Acorn ornament

[John Ziebron]

I have a couple of neighbors that feed and provide birdhouses for them so I thought it fitting to make one of these ornaments for each of them. I made a few other type ornaments this year but am a real novice at turning and probably have less than 10 hours experience to date.

But in addition to other type of woodworking that I've done for over 35 years I'm also a hobbyist machinist. So when it came to making the top of the acorn I knew it should have a textured finish and I don't have any wood lathe texturing tools. But I do have a knurling tool for my metal lathe. So I just put a temporary 1/2 inch metal bar on it for a handle and used it on the wood lathe to create this texture. It may not look like a real acorn but my neighbors loved it.

[Peter Blair]

Well done John. For someone with as little experience on a wood lathe as yourself this is really great. I especially appreciate the texturing.