Bottle Stoppers

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kentonjm

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Finished up a batch of bottle stoppers. I am still playing with various finishes. Some of these are EEE + Crystal coat, others are CA. The CA takes way longer and not sure its necessary for these items. I did just get some Shellawax and it will be interesting to compare to the crystal coat.
 

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monophoto

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Nice stoppers!

One of the traps that I find myself falling into is obsessing over finishes. There are a lot of options to choose from, and it's really interesting/fun to test and compare various finishing options.

For those who view turning as a business, the issue of finish has to be treated more pragmatically. Getting hung up on experimenting with exotic finishes can be time consuming, and time spent on testing finishes is time that is not spent producing product for sale.

The basic issue is that the finish has to be attractive, and also able to withstand banging away in a kitchen drawer when the stopper isn't actually being used. Also, it needs to seal the wood - having wine (especially red wine) soak into the wood would spoil the appearance of a finished stopper. And since stoppers are frequently used with wine, the finish needs to be able to impervious to alcohol.

I turn only for fun, so I can afford to spend more time on finishing. For me, the optimum choice is an oil finish - either a commercial wipe-on varnish (I use Minwax), a shop-made long-oil varnish made by combining equal parts of a commercial spar varnish, tung oil and turpentine, or pure tung oil. I wipe on three coats, buffing lightly with either 4/0 steep wool or a gray nylon pad between applications. All three approaches are relatively fast, look good, hold up well, and withstand alcohol.
 

kentonjm

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I guess I should ask, or at least get forgiveness... I copied your stoppers to my go-by file for future .... I like the shapes.

No problem Chuck, just send me the license fee when you sell some :) Some of these I also copied from other pics I had seen online. Others just flowed from the tools as I was turning them.

A few things I have learned. Try and avoid sharp corners especially on designs that will have a CA finish as its real easy to sand through it by mistake. Similarly avoid lightly concave detail surfaces as they can also be a pain to finish.
 

kentonjm

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I also just made up some new blanks from some random scraps. I am excited to see how these turn out.
 

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kentonjm

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Great Bottle Stoppers. What size blanks are you using for those?

Thanks, they were various sizes as they came from different sources. Some were purchased, others from scraps I had laying around and some even came from logs that I cut up on the BS.

Most start between 1.25" to 2" square and are typically 2"-3" long.
 

PapaTim

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Nice group of stoppers Jon. I hope you let us know what you think of the Shellawax compared to the Crystal coat finish.
 

Magicbob

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Very nice work.

Jon, I have a dear friend in Phoenix that has built a career on the line "It's a dry heat"
 
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Jon,
I like your stoppers... I make them up about a dozen to 2 dozen at a time and hold on a board with 1/4" dowels to dry them.... I've always used a sanding sealer as a base coat, sometimes two, then 3 or 4 coats of wipe on poly as a finish... I use a brand of sanding sealer I found locally called "Old Masters" and the regular Min-wax wop... either a gloss or a satin whichever I have on hand... prefer the gloss.
 

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kentonjm

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Very nice Chuck. The one thing that puts me off using WOP is the time to get all the coats done. I guess if you do this many in bulk it may be quicker than individually at the lathe. do you still have to rub down or buff the final coat?

Are the ones in the pics the cork or metal variety? If you would be happy to share I would be interested to know what you charge for your stoppers.


Jon,
I like your stoppers... I make them up about a dozen to 2 dozen at a time and hold on a board with 1/4" dowels to dry them.... I've always used a sanding sealer as a base coat, sometimes two, then 3 or 4 coats of wipe on poly as a finish... I use a brand of sanding sealer I found locally called "Old Masters" and the regular Min-wax wop... either a gloss or a satin whichever I have on hand... prefer the gloss.
 
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Messages
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Location
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Very nice Chuck. The one thing that puts me off using WOP is the time to get all the coats done. I guess if you do this many in bulk it may be quicker than individually at the lathe. do you still have to rub down or buff the final coat?

Are the ones in the pics the cork or metal variety? If you would be happy to share I would be interested to know what you charge for your stoppers.


Jon,
I like your stoppers... I make them up about a dozen to 2 dozen at a time and hold on a board with 1/4" dowels to dry them.... I've always used a sanding sealer as a base coat, sometimes two, then 3 or 4 coats of wipe on poly as a finish... I use a brand of sanding sealer I found locally called "Old Masters" and the regular Min-wax wop... either a gloss or a satin whichever I have on hand... prefer the gloss.

On this batch I did run them through the buffer after the final coat, but not always.... I do sand the between coats and the wipe on will dry to handling in about an hour... I apply the finish with a piece of an old t-shirt and if necessary wipe off excess with paper towel.... I usually leave them overnight though just to make sure... This batch did take about 5 days to get the finish on.... turning time is about 5 minutes each... sometimes it takes me nearly as long to get them off the pin chuck as it does to turn them.

These all went on stainless steel inserts... I don't like the cork and have pretty much decided not to do the silicone stoppers any more either... I sell my stoppers at $35 each or 2 for $60... surprisingly I sell more singles than doubles.
 
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As it happens Bob, as we approach the last few weeks of summer weather its got downright sticky. At least for Arizona ;-)

Very nice work.

Jon, I have a dear friend in Phoenix that has built a career on the line "It's a dry heat"

The year I lived in Tucson I was a little surprised when the "monsoon" season hit at the humidity level... was still dry by Houston standards, but definitely a little on the humid side.
 
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