Making a Wooden Stem Goblet...Questions?

[James Combs]

Got an order from a lady for a Communion plate and Wine goblet. Just starting on the goblet. It is my first. My questions are, should the inside of the wooden stem be sealed, if so what do you use? I was thinking also that the inside(under the glass should maybe be black?

Any and all comments will be helpful.

A couple preliminary(teaser) photos.:cool:
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The area inside here is what my questions refer to.
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Thanks for looking.

[Brian Kent]

I think that it could help and not hurt to seal that, just in case of drips. I like that wood and your direction so far. Keep posting.

[Steve Mawson]

Will what ever adhesive you use still stick if you seal it? My guess, just a guess is that it will not. Not sure on the color, don't see anything wrong with the natural color. Congrats on the order!

[John Keeton]

JD, does the glass portion still have remaining a small section of stem? If so, then I would make score marks on the glass with a 3 corner file in order for the epoxy, or other adhesive, to have something to grab. It may also help to have the bottom of the stem recess a bit "dovetailed" or "keyed" so that the adhesive was securely held in the wooden portion. Then, I doubt if it matters what you do with the inside so far as sealing it. The adhesion will be in the stem recess. The forces on the glass are minimal, as the goblet will always be held by the wooden base.

One could dye the inside black with Fiebings leather dye, including the stem recess, if that is the look you are after, though airbrushing the bottom portion of the glass with black lacquer or paint might also work. It might look neat if the lacquer/paint was airbrushed so that it faded out while still within the wood recess, showing a little of the wood grain toward the top - particularly the natural edge.

Beautiful piece of maple burl (?), BTW!

[Jim Burr]

Cool idea JD!! I'd think sealing would be a good idea; the adhesive of choice when mating glass to wood is E6000...most any hardware store should have it.

[James Combs]

...Beautiful piece of maple burl (?), BTW!

Just a quick reply for now, the burl is actually a piece of that same walnut burl that you have some of. More later, sun is out, need to mow.

[James Combs]

One thing I should have indicated before posing the questions is that this goblet will have some utility as well as looks. It will be used in regular communion service and as such will require cleaning.
Two things:
Utility, when being cleaned it obviously would not be placed in a dishwasher but even so I would not want water during hand cleaning to get between the glass and the wood hence the sealing question.
Aesthetics, I was thinking black to limit any visually unappealing aspects of the glue-up. John K in his response mentions painting the glass, that greatly appeals to me if I can find some paint that is not affected by the glue.


I think that it could help and not hurt to seal that, just in case of drips. I like that wood and your direction so far. Keep posting.
Thanks Brian, I think we are on the same wave length.


Will what ever adhesive you use still stick if you seal it? My guess, just a guess is that it will not. Not sure on the color, don't see anything wrong with the natural color. Congrats on the order!
Steve thanks for responding. This also answers somewhat, John K's question about the stem. I don't think retention of the glass in the wood is going to be a problem. The glass part of the stem is fairly long and slightly hour glass shaped so even simple epoxy should hold it in place.


JD, does the glass portion still have remaining a small section of stem? If so, then I would make score marks on the glass with a 3 corner file in order for the epoxy, or other adhesive, to have something to grab. It may also help to have the bottom of the stem recess a bit "dovetailed" or "keyed" so that the adhesive was securely held in the wooden portion. Then, I doubt if it matters what you do with the inside so far as sealing it. The adhesion will be in the stem recess. The forces on the glass are minimal, as the goblet will always be held by the wooden base.
One could dye the inside black with Fiebings leather dye, including the stem recess, if that is the look you are after, though airbrushing the bottom portion of the glass with black lacquer or paint might also work. It might look neat if the lacquer/paint was airbrushed so that it faded out while still within the wood recess, showing a little of the wood grain toward the top - particularly the natural edge.
Beautiful piece of maple burl (?), BTW!
John, always appreciate your input. As noted above the glass part of stem is fairly long and slightly hour glass shaped so even simple epoxy should hold it in place. Agree on the "dovetail key". To add to that, the lady asked if the glass could be replaced if it got broken so I will be drilling all the way through the wood to allow for knocking out any broken remnants of the stem and facilitating repair by replacement. I will probably plug the bottom of the hole with black rubber or something similar. John your painting the glass idea is very appealing to me. I really don't want to take any chances that the glue can be seen through the inside of the glass. I will be doing some trials to see how well it will work, painting a flat piece of clean glass and after it is dry spreading some epoxy on it to see if it shows through the paint, discolors the paint, wrinkles the paint or otherwise makes its presence know. Also a just-now thought, I have a friend that does sand blasting. I may look into "frosting" the bottom of the glass or buying a pre-frosted one.
A note on the NE. Because of the different heights of the edge the inside slope profile of the wood must be identical the slope profile of the glass or the highs of the wood can be touching the glass while the lows have gaps.:mad: Not appealing and not easy to get it correct.


Cool idea JD!! I'd think sealing would be a good idea; the adhesive of choice when mating glass to wood is E6000...most any hardware store should have it.
Thanks for responding Jim. Yes I am aware of special glues for this purpose but I am hoping that since epoxy softens when heated it can give me an avenue to easy repair in the case of breakage of the glass, a special request of the customer BTW. Of course accidental breakage is NOT covered under any kind of warranty.:D;) She initially requested a "wooden NE" goblet but I talked her out of that and suggested the combo as pictured. That is when she asked "can it be replaced if broken" and of course I said "of course".:eek:

[James Combs]

One thing I should have indicated before posing the questions is that this goblet will have some utility as well as looks. It will be used in regular communion service and as such will require cleaning.
Two things:
Utility, when being cleaned it obviously would not be placed in a dishwasher but even so I would not want water during hand cleaning to get between the glass and the wood hence the sealing question.
Aesthetics, I was thinking black to limit any visually unappealing aspects of the glue-up. John K in his response mentions painting the glass, that greatly appeals to me if I can find some paint that is not affected by the glue.
I had an idea earlier to day that may help eliminate both problems. If it works it will allow the glass to be removed from the wood base for cleaning even in the dishwasher and it doesn't involve the use of glue. Here is my thought (http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=74309-104-LFA156&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3135147&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1)... you may have to fill in the blanks.;) I will detail it with pics later(assuming it works:eek:).

[Bruce Pratt]

I have found that excess E6000 does not clean off very well. I have used clear Loctite tube and tile sealer quite effectively in the application under discussion (other brands probably will work equally well; the Loctite comes in a resealable tube, so I can get more than one use out of it). As to fitting the glass to the wood. Use a bright colored crayon (I use red) and mark several lines on the glass from the stem up the outside past where the wood will be attached. Place the glass into the wood cavity and spin. The crayon will mark the high spots. Turn down crayon marked rings and repeat until the glass fits smoothly.

[James Combs]

I have found that excess E6000 does not clean off very well. I have used clear Loctite tube and tile sealer quite effectively in the application under discussion (other brands probably will work equally well; the Loctite comes in a resealable tube, so I can get more than one use out of it). As to fitting the glass to the wood. Use a bright colored crayon (I use red) and mark several lines on the glass from the stem up the outside past where the wood will be attached. Place the glass into the wood cavity and spin. The crayon will mark the high spots. Turn down crayon marked rings and repeat until the glass fits smoothly.
Thanks Bruce, I will definitely look at using that method for any future goblets but in the case of this one I am past that point, I am now looking at some sort of glue-less more temporary attachment. It fits the wood pretty good right now around the top of the wood but the wood pulls away from the glass slightly the deeper into the cavity you go so I have already "overturned" the cavity slightly but that should not hurt anything if my attachment idea works out, stay tuned.