Bottle Stopper Bouquet

[Edgar]

I made this set of SS bottle stoppers for our church's Oktoberfest auction on Oct 4. The stoppers are made from Bethlehem Olivewood, Black Cherry, Cedar, Cottonwood, Hormingo Negro (Macacauba), Huisache, Laminated Maple & Padauk, Mesquite, Spalted Pecan, Purpleheart, Spalted Sycamore and Zebrawood.

I didn't have a BOW stopper blank so I made one by gluing two pen blanks together then cut them in half & gluing the two halves together.

I got the stand from Amazon for just under $12.


Edgar

 

[wyone]

are you using a mandrel to turn these, or a chuck? I have a few friends I was thinking of making these for, but not sure how to start. Thanks in advance!

 

[Edgar]

Mitch, there are lots of choices, but this is what I do.

I first drill a hole in the bottom center of the blank about 1/8" deep with a 7/8" forstner bit. Then I drill a hole for the stopper with a 9/32" drill bit. Then I use this PSI tapping tool to cut threads in the blank:
Bottle Stopper Drill and Tap Set at Penn State Industries

Then I use this stopper mandrel from Woodcraft:
Buy Whiteside Adjustable Stopper Mandrel at Woodcraft.com

I use this drill chuck from Woodcraft to hold the mandrel:
Buy Heavy Duty 1/2" Keyed Lathe Drill Chuck #2 MT at Woodcraft.com

The forstner countersink provides a smooth transition between metal & wood and hides any imperfection if the bottom of your blank is not perfectly perpendicular to the threaded hole.

The PSI tap set comes with a 5/16" drill bit, but I prefer to use a slightly smaller 9/32" bit. I don't have any trouble tapping hard woods with a 9/32" hole, but I have had some tear out issues when I tried to tap a 5/16" hole in soft woods (like unstabilized spalted woods) - I have not had any issues since switching to the 9/32" bit.

I like the Woodcraft chuck because it has a threaded end so you can screw a drawbar into it through the head stock which will keep the MT2 taper of the chuck from coming out while turning stoppers & such.

I use a mandrel saver for pen turning, so when I start turning a stopper, I bring the mandrel saver up to just barely tuching the end of the blank to help keep it stable while I turn it round. Once I get the blank rounded, I back the tailstock out of the way & finish turning.

Another hint - once I get the stopper turned to shape, I unscrew it from the mandrel then screw it back on to just barely touching the mandrel surface before I start finishing it. If you don't do that, it can sometimes be a bear to unscrew after you have completed the finishing. DAMHIKT!

I use the standard & mini 3/8" x 16 stainless steel stoppers from Woodchux, but there are a number of other highly regarded sources of stoppers.
Bottle Stopper Kits - WoodChux Woodturning

Hope this helps. This is just one way of making stoppers - it works for me but YMMV.

Edgar

 

[wyone]

WOW.. way more detail than I expected, but exactly the information I was looking for, all in one place. Thank you so very much!

 

[Super Dave]

Nice job, I'm sure they will go fast.

Dave

 

[Charlie_W]

Also, be sure to check out the stoppers made by Ruth Niles. Top notch stoppers and she has a #2 MT mandrel that works great. I use stopper #301.
I believe there is a pack with stoppers, mandrel and drill bit. I too use the smaller drill bit for a tighter fit.
Remember to use a draw bar with the mandrel so it does not come out of the headstock.

 

[Fatdawg]

Nice batch of stoppers Ed! I like turning them because the shape is limited only by your imagination!

 

[alankulwicki7]

I also use the mandrel and stoppers from Ruth Niles. Great lady to talk to and her products are top notch!