A Little Urchin...Small & Very Fragile

[JD Combs Sr]

Have seen some of these on here before and wanted to try my hand at them. Ordered a bulk box off Amazon(cheaper by the dozen

), these were some very small ones. The thing that I didn't realize was how fragile these things are

. I broke three before I even went to work on them.

Worse then working with egg shells.

To make the urchin a little more durable I poured about a 1/2 teaspoon of medium CA inside it and repeatedly turned the Urchin so that the CA coated its entire insides then hit it with accelerator. I could tell that it added a little weight to it but nothing major. Definitely felt sturdier.

The complete ornament is about 5" with a diameter of 1-7/8". The urchin is only about 7/8" thick. Finial and icicle are Black Cherry. One coat of CA as a sealer on the Cherry then the whole thing was sprayed with Deft lacquer after assembly.

Another thing that I had not noticed on other Urchin ornament posts was the "saddle" shape at the larger opening, top in the photo. The 2nd photo shows a differnt angle and makes it look non symmetrical. I may reverse the orientation of the urchin in the next on and see how that looks like.


As always C&C welcomed.

 

[rizaydog]

Very nice ornament. Great idea with the CA. I wish I would have thought about that a few weeks ago when I made a boat load of these ornaments. Nice job.

 

[Splinter]

JD,

I have been making a few sea urchins ornaments for the last few days. I am using Titebond glue on the inside to make them more stable - bushed on with a flux brush. One thing I found is to make the gap where the finial meets the surface of the urchin less noticeable is to reverse the position of the sea urchin. In other words using yours as an example make the bottom of the urchin the top of your ornament. Also you can lightly sand some of the spurs down where the finial cap rests on the urchin will make them fit a little bit flatter. It doesn't completely hide the gap but it helps. Another thing I am doing to make them look more delicate is to use one of those wood plugs that are used to hide a countersunk screw. I used the plug on top rather than a finial and just use a finial on the bottom.

You have nice looking ornaments.

BTW. I had 5 hanging up on my finishing rack and bumped into the rack. Two of them fell off the rack and failed the bounce test when they hit the concrete floor but I was able to reuse the finials.

 

[traderdon55]

I have made several of these and after using a little trick you can drop them on a concrete floor without breaking them. Just buy a can of expanding foam insulation and half fill the shells with it. The foam will expand to fill the shell and firm it up to where it will not break when dropped. I also use a 1/4 in. dowel rod though the shell to attach the finials to. Making them this way I have not had any breakage even the one time someone knocked my display over. The foam is so light it adds very little weight to them.

 

[leehljp]

Looks great! I have thought about making some like that, but I need time which I don't have currently.

The urchins bring back memories - of my many years in Japan and "eating" a few when served!

 

[JD Combs Sr]

Very nice ornament. Great idea with the CA. I wish I would have thought about that a few weeks ago when I made a boat load of these ornaments. Nice job.

Thanks Ray, its not too late.:wink:

JD, I have been making a few sea urchins ornaments for the last few days. I am using Titebond glue on the inside to make them more stable - bushed on with a flux brush. One thing I found is to make the gap where the finial meets the surface of the urchin less noticeable is to reverse the position of the sea urchin. In other words using yours as an example make the bottom of the urchin the top of your ornament. Also you can lightly sand some of the spurs down where the finial cap rests on the urchin will make them fit a little bit flatter. It doesn't completely hide the gap but it helps. Another thing I am doing to make them look more delicate is to use one of those wood plugs that are used to hide a countersunk screw. I used the plug on top rather than a finial and just use a finial on the bottom. You have nice looking ornaments.

BTW. I had 5 hanging up on my finishing rack and bumped into the rack. Two of them fell off the rack and failed the bounce test when they hit the concrete floor but I was able to reuse the finials.

Thanks Splinter, I will be trying reversing the orientation of the shell and I like the foam and dowel idea mentioned by traderdon55.:wink:

I have made several of these and after using a little trick you can drop them on a concrete floor without breaking them. Just buy a can of expanding foam insulation and half fill the shells with it. The foam will expand to fill the shell and firm it up to where it will not break when dropped. I also use a 1/4 in. dowel rod though the shell to attach the finials to. Making them this way I have not had any breakage even the one time someone knocked my display over. The foam is so light it adds very little weight to them.

Donald, I really love the foam and dowel scenario.:wink: Will be giving it a try on the next one plus reversing(top to bottom) the shell.

Looks great! I have thought about making some like that, but I need time which I don't have currently. The urchins bring back memories - of my many years in Japan and "eating" a few when served!

Hank you might as well give it a try, not much of an investment per when bought in bulk or you could pickup 2 or 3 shells to give it a go.

BTW what do they taste like, chicken, more likely probably scallops.

 

[Rob73]

I just bought some shells from a deltona, place I saw someone mention here. I tell ya when they say 'small' they mean it. These shells are probably 1 1/4. I picked up a few sputnik and regular urchin. All very small, the normal urchin are much more fragile than the sputniks. I will have to try some of these techniques to strengthen them up, just handling them now makes me nervous.