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Joe S.

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Joined
Jan 11, 2012
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2,000
Location
South Lyon, MI
Bringing up an old topic.......has anybody else made these without a CA finish? I kinda like the natural cork look myself but wonder if they would start to crumble over time. Optional finishes: just a quick wipe or two of thin CA? How about spray a coat of clear lacquer?

I bet it would crumble FAST, especially in the abuse keychains get. For these, CA or possibly stabilizing is the only way to go. IMHO.
 

LanceD

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Joined
Oct 3, 2005
Messages
1,590
Location
Houma, La, USA.
Bringing up an old topic.......has anybody else made these without a CA finish? I kinda like the natural cork look myself but wonder if they would start to crumble over time. Optional finishes: just a quick wipe or two of thin CA? How about spray a coat of clear lacquer?

I bet it would crumble FAST, especially in the abuse keychains get. For these, CA or possibly stabilizing is the only way to go. IMHO.

I usually never post on an older thread but I have this to say about cork. There's a misconception about cork is that people think cork will break down and crumble over time. Well that's not the case. Cork is a very durable material, especially cork made for the wine bottling business as the cork used for wine bottles is a higher grade than cork used for other items.

Example, cork has been used in building fishing rod handles for well over half a century and takes lots of abuse, especially in the heat of summer or the cold in winter. You don't see the cork on a rod just disintegrate into a pile of dust. It just doesn't happen. A fishing rod handle will see much more abuse in its lifetime than a key chain pill holder would in that amount of time.
 

MarkD

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Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
2,293
Location
Sayre, PA
You never know what to expect...

I made a few of these when Jon made his original post. I did a Fall Festival last weekend and had a few of these for sale. A group of ladies stopped in my booth and were checking them out. One woman said "oh look, this cork was from Rick's favorite winery". I explained to them that the top unscrewed to expose a "secret" compartment. I said it was meant as a pill container but it was not my place to judge what they put in it :biggrin:
The women started saying how this would be perfect for Rick, so I was thinking they were going to buy it as a gift for this person named Rick. She said she would take it and while she was making the transaction she said that her husband ( Rick ) recently passed any and she had been looking for a way to keep his ashes close to her. She was purchasing the pill container/ key chain and was intending to keep some of his ashes in the container.
 

GoodTurns

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Joined
Apr 20, 2007
Messages
4,125
Location
Bowie, MD, USA.
I... She was purchasing the pill container/ key chain and was intending to keep some of his ashes in the container.

I did a set of these for a memorial service...they wanted all of the kids/grandkids to "have a piece of Grandpa"...made the containers and attached a dog collar style medallion with his name and dates (they did the filling!)
 

walshjp17

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Joined
Jul 29, 2012
Messages
3,418
Location
Weddington, NC
Has anyone done these with artificial corks? A lot of wineries are now using artificial instead of real corks.

The artificail corks should hold up better to a lot handling assuming one can drill them and have glue properly stick to the drilled hole sides and tubes.
 

ianjwebster

Member
Joined
May 17, 2012
Messages
73
Location
Paso Robles, CA
Jon,
Just wanted to thank you for sharing this. I sell about 70% of my work through a local winery. Following your post I ordered / made 5 pill boxes. They all sold the first weekend on display in the winery. So I ordered another 20; they sold out within a few weeks. I've got another 20 on order.
Thank you again for sharing.
Ian
 

bjbear76

Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2008
Messages
669
Location
Louisville, KY 40299
Has anyone done these with artificial corks? A lot of wineries are now using artificial instead of real corks.

The artificail corks should hold up better to a lot handling assuming one can drill them and have glue properly stick to the drilled hole sides and tubes.

I haven't been able to drill them. Too spongy and when you finally do penetrate the cork it shreds.
 

healeydays

Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2012
Messages
1,057
Location
Bedford NH
Wow, I totally missed this one and I have literally thousands of corks I had been saving for a bartop we decided to do. Is woodturnerscatalog.com still the only one to consider buying these kits from?
 

monark88

Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2010
Messages
596
Location
Portland, Oregon
Bringing up an old topic.......has anybody else made these without a CA finish? I kinda like the natural cork look myself but wonder if they would start to crumble over time. Optional finishes: just a quick wipe or two of thin CA? How about spray a coat of clear lacquer?

I bet it would crumble FAST, especially in the abuse keychains get. For these, CA or possibly stabilizing is the only way to go. IMHO.

I usually never post on an older thread but I have this to say about cork. There's a misconception about cork is that people think cork will break down and crumble over time. Well that's not the case. Cork is a very durable material, especially cork made for the wine bottling business as the cork used for wine bottles is a higher grade than cork used for other items.

Example, cork has been used in building fishing rod handles for well over half a century and takes lots of abuse, especially in the heat of summer or the cold in winter. You don't see the cork on a rod just disintegrate into a pile of dust. It just doesn't happen. A fishing rod handle will see much more abuse in its lifetime than a key chain pill holder would in that amount of time.

You're correct. You beat me to it. I just discovered this thread. What an idea!!
If anyone has problems with drilling/boring the 9/16th's hole, there is a somewhat easier way. Perhaps fewer failures.

You can pre-drill a 6mm-1/4"-pilot hole then finish off with this: www.mudhole.com/Other-Tools/Flexcoat-Pilot-Drill-Bit?search=Shop+Our+Catalog.

(no need to buy this high priced drill bit, you can make one)

You can then, as another way of doing it, grind the backside of the pilot drill "spade" and pull the 9/16 drill thru backwards.

I used to do this back in the '70's-to about 5 years ago when I made custom rods. Wasn't my idea, but it works a lot better than trying to drill out a 9'16's hole in cork. Also, the cork used for rod handles is not of the grade as is used for wine bottles.( as a rule, normally)

Russ
 
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