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Acorn Box Top

by

Kevin Bassett

 

The acorn box top is small hollow acorn shaped lidded box that can be spun like a top.

This quick and easy project is fun to do and can have some surprising uses.

  • Mount appropriate stock into chuck – a 1” by 6” turning square is adequate
  • Face off the end & turn round – 7/8” to begin
  • Drill 11/16” hole with forstner bit approximately 3/8” deep
  • Turn basic shape, size and wall thickness at the mortise
  • Refine outer shape
  • Hollow
  • Final shaping, sanding, finishing as desired
  • Part off to create acorn tip
  • This completes the seed portion of the acorn - Repeat process for additional acorns

Once the run of acorn seeds is complete acorn caps can be done by:

  • Mount slightly larger stock into chuck turn to largest needed diameter and face off end.
  • Turn tenon to fit mortise in seed – sizing may be expedited by using a sharpened wrench
  • Turn acorn cap shape and size to fit
  • Turn acorn stalk – a smaller diameter here makes for a top which will be easy to spin
  • Part off
  • Join cap to seed and give it a spin

Acorn_box.jpg

Click here for access to the WNTX on-line video library

MIkes Shop Tour

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0By36-dyA-t-sTHVIdmRzMmJMX2s?resourcekey=0-CjCgKMkKBV4U5popzJ_UWA/Michael Stephens Shop Tour.mp4

WNTX Club Annual Dues | 36 USD

O.B's Shine Juice

 

This finish is attributed to O.B. Lacoste of Layfette LA by Capt Eddie Castelin. (eddiecastelin.com)

The recipe is basically 1/3 uncolored shellac, 1/3 boiled linseed oil, and 1/3 denatured alcohol.  All of the ingredients pictured below are available at Home Depot. 

Similar products are available at other retailers nationwide.

Boiled Linseed Oil Image



Denatured Alcohol Image 

 

Clear Shellac Image

 

 

Using a suitable container that has a sealable lid (I use a 12 oz Mason jar) add the ingredients in the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 proportions (for a 12 oz jar, 3 ozs of each will be about the right amount.  Seal the jar (or container of choice) with its lid and shake the container to mix the 3 ingredients.  Once mixed, your O.B's Shine Juice is ready to use.

To use:

I normally transfer a small amount of the mixture to an empty squeeze bottle (used mustard bottles work well for me) when I am ready to apply the "juice" to my turning. Please note that the alcohol in the mixture with evaporate relatively quickly from any container that is not well sealed (such as a squeeze bottle).  Emptying unused "juice" back into the original Mason jar, once you've finished with your turning, will help keep your mixture's proportions correct.

Once the my squeeze bottle has been filled, I squirt a small amount of the the "juice" onto a paper towel and generously apply it to the turning with the lathe off (I've also done this with the lathe at low speed but that resulted in a spattering of "juice" on my face mask, clothes, and the lathe ways - your experice may differ.)   IMPORTANT SAFTEY NOTE:  DO NOT USE A CLOTH RAG, TOWEL, OR SIMILAR.  Cloth is sufficiently strong to severly damage you fingers in the event the cloth snags on the turning.  Paper towels work fine and shred before your hand does.

Once you've applied the "juice" to your turning, give a minute or so to soak in, and apply a second coat.  Once the second coat has set for a minute, start the lathe (running at 500 to 1,200 RPM), add a little more "juice" to your paper towel and begin rubbing the paper towel slowly, back and forth across your turning.  The alcohol with evaporate and the shellac and linseed oil will cure and harden.  You may repeat the 3 step process (1. Apply & wait, 2. Apply & wait, 3. Spin and rub) as many times as needed to acheive the finish you desire.  Once you've added as much finish as you desire, you are done. 

 

A note on food safety:  As with nearly every other finish sold in the U.S. today, O.B.'s Shine Juice is food safe - once it has completly cured.  The key to safety is "completely" cured.  Dry to the touch is not necessarily "completely" cured.  When in doubt let it dry for a few days to a few weeks - if you can still smell the finish is not completely cured.

And, food safe doesn't mean liquid tight.  Just becuase its shiny dosen't mean it will hold soup!

 

 

June 2018 Topic

Three Legged Bowl

Rebecca DeGroot

 

21462276 10159324775730156 268949619076643970 n21587333 10159331146335156 1050458557295376832 oRebecca DeGroot was born and raised with her three brothers in Michigan. With their woodworking father and a stay at home artist mother, her and her brothers have never been short of inspiration. Rebecca and her brothers were homeschooled from an early age, therefore given the opportunity to explore their forty acres and appreciate the nature and wildlife. Throughout her young life, she developed her love of teaching and sharing information with others. She later went on to pursue an education at Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University in Grand Rapids, MI. After six years and an assortment of interesting twists and turns, she gained two bachelor’s degrees; one in Art education and the other in Sculpture and Functional Art. Before graduation, she received an offer to teach high school art at a school in Houston, Texas. The summer after graduation, she packed her things and made her way down to Texas to start this new and exciting chapter of her life. While it has been a challenge these past four years, Rebecca has always found time in her busy teaching schedule to create her own art. She now juggles teaching art, demonstrating woodworking and woodturning, and maintaining the regular production of her own gallery work. Eventually, Rebecca would like to focus all of her time on demonstrating and creating her own work, but we will have to wait and see when that dream will be made into a reality.

At the meeting, Rebecca will be demonstrating design basic concepts and the steps to create a three-legged bowl in her own style. She will be showing her own process of basic bowl turning, plotting an oversized foot, drilling and power carving the foot into “hips”, turning the spindles for the legs, cutting the legs apart, using splines to reinforce the leg joints, then reassembling the parts into a finished piece. If there’s time left over, she can go over embellishment techniques such as applying TransTint dyes, gold leafing, pyrography, and unexpected additive carved components.

 

 

  1. July Demo 2018
  2. 2 Monthy Demo info
  3. May Demo 2018
  4. April Demo 2018

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