How to make a friendly nutcracker out of beech - Woodturning

I really want to thank SKIL for sending me many power tools which I use every day:

https://www.skileurope.com

Tools and materials I propose:

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Chuck kit

Jointer planer

Drill press

Forstner bit set

Mineral oil

Caliper set

Quick grip clamps

Bandsaw

Angle grinder

Cordless drill

5 minute epoxy

Random orbit sander

Making every day items with a more friendly design is something I really like. So enjoy my little nut cracker. I made it out of beech wood and a couple of metal parts. 

First of all I flattened and squared my stock on my jointer planer machine.

I then cut my pieces to size on the table saw. 

I glued a few parts together to make my blanks thick enough. Once the glue dried I re-flattened my pieces on the jointer. 

To make the hat of my character, I connected two pieces with an 8mm dowel. 

I used my drill press and a drill to create the holes needed. For the larger holes I used a forester bit. It’s always easier to create your holes while your material is still square. 

I then used my roughing gouge and a bowl gouge to basically do all the shaping needed on the lathe. 

Using a forstner bit on my tailstock I drilled the hole for a big nut.  I added my machinist’s chuck on the lathe and used my grinder to reduce the diameter of the nut. I finished shaping with a file. I then glued the nut in place with 5 minute epoxy. 

Using a screw chuck I turned the hat of my nut cracker. With the skew chisel I created two grooves. Then I used my wire burning tool to add a couple of decorative burned lines. I then drilled a hole on the hat and epoxied a threaded rod in it. I sanded the end of the rod on the belt sander to work a bit smoother. 

On the screw chuck I also turned the nose of my character. I glued the nose in place. I sanded everything with 100, 220 and 320 grit sand paper. 

I finished my nut cracker with food safe mineral oil!

My nut cracker came out awesome. But that was it. See you soon with a new project video!

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Make a spinning top with an acceleration handle

I really want to thank SKIL for sending me many power tools which I use every day.

Tools and materials I propose:

Skil electric planer

Woodworking vise

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Chuck kit

Beeswax

Drill press

Forstner bit set

Mineral oil

Carnauba Wax

Caliper set

I made my little spinning top out of beech wood. Please note that every year Greek woodturners and makers unite. We make spinning tops and toys for a good cause. The event is called Top Battle and you can find more info about it here.

Playlist with all the participants of the battle.

First of all I roughly planed my material flat with my electric planer. This saved me a lot of time and effort. 

I then cut my blanks on my table saw. 

It’s much easier to drill all your holes while your material is square. Then you can turn it round on the lathe. 

Using the skew and a bowl gouge I shaped my top. A burned wire line gives a more vintage look on my tops. With my rotary tool I predrilled a pilot hole and then inserted a nail at the bottom of my top. I finished my top with carnauba wax. This a friction finish like wax but it’s more durable. 

I then made the acceleration handle. This time I used forstner bits to drill my holes. I finished it with food safe mineral oil. The same with the string handle. 

I sealed the ends of my string with some beeswax. 

The way this toy works is simple. You just insert the top in the handle and then wrap the string. You pull the handle and the top spins for a really long time.

My top came out great, but that was it. See you soon with a new project video!

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Making a big spinning top for a good cause

Tools and materials I propose:

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Chuck kit

Flat file

Cordless chainsaw

Beeswax

Heat gun

Every year Greek woodturners and makers unite. We make spinning tops and toys for a good cause. I made my this year's top out of a strange piece of wood I found in the garbage, and some brass scraps. The event is called Top Battle and you can find more info about it here: https://tinyurl.com/yhyekudm

I begun by cutting my log to size with my cordless chainsaw. 

Next I mounted the blank between centres on the lathe and turned it true with a roughing gouge.

Once the blank was pretty round, I increased the speed of the lathe so I could work a little bit faster. 

I shaped my top using mostly the roughing gouge, a bowl gouge and a spindle gouge.

Using the skew chisel, I created dovetailed tenon so I could mount the top on my chuck jaws. 

I made the tip of my top out of some scrap pieces of brass I had in the shop. To work with the brass pieces on the lathe I used my machinist’s chuck. I used my files to shape the tip. The lathe was set at low speed. I then drilled a hole on one piece and shaped another piece as a dowel. Finally I glued the tip and the dowel with epoxy. I also glued the whole brass tip in the top using 5 minute epoxy as well. 

I made a small adapter out of beech for my tailstock. This way I could hold the top between centres and get less vibration. 

I used a bowl gouge to finish the shaping of my metal tip. This was not ideal but I took it slow and it worked. I finished the job with sandpaper. 

I then finished the overall shaping of my top. With my skew chisel I created three grooves. Then I used my wire burning tool to burn three black lines. This kind of gave a traditional look to my top.

I found the wood in the street so I thought it would be a good idea to apply a coat of wood preservative. This should kill any bugs that might have lived in the wood. 

I then sanded with 220, 320 and 400grit. I wet sanded with mineral oil and 500grit. 

I polished the top with abrasive paste. I applied one coat with the coarse grit and one with finer paste.

In these kind of projects I really like using beeswax. The friction from the lathe melts the wax. Then I wipe off the excess and this leaves a really shiny surface that looks awesome.

Finally I cut the top off the lathe and polished the end grain of the handle. I used the heat gun to melt the wax and apply it. 

And my top was ready. I am really happy with the way it came out! I wish all the best to the participants of the Top Battle 2019.

But that was it. See you soon with a new project video!

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

How to fix a cracked wooden sphere with epoxy resin

In this project I used resin related products from ResinPro: 

Resin

Mica powder set

Website

Tools and materials I propose:

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Vacuum chamber kit

Micro mesh sanding pads

Buffing kit

Heat gun

Hot glue gun

About a year ago I made an apricot wood sphere. It cracked really badly. So I decided to fix it with epoxy resin. 

I wanted to kind of emphasize the cracks. So I used a chisel to split the sphere apart. I then used my heat gun to shape a piece of plexiglass into a mold. I used tape and hot glue to secure the pieces of the mold. I poured water into the mould to check for leaks. And I had a small one which I repaired with hot glue.

I hot glued the sphere parts together and then glued the sphere into the mold to prevent it from floating into the resin. I also added scrap wood  pieces into the mold to save me some resin. 

I mixed the first portion of resin with some mica metallic powder. I did the first pour and degassed the resin in my vacuum chamber. This also helped the resin penetrate into every single spot. After a few days I did the second and final pour. 

Once the resin was cured, I broke the mold and cut it’s sides before mounting it on the lathe between centres. 

I used the roughing gouge to turn the blank true. Then I used a round scraper and a spindle gouge to shape the hemispheres. 

Then I chucked the sphere into my sphere making adaptors. I used a classic sphere making technique to make the sphere. You just remove the high spots and then turn the sphere around and repeat the process. Once the ghosting effect disappears you get a nice round sphere. 

I sanded the sphere from 100 to 400grit. Then I wet sanded with mineral oil from 500 to 1000grit. I polished the sphere with my micro mesh pads from 1500 to 12000grit. Then I buffed the piece on my buffing wheels.

My sphere came out great. I was really sad that it had cracked in the first place. But with the resin it got a new life in the end. Anyway, that was it, see you soon with a new project video!

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.