| Project by scottb | posted 240 days ago | 349 views | 1 time favorited | 11 comments |  |
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There is lots of color in this wood, I saw purple, orange and reds emerge as I was turning it. Now that it’s finished (sanded, buffed, oiled, polished and buffed again) its all rich browns – cocoa and chocolates! (perhaps that’s where the name came from). And like chocolate, this wood is oily and can be polished up real nice, even without a finish… but it’s best to use a respirator when working it, I wasn’t at first and pretty quickly started to feel like I should. just starting to bother my nose a bit. (always a good idea with tropicals especially.)
This Central American wood is dense, heavy (having a specific gravity over 1.0 was actually used as ballast in ships) and despite it’s size 5 3/4 inches tall and 1 1/2 at it’s widest, the low center of gravity of the stainless steel bottom helps is sit up and keep watch, (when it came off the lathe, I thought I saw an eye in the face grain – like a cyclops or the one eye) ever vigilant, over your Syrah or Muscat.
As with all the other stoppers I make, this one is machined from a solid piece of stainless steel, not chrome plated that will flake off. Ever. (I should probably stop mentioning this each time, eh?)
This is the 6th item in my 30 day project/challenge
& auction.
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/
11 comments so far
trifern
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7776 posts in 519 days
posted 239 days ago
Your on a roll, Scott. A very fine bottle stopper. Thanks for sharing.
-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.
Miket
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265 posts in 524 days
posted 239 days ago
Very nice looking stopper!
-- It's better to have people think you're stupid rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Karson
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21155 posts in 1152 days
posted 239 days ago
Another great lathe project. A beautiful stopper.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
Dick, & Barb Cain
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6381 posts in 1051 days
posted 239 days ago
At this rate, I think you’re going to hit 30.
Watch out for the DEA, if they find out you’re sniffing Cocobolo.<(:0)#
-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
Napaman
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2820 posts in 829 days
posted 239 days ago
wow…what will you come up with tomorrow!!??
this fantastic…
are you using a shopsmith lathe??? I cant remember…asking because I tried to make my first bottle stopper and i can chuck in on sprindle…but I cant reach the tail stock to secure the other end…with pens its easily long enough using the mandril…but nothing like that with winstopper…
-- Matt, Napa, CA...sanity...has arrived...JUNE-JULY-AUGUST...
scottb
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3341 posts in 1079 days
posted 239 days ago
thanks all!
Matt, I’m using my jet mini lathe, but I have made them on the shopsmith as well. I have a mandrel I can chuck in a drill press chuck, and then you don’t need the tailstock at all…. Ironically, the drill chuck I have for the lathe is in two pieces and I need the tailstock to keep them from spinning apart over time… I guess it was designed solely for use as a drill on the tailstock.
The first two stoppers I used a normal tail center… for this one, I used a flat insert so I wouldn’t have to part off the end, or end up with a little hole in the end.. Worked fine and I was able to use the entire length of the blank. I’ll have to get some collet chucks or pin jaws for my 4 jaw chuck, but I can make do until then.
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Projects___Bottle_Stoppers___Droplet_Bottle_Stopper___droplet_stop?Args=
and was off to the races.
Getting back to the shopsmith though, I just chucked on this mandrel that was offered along with these :
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/
jockmike2
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5707 posts in 998 days
posted 239 days ago
Nice looking bottle stopper. I like the wood and shape.
-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com
rikkor
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11345 posts in 626 days
posted 239 days ago
Great work Scott. (I made three stoppers myself today.)
Dusty56
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2778 posts in 440 days
posted 238 days ago
this is just beautiful ! How long is the actual wood part of your stopper ?
-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .
scottb
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3341 posts in 1079 days
posted 238 days ago
Dusty, the wood clocks in at 3”
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/
Dusty56
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2778 posts in 440 days
posted 238 days ago
Thank you for the feedback : )
-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .