Bottle stoppers

[Joe Fisher]

Haven't posted any work in a while. Here's some bottle stoppers I finished today. They're lots of fun, and go quickly.

Woods are (left to right) thuya burl, some mystery wood that burns my nostrils, myrtle burl, red elm burl from a hunk o' firewood.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b162/nostalgia75/Turning/droplets1.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b162/nostalgia75/Turning/droplets2.jpg

No finish yet. Just tripoli and white diamond. Any suggestions on a finish?

-Joe

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Great lookin' stoppers, Joe.

Since they will come into contact with Alcohol and a LOT of handling, I would suggest some sort of Poly.

Bruce

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Very nice looking stoppers Joe! I'm going to steal some of your forms and use them. I've turned about 20 in the last 2 weeks.

I use BLO, then dewaxed shellac then brushing lacquer on mine. Probably too much in the finishing thing...but I'm anal sometimes....I friction each one on.........they dry fast that way. When a stopper handle comes off the lathe....it's done except for the Beal buffing......The BLO pops the grain and color.....the dewaxed shellac....seals the BLO and adds depth to the grain and color......the lacquer protects the stopper handle from alcohol and use.....

You've made some beautiful stoppers!

[Joe Fisher]

Thanks for the compliments :) They're oodles of fun to do. I'm never quite sure what they'll look like until they're almost done. It's an organic process - the forms kinda grow on the lathe.

Thanks also for the finishing advice. I've got poly around, so I'll prolly use that.

-Joe

[Mark Pruitt]

Good bottle stoppers! The fourth is my favorite, both form and species of wood. Poly makes sense in light of what Bruce pointed out.

[Joe Fisher]

Good bottle stoppers! The fourth is my favorite, both form and species of wood.
Thanks! That seems to be the universal feeling. Amusingly, it's the only piece of wood I didn't pay for :D

I forgot to add the source of those cool droplet stoppers to my first post: Craft Supplies' new Droplet stoppers. (http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=466-0001)

Thanks!

-Joe

[Glenn Hodges]

I like 'um all.