A herd of stoppers

[Aaron Wingert]

I've been marketing bottle stoppers quite a bit lately and have been selling them like hotcakes. Here's some pictures of a few of them. All have a CA finish....I do about 15 coats then wet sand and buff, and it gives a perfect glassy finish. C&C welcomed!

The first is osage orange that I burned with a torch.
The second is claro walnut.
The third and fourth are cocobolo.
Next is spalted maple.
Sixth is stabilized box elder burl, dyed yellow and black.
Seventh is black palm.
Eighth is ebony. Having a hard time convincing people this isn't plastic.

[Aaron Wingert]

Then we have osage orange from Texas that had been down for decades. It has a neat dark color and irridescent grain.

Next is maple burl.

Last is zebrawood.

[brian watts]

you been busy for sure on them. very nice

[Rob Wachala Jr]

I've been working on doing CA on my stoppers as well. Though I can't seem to get a method down that is consistent. Some come out very well like yours, others I get lines/ridges in the CA. Drives me nuts. Can't spend loads of time on a stopper. time = money.

[Billy Tallant]

Wow impressive collection of stoppers there. Look good!!!

[John Keeton]

Aaron, I would say you have that form downpat!! I love these, and particularly the osage, the burl, the spalted maple, and the ebony. Of course, cocobolo is always great.

[Doug W Swanson]

Very cool!

I love the assortment of woods and the finish is second to none....

[Rick Robbins]

all look Great. Really like the style. Rick

[Baxter Smith]

Great variety of woods for sure. Makes it interesting to compare!

[Pete Jordan]

Aaron,

I can't pick a favorite!

[Marc Himes]

Very nice, beautiful wood and great finish.

Well done.

Marc Himes

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking group of stoppers. The finish is awesome. It's no wonder they sell like hot cakes.

[David E Keller]

All are nicely done, and I'm happy to hear they are selling like mad. The finish is great.

[gary Zimmel]

Nice looking herd of stoppers Aaron. Those shouldn't take long to sell.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wow - that's quite the variety of woods! Nice work! Good luck with your sales!

[Jim Burr]

Nice work Aaron...sales are always a good thing :D

[Aaron Wingert]

I've been working on doing CA on my stoppers as well. Though I can't seem to get a method down that is consistent. Some come out very well like yours, others I get lines/ridges in the CA. Drives me nuts. Can't spend loads of time on a stopper. time = money.

Rob I use medium CA one drop at a time on the corner of a small piece of paper towel that has been folded three times. Quick two second wipe in one direction and done, don't stay on too long or try to get the entire piece done with one drop. I use a quick shot of activator after each application. I do numerous coats and then wet sand with lots of water starting with either 1200 or 1500 depending on how it looks unsanded, then on to 2000. I then buff it on the Beal buffer using tripoli and white diamond. It is a finishing method that I perfected on my duck calls and it works perfect every time with some practice. A lot of guys use micro mesh but I personally don't care to spend the time it takes to get to 12000 grit. Like you said, time is money! The entire process of finishing and buffing takes me probably 10 minutes.

[Aaron Wingert]

Thank you all for the kind words! :)

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Cool Aaron, Wonderful work.:)