My insane wife is at it again - Bottle stoppers

The sky is the limit….. Great way to start and just keep expanding to bigger and more complicated turnings. Segmented turnings really get more involved in just getting the project ready and there are some really beautiful work posted on here. I think it is great your wife has such an interest in what she does. Soon she may outgrow the lathe she uses and move up to one of the bigger lathes like a One Way…...... You created a monster so now you have to feed it…... But you both get to enjoy the ride.

-- What we do in life will Echo through Eternity........

We’ve outgrown one lathe for sure. There will be another purchased in the near future. The HF lathe we have now is nice (especially for the price) but she is really starting to realize the shortcomings after watching youtube videos and reading about techniques. Something with a much larger swing and variable speed is in our future. She has here eye set on the Nova DVR, I want to save up a bit more for the PM3520B

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Dude, wine is overrated, and these can work for beer or soda bottles too! =p

-- Thomas - There is no such thing as a problem, there only are solutions.

We don’t drink much beer either, we are kind of lame actually. We entertain the children then make sawdust when they are sleeping. These do work well for olive oil bottles too. I really don’t need 25 of them though. We will probably have 50 before the end of the month. I’ve never seen somebody so passionate about anything.

-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/KandJWoodCrafts

Bottle tops work great for condiment bottles (olive oil, soy sauce, etc) especially for those that are left on the counter. No one needs that many for wine, but the other uses can take care of dozens of stoppers!

Pulls for lights and ceiling fans are another round item she might try. Candleholders. Handles for serving spoons and knives (such as those lovely cheese knives Roger made). Salt and pepper mills and shakers. Turned legs and spindles for chairs (you could make those as a joint project)

-- Kay - Just a girl who loves wood.

Great ideas! Ceiling fan pulls she did already. She wasn’t too thrilled with them as she already turned about 2 dozen keychains. Candleholders are a really good idea! And a huge NO on turned legs. I can appreciate them, but I am a square legged kind of guy.

-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/KandJWoodCrafts

I watched a guy turn little bird houses this morning on youtube. I just ordered my first lathe and am eager to try those. The wine stoppers on my list also although I’m not sure I can match those!

I would add lidded boxes, bowls, hollow forms. tool handles for turning tools, screwdrivers & back scratchers, etc., pendants, earrings. There’s an endless array of things that can be turned. A good number of things can be turned without having to purchase kits. I see good turning skills in play. You can’t go wrong with the Nova DVR. I absolutley LOVE mine.

By the way, welcome to the addiction. There’s no turning back now. LOL

-- Darell, Norman, Ok.

It would be a shame not to use it for wines. Maybe you shoud start by now … Just kidding. Those are stunning.

lidded boxes is a great idea too. I want to turn some tool handles. I’m working on a project that doesn’t spin around on a lathe, so when that is done I’ll give that a shot

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Try make a bolt and nut out of wood :P

-- My terrible signature...

You go girl..we need more women sharing their turnings. If you are insane, I am bonkers. I adore turning & have made many inroads in turning. some never done before in the history of the art. Glad to see you are having fun. If you have questions, I’d be happy to help.

-- We call the destruction of replaceable human made items vandalism, while the destruction of irreplaceable natural resources is called development.

One idea suggestion that is kind of timely – Christmas ornaments! Not much different than bottle stoppers, just a little smaller and cheaper to make since you don’t have any kits to buy, and you don’t really need any patterns, either. Here are some that might spark a little imagination. Just turn a little ball at the top, drill a hole, and put a string or ribbon through it to hang it by.

Lumberjoe, your wife is NOT insane – you just gave her creative juices a nudge in the direction they were wanting to go. She is doing outstandingly well for the amount of time she has invested. Take pride in her work and share the love of wood – oops – too late – you done did that. LOL

-- Raymond, Charlotte, NC -------- Demonstrate the difference!

That’s funny! It’s hard to believe we bought this lathe in august. It’s already seen a years worth of use. Thanks for the compliments. She has definitely one-uped me in turning. I’ve gone back to focusing on flat things for now and I give her free reign over the round stuff. I just wish she would learn to sharpen gouges so I don’t have to keep going out and doing it for her.

Hey, I’m good for something, right?

-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/KandJWoodCrafts