Tag: wood work

Turning a maple rolling pin

On By CarynIn Craft, Tools

I’m working on replacing the center part of my broken rolling pin. Marble is such a delicate and hard to repair material, so I am replacing it with maple (plus, I already have maple on hand). I cut a section of a 3” round maple blank (which is marketed as a baseball bat blank) to 15” in length, which is about 2” longer than I need, so after I turn it, I can cut off the marred ends. I used my center finder (that I blogged about yesterday) to find the centers of both ends, and made 1/4” pilot holes on my drill press. I was hoping to drill the center hole on my lathe, but my lathe isn’t that fancy.

Making pilot holes with a drill press

The drill press did well to start the holes, then I used a long 1/4” drill bit to drill halfway through on both ends. Miraculously, the two holes matched up in the middle with barely a jog.

Light at the end of the … rolling pin

After getting the hole drilled, I mounted the blank on my lathe. It was amazing how much work needed to be done to get the blank into round. It took me around two hours to get it roughed in and smoothed down. “Simple” straight cylinders are not simple to turn! I sanded down to 400 grit, then cut off the ends with the chop saw.

Cut off marred ends (but may turn into whorls for spindles eventually)
Broken marble pin compared to the new maple pin

I cleaned up the steel rod and nylon flanges from the old rolling pin and tried them out. The fit was a little too tight, so I reamed out the hole with a 3/8” bit, and indented the ends about a 1/4” with a 1/2” bit to accommodate the flanges. It assembles and works! Now to “art” it, as my husband says.

(Part 3 of 8 in this blog series)

Happy Mother’s day to all those that mother! I’m trying out a new format with this series of posts, and didn’t plan for holidays. Oops. Live and learn. This too shall pass. Fussy babies go ni-night. (Getting in my Mom quotes.)

Center finder DIY

On By CarynIn Craft, Tools

I made a simple center finder for drilling holes and turning round stock. I drew concentric circles with a fine-tipped Sharpie mounted in a compass on the inside layer of a lamination sheet. (I recommend practicing making circles on some scrap paper before going to the clear sheet, especially if it has been awhile since you’ve used a compass. Yup, personal experience.)

Circles drawn on the inside of a lamination folder

I then sent the lamination folder through the lamination machine to seal in the drawing and make it more rigid, used the sharp point of the compass to poke a hole in the center, and scissors to cut out the circle. By lining up the edges of the circle with the wood, I can mark the center.

Using the center finder to find the center of a maple turning blank

There are commercially prepared center finders, but this is an easy and cheap way to make one if you have transparent material available.

(Part 2 of 8 in this blog series)

Cherry crochet hook

On By CarynIn Craft

I hand-carved a crochet hook out of cherry wood from my Dad’s woods. I turned it on my lathe, carved in the ergonomic thumb indent, and the hook. After sanding it down to 400 grit, I painted two cherries on it (because cherry wood). When the paint was dry I started coating it with tung oil. The hook has actually been done since December, but I finally made myself make the Etsy listing. Honestly, making the hook was easier than putting together the listing with the pictures, video, and descriptions! (Yes, I even did a video, Missy makes a cameo.) I really need to do more of this so it isn’t so daunting. Oh, the hook? It is very nice, a smooth finish without being slick, and fits nicely in my hand. It is a size M, so for use with chunky yarn, and the short neck works well with single crochet stitches. The Etsy listing is here.

Hand carved ergonomic cherry wood crochet hook (with mini painting)

Student spindles

On By CarynIn Craft

I made up another batch of student spindles. These are made from dowels, wooden toy wheels, and cup hooks. The only thing I work on is the dowel; shaping the top to friction fit the wheel, drilling a pilot hole for the cup hook, and this time, shaping a head on the other end so the whole thing can be flipped and used as a bottom whorl spindle or a top whorl spindle. Oh, I did also put a notch in the wheel because I read that helps beginning spinners, but my first student using one of these didn’t need it. Maybe another will.

New student spindles (right) versus my first handmade top whorl spindle (left)

The student spindles weigh in at under an ounce, which is much nicer than the behemoth top whorl spindle I made the first go round with a post oak whorl that tips the scales over two ounces.

I keep a stash of these spindles so that if I encounter someone that shows interest in learning to spin, I have something they can practice with right away.

Muddle

On By CarynIn Craft

mud·dle /ˈmədl/ verb

  1. bring into a disordered or confusing state.
  2. mix (a drink) or stir (an ingredient) into a drink.

I like both of these definitions of muddle from Oxford Languages, but today we are specifically talking about muddling an ingredient into a drink. To muddle, it helps to have a muddler, which is a hand-held specialized pestle for gently crushing ingredients in a glass. I made this muddler out of a blank of ash wood by turning it on my lathe. First, I did a sketch of my desired profile, then roughed out the blank, refined it, and sanded down from 80 grit to 600. I used the parting tool to separate the muddler from the blank (which is nervous as this is done while the lathe is turning). I did need to sand the ends to remove tool marks.

Muddler sketch, with turned muddler
Muddler rinsed with water to raise the grain and get an idea of the finished color

This muddler needs a few coats of tung oil and some curing time, then it will be ready to send for testing.