Weebles!!

[Munty Scruntfundle]

I'm sure there are a few of you out there that remember the humble Weeble. Horrible little plastic potato faced things that "wobble but won't fall down!"

My sisters asked if I could make a couple out of wood, plastic really isn't her thing.

I've made a couple now, but no matter how I think about this there is no perfect way to produce them on a basic lathe. For the sake of this post I'll call them eggs, with a top and a bottom half.

If I turn the top as you would a goblet, so the inside is hollow to remove mass, it's difficult to finish the point. Turned the other way around you can get a lovely top but you can't hollow it.

If you turn the bottom as a goblet you can drill through it for a metal weight and glue the top for finishing, (solving part of step 1) but it's difficult finishing the bottom. If you turn the bottom the other way around you get a lovely bottom, but you can't glue the top on for finishing, and you get a through hole.

Has anyone made any of these, if so what was your work flow?

Thanks.

 

[CHJ]

Make in two halves, hold blanks in chuck, hollow the two halves, including socket and matching tenon on each pair to aid alignment, dry fit halves together, turn outer between centres.

Mount sockets/tenons on jamb chucks and finish shaping outer to suit, using tailstock to provide support for piece in jamb chuck if necessary, remove final little tailstock pip by sanding.

 

[Munty Scruntfundle]

It's a lot of faffing init!

I decided on the same approach, but instead of the jam chuck I've decided to go with the bowl jaws. Works out ok.

Have you made weebles yourself?

 

[Tris]

This is a bit of a bodge but how about: choose a lightweight wood, drill a hole in the end grain, pack with metal for ballast allowing 7mm or so to the surface, turn a dowel of same timber to the diameter of your hole, glue dowel in hole, once dry mount blank by the dowel in chuck, bring up tailstock, turn to shape, part off then sand away tailstock pip.

That's how I'd approach it but CHJ's method is more refined

Tris

 

[Dalboy]

It's a lot of faffing init!

I decided on the same approach, but instead of the jam chuck I've decided to go with the bowl jaws. Works out ok.

Have you made weebles yourself?[/quote

What CHJ suggested and it does not take long to do like most things it sounds longer when written down. Once you have done something like this the next time you need to do similar you will have learnt how to.
I have done it this way for making teardrop boxes which is a similar thing but with a base.