How to make a pine cone and resin pendant - Woodturning

 

Tools and materials I propose:

Vacuum chamber kit

Buffing kit

Resin

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Chuck kit

Mini machinist’s lathe

In this video I create a pendant out of a pine cone and epoxy resin. This project was mostly woodturning but I also used my mini machinist's lathe to make a small brass hanger. 

I begun by sanding the pine cone on my belt sander. I did this to fit the cone into the mold better. I used a small wood block and a rubber band to keep the cone from floating into the resin. 

I mixed my resin and added a drop of green pigment.  Then I degassed the resin in the vacuum chamber.

I like to keep small blocks of wood that fit my chuck from my old turning projects. So I used a block like that to glue the blank on and then turned it on the lathe. 

Most of the turning for this project was done with a round scraper which worked really nicely with resin. 

I dry sanded from 100grit to 320. Then I wet sanded with soap water from 400 to 1000grit. I used fine and super fine abrasive pastes for the polishing. To use the paste I set my lathe at it’s lowest speed and used a paper towel. When the paper does not catch paste anymore I am done. 

I then parted the piece off the lathe and used my bowl bottom cleaning jaws to clear and polish the other side of the pendant. 

Finally I did the final polishing with my buffing wheel system. 

I made a small brass hanger with my mini machinist’s lathe. I then epoxied the hanger in place and my pendant was ready.

It came out really nice 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 make a tin can baglama ( mini bouzouki )

 

Tools and materials I propose:

Wire Brush Kit For Drill

Jointer planer

Speed square

Circular saw

Table saw

Chisel set

Rotary tool

Bandsaw

Cordless drill

No4 hand plane

Block plane

BeaverCraft Sloyd Knife

Cobalt Drill Bit Set 

Cabinet Scraper set

Flat file

Round file

Spoke shave

Fret wire

Flush trim saw

Wood burner

This instrument is inspired by people in Greek prisons before world war two. They used whatever materials they could find in order to make music while locked up. It is also dedicated to their memory. I made mine out of a food tin can, basswood and mahogany. 

First I added paint remover on the tin can. This softened the paint. Then I used a wire brush on my drill press to remove the paint. 

I then squared a piece of basswood for the neck. 

I used my rotary tool and a cutting disc to open up the holes for the neck on the can. 

I then did the basic shaping of the neck on the table saw and the bandsaw. I used my tapering jig to cut the 15 degree angle of the neck and headstock joint. I used a couple of dowels to glue the headstock to the neck.  

Then I shaped the neck a little bit. Before I glue the fretboard I used a long sanding board to flatten the neck front. 

I used my belt sander, files, knives and cabinet scrappers to continue shaping the neck. 

Then I started drilling the holes for the tuning pegs. I used a home made centre punch to mark the positions of the holes. 

Then I started shaping the neck with a spokeshave and files. 

I cut a piece of mahogany on the table saw to make the fretboard. I measured the scale of my instrument which is 34cm from nut to bridge. Then I used a fret calculator to measure to fret positions. 

I then cut the fret slots and glued the fret board in place. I used bamboo sticks as pins to prevent the fretboard from sliding around while glue up. These also serve as fret position indicators. 

I trimmed the fretboard flush with a block plane and a cabinet scrapper.

It is important that the fret wire fits snuggly but not too snuggly. So you should use a saw that creates the right slot for the fret wire you want to use. 

I hammered the frets in place and then added a drop of super glue on each fret end. 

I then used files to trim the frets flush. 

I masked the fretboard and marked the fret tops. Then with a sanding block I levelled the frets. I sanded until 400grit and then I polished the frets with a buffing wheel on my rotary tool. 

I also sanded the fret ends to make them smoother to the touch. 

I screwed the neck with the tin in place. 

Then I varnished the instrument except for the fretboard. I sanded between coats. I finished the fretboard with mineral oil. 

Then I made the bridge and neck. I cut the slots on both pieces at once. 

Finally I installed the hooks that keep the strings on place. 

And my little prison baglama was ready. It sounds like both bouzouki and banjo in one instrument. I really enjoyed this build. 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 brass and wood carving mallet

 

Tools and materials I propose:

Mini machinist’s lathe

Cutter Set for Metal Lathe

Cobalt Drill Bit Set

Drill Chuck for mini lathe

Woodturning Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Chuck kit

I wanted to make a small precision mallet for woodcarving. Usually these mallets are made of brass and have wood handles. I salvaged a few metal parts and a piece of mahogany. I used my metal lathe and my woodturning lathe to make it. 

I begun by drilling the hole on the head of the mallet on the machinist’s lathe. I slowly expanded the hole to the appropriate size using various drill bits. I used cobalt drill bits. 

Then I turned the long nut round. One side of the nut was smaller. And also one side of the brass head has a larger hole. This way the handle and the head fit together with a mortise and tenon joint. 

The head needed to be slightly tapered. I found that 2 degrees were perfect. I created the taper on the lathe. Then I sanded the piece and polished it with steel wool. 

I then moved on the wood lathe. I turned the mahogany true. I created a tenon on one side to fit my chuck. 

Then I drilled the hole for the nut. I fine tuned the hole with a chisel so the nut would fit snugly. Then I epoxied the nut in place. 

Finally I turned the handle using a roughing gouge, a skew and a spindle gouge. 

I sanded the piece at 400 grit and then polished it with abrasive pastes. 

My mallet’s weight is about 190gr. It came out great and fits my hand nicely.

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 make a simple and cheap OSB cabinet for your mini metal lathe

 

Tools and materials I propose:

Air compressor, nail and staple gun kit

Cordless Impact Driver

Block plane

Jigsaw

Countersink bits

Chisel set

Mini machinist’s lathe

Table saw

Forstner bit set

Cordless drill

hacksaw

I recently bought a mini desktop machinist's lathe. I wanted to be able to move it around in the shop with all it's accessories. So I made this simple OSB cabinet. The lathe is mounted on it's top with two bolts. It has three drawers with several compartments to fit my needs.

First of all I cut my 15mm OSB pieces to size on the table saw.

Then I glued two pieces together to make the top. I used the nail gun to keep them together while I added the screws. To add the screws, I predrilled pilot holes, counter sinked them and then added the screws.

I positioned the lathe on it’s place and marked the positions of the bolts. These bolts will keep the lathe mounted on the cabinet. I used a forstner bit to drill the holes on the bottom so the nuts underneath won’t interfere with the drawers. 

I then nailed, screwed and glued the dividers and the bottom of the cabinet. 

Finally I made the drawers. With a series of cuts on the table saw I created the half lap joints. I then glued and nailed the drawer parts. I created a finger hole on each drawer with a forstner bit. 

I also added some drawer stops. I did this because I didn’t want the drawers too deep. 

Then I decided to cover the front endgrain with some solid spruce pieces which I cut on the table saw. 

Next I cut a couple of pieces out of a threaded rod and mounted the lathe on the cabinet using nuts and bolts. 

Then I added a back panel and made several compartments in the drawers to fit all my accessories. 

Finally I cut two handle holes using a forstner bit and a jigsaw.

I am really happy with my new cabinet but I am happier that I know have a machinist’s metal lathe. Anyway I hope you like it too because 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 make a catlimba

 

On this project I used Inventables X-carve CNC machine:

Easel

X-Carve

CNC project files

Tools and materials I propose:

Router

Router bits

Bandsaw

Chisel set

Drill press

Mini machinist’s lathe

Table saw

Forstner bit set

Cordless drill

hacksaw

Hacksaw blades

Jointer planer

Flat file

Rotary tool

Metal cutting discs

Propane torch

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.

In this video I make a kalimba in the shape of a cat. I made it out of mahogany wood.

I begun by planning my stock flat on my planer jointer machine. I then squared it up on the table saw. 

After that I screwed the wood on my CNC’s base. I set up the x-carve with easel ( it’s online software ) and started carving the body of the instrument with a straight bit on the 3D carver’s router.

I then cut the excess material on the  bandsaw and used a flush trim bit to make everything flush. 

To make the top I glued a piece of mahogany on a plexiglass using double sided carpet tape. This allowed me to plane the piece really thin on the planer. 

I could make the top easily on the CNC but I wanted to show a more traditional way for those of you who don’t have access to a 3D carver. I first added tape on the board and then used spray adhesive to glue the template on the piece. I drilled the eyes with forstner bits. Then I cut the shape on the bandsaw. 

I glued the top with the body. I sanded everything flush and then used a chisel and a scraper to reach on the the difficult spots. 

I then sanded everything from 100  to 320 grit. 

To make the bridge I first made a small brass cylinder on my machinist’s lathe.

Then I flattened on side using a file. I also drilled two holes on it’s ends. On cylindrical pieces it helps to hold them in a special triangular wood block while drilling. 

I then epoxied a nail on a wood block to make the sides of the bridge. 

I made the kalimba springs out of an old hacksaw blade. I first cut the blade into stripes, using my rotary tool and metal cutting discs. I the widened one end of the springs. I first heat it with a torch and then hammered it. 

I finished the piece with a few coats of clear and then added the springs and tuned it to my likeness.

Notice that the grain of the wood are parallel with the springs. This is important for the instrument’s tone.

I am really happy with the way my catlimba came out. But that was it, see you soon with a new project video.