Set of wine glasses

[Brice Rogers]

Here is a set of wine glasses that I made last year. The base is a glue up of Sipo Mahagany and Jacaranda. I removed the stem from a regular glass wineglass and used clear epoxy to glue it to the new wood base. The finish is several coats of wipe-on poly. When I make the next set, I'm going to make the stems a bit longer and thinner.

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[Brian Kent]

Very nice. How did you remove the original stem?

Whenever I work on a stem, I try to decide if the goblet will be used or will sit on a shelf. If it is to be used, then the emphasis is on solidity. If just for looks, then it can look thinner without harm.

[Brice Rogers]

Brian, we must think alike. I was a little concerned that if I made the stem too thin that it would be fragile. I intended that this glass be functional.

I used an inexpensive HF diamond disk of bit in a dremel tool to score the glass. Then I tapped it fairly lightly with a piece of metal below the scoring line and it easily separated with a couple of taps. I then used a diamond tool in a dremel to remove the rough edges.

My first glasses were from the dollar store. I recently got some high end crystal glassware at a local garage sale.

Because the wine glass is fully sealed with urethane on all surfaces, it can easily take a hand washing. But I wouldn't want to see them go into the dishwasher.

I turned this using a faceplate. It required some planning on how to hold it as it was being put together. I actually turned and put a recess in the bottom before gluing it (with a separation paper) to the glue block. IIRC, I used the tailstock live center to align with a witness center-point as I glued everything up.

I made the fit of the glass stub into the wooden stem to be a moderately tight fit. I used little strings of clay like "plastiform" to get the small clearances that I was looking for.

I've seen some people affix the glass to the stem on the lathe using a jamb chuck set-up but I preferred to attach it vertically.

[Don Nicholas]

Craft Supply has some glasses with the base already removed and with a good price.

[Brice Rogers]

Don, you're right. The price for the Craft supply glasses is very reasonable - - only $4.15. So, that would be a good alternative for someone who didn't want to bother removing the base.

But removing the bottom of a glass isn't difficult or time consuming either - - at least for me. It only takes a couple of minutes. On this set of glasses I used "dollar store" glasses. On my next batch, I've acquired a supply of higher-end crystal glasses from a garage sale. Probably something not commonly sold by places like Craft supply.

BTW, on the Craft Supply website they mentioned using flexible clear silicon to glue the glass. While that would work, if you look into the glass at the wood, it will look a little cloudy from the silicon. I watched a demo and the expert demonstrator, Karen Freitas, recommended using a clear epoxy as it will show off the wood a bit nicer.

Making wine glasses is a fun project and I've received a bunch of oohs and aahs from non-woodturners.

[Don Nicholas]

Brice,
I purchased the recommended silicone cement,but used clear epoxy instead. I made the stem too thick but I have 10 more to go thinner.