this

 

[Alf]

Dunno the answer, but I'd hesitate to hold the brass in a drill chuck 'cos I bet it'll get mangled up before you can say "Oh blast".

Cheers, Alf

 

[trevtheturner]

UKTony,

Mount your wood, using a piece longer than the finished size, between centres and turn a spigot of a size to mount in your chuck. Remove from lathe and drill through the spigot into what will be your finished piece to provide a pilot hole for the screw-in bit. Re-mount on your lathe in the chuck and turn and polish the piece. It is a good idea to use your tailstock centre for extra support whilst shaping the piece, then removing it (the tailstock centre) for final finishing cuts and polishing. Then just part off the piece from the spigot, carefully sand across the top, with a bit of extra polishing if necessary, and then screw in the brass top. You should end up with one like in the picture! Good Luck.

(Keep your knuckles away from the chuck - DAMHIKT )

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[Taffy Turner]

Tony,

Or you can make yourself a jam chuck to hold the wooden top whilst you finish the parted-off end (if you see what I mean?!?!?).

Grip a suitable piece of wood in your chuck and hollow it out so that he inside is a shallow taper. If you get the size right, you should be able to push the top into it and it will grip sufficiently well to allow you to take shallow cuts, sand and finish. This is the technique that I use for wooden eggs.

Regards

Gary

 

[UKTony]

Many thanks, for the help, i will have a go at the spinner tonight if my preverbials defrost in time

Some pics of the efforts so far using the Axminster pewter lids and a few trial bottlestoppers, yes the large one is what you think it is my father in law has a warped sense of humour so this will suit him fine :wink:

The first one is Bubinga, my best effort to date, as perfect a finish as i have managed so far

 

[Taffy Turner]

Tony,

Very nice - your technique is coming along a treat. I love the pot pouri holders. Nice finish too - what did you use?

I don't know about you, but I seem to spend as long finishing a piece as I do turning it. Perhaps I should stop calling myself a woodturner and call mself a woodsander instead? :?

Not sure about the design on one of your bottle stoppers though!!! :shock: The rest are nice though.

 

[UKTony]

Gary

They have 2 coats of sealer, 3 coats of wax light sanding between coats, then a friction polish over the top, seems to come up a treat. I too have had differing results on the final cut to the degree i spend ages sanding, ive been getting to grips with light cuts and also giving my skew/gouge tool a quick sharpen just before i do the final cut, im starting a course in Jan so hoping to improve my technique

 

[trevtheturner]

Hi UKTony,

They look good, although I can't imagine the dubious looking one standing proud from the neck of my bottle of single malt! :shock:

Tony & Gary,

When I started turning I, too, found sanding tedious and time consuming, even when I improved and produced a reasonably good finish from the tools. Don't know whether you use the method but I turned (!) to power sanding - using a rubber pad mounted in an electric drill, sanding discs attached with velcro, very easy to work through the grits, taking seconds to sand rather than minutes (or longer when I started! ). The pads and discs are generally available. The Skilton brand is probably reckoned to be the best - got mine from Axminster.

Also had problems with finishing in the early days (not that I claim to be an expert now) particularly ending up with "rings" of built-up polish on large faceplate turnings, no matter what polish I used. Tried 'em all, with slow and fast speeds, light and heavy pressure, keeping the cloth moving across, but invariable on close examination still found those damned rings! :evil: My preferred method now for small faceplate work, and most spindle work, is one, sometimes two if necessary, coats of cellulose sanding sealer (I use cellulose for its quick drying time), each coat burnished with Chestnut burnishing cream. Then a polish-up with Black Bison wax provides the gloss and an excellent finish. This whole process I do on the lathe. For larger work I tend to power sand to 400grit, hand sand with the piece still spinning on the lathe to 500 & 600 grits, then, on the bench, apply a finishing oil, flattening off between coats with webrax or 0000 wire wool, using as many coats as I want to build up the required finish.

Above seems to work for me, and no "rings" - so, for what it's worth........... But, as I said, I am not an expert. :wink:

Happy Christmas.

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[cd]

Tony,

I'd agree completely with Trev on the power sanding I use axminsters own velcro disks and sanding pad myself and find it really speeds up the process, also handy if you've got some stubborn and grain you can sand it with the lathe off.
Only problem I've had is that I seem to have burnt out a couple of cheap drills using it.

cd

 

[UKTony]

Using Trevs method i got good results on the spinning tops, not sure what the wood on the left is since it was an offcut, the one on the right is Yew and shines like glass, lets hope the dam things spin

Many thanks

 

[cd]

They look good Tony,
Just in time for Christmas too.
The one on the left looks like beech to me.

cd

 

[Jaco]

Some nice turning there! That "dubious" looking one - know quite a few people who that would suit.