How I make my BS's

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
J

Justturnin

Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2011
Messages
2,235
Location
Houston, Tx
I have seen a lot of great Bottle Stoppers of late on the IAP. I really enjoy making them as a break away from the norm. They are quick, and are only limited by your imagination.

One thing I have noticed on some of the stoppers is the stopper itself sometimes does not sit flat against the wood/acrylic. I have a few finished stopper tops like that that are just sitting around w/ not base.

So, here is what I do when I turn my stoppers. If this helps one then my time was well spent. Thanks for looking.

1. Mount your stopper blank into you DP or on your lathe. I mounted mine on my 4 jaw chuck

2. Inset Forestner bit into the drill chuck. Drill out until you have a full smooth circle on your blank. Now your surface is square with your drill chuck.

Forestner.jpg

3. I picked up a 3/8"x16 Bit and Tap at Lowes for about $6. Install the appropriate size drill bit to go w/ your 3/8"x16 tap. My Tap is tapered so I drill about 1/4" deeper to make sure my BS mandrell will bottom out in the blank before the screw reaches the bottom of the threads. Drill baby drill.

Drill.jpg

4. I apply 2-3 coats of thin CA to re-enforce the area that will be tapped.
Glue1.jpg

5. Insert the Tap in the drill chuck and start the threading. I go just up 'til the first full thread gets into the hole.

Start Tap.jpg

If you have done this so far the bottom of you blank should be square to the hole you drilled and the threads should be started into the blank straight. Before removing I will in the future kiss it with the Forestner again to remove any CA drips that could cause a gap.

6. Remove the blank and finish tapping by hand. You can probably do this on the lathe or DP but I find it easier this way.

Finish Tap.jpg

After I tap it I apply 1 coat of thin CA and tap it again and then do this one more time. This makes sure the threads in there are strong and less likely to strip out.

7. Finished threads are somewhat shiny because there are several coats of CA in there.

Tapped.jpg

8. After turning I like to finish the bottom all the way in. This way if the customer/owner removes the top to wash the stopper it is finished throughout. To accomplish this I stuff a bit of paper towel in the hole and put it back on the mandrel. Now the blank is sitting a little off of the mandrel and you can get a small tool in there to clean it up and apply finish.

Separate.jpg

9. TAA DAAA!!!!!! I wasn't going to turn it but could not stop myself. I don't play chess but that is what I was thinking w/ this piece, I am sure I missed the boat but that is where the shape came from. I just threw on 3 coats Friction Polish and a coat of Wax. Typically I would CA but this was for a fun demo.

Fin1.jpg
Fin2.jpg
 
Last edited:
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Nice demo. I use Qualalacq Lacquer as a final finish. Alcohol does not bother it much. Let it dry a week and then buff to a super shine with a deep wet look.
 
Thanks everyone. I have been meaning to actually redo this as a PDF but add some new steps or rearrange steps. I may just do that.
 
Good writeup!

The forstner bit both flattens what will become the bottom of the stopper, and also makes a slight recess that the metal portion of the stopper can fit into. You can actually accomplish the same thing with a scraper or spindle gouge. The idea is that if the metal portion fits into a small recess, the join between the bottom of the turned portion of the stopper and the top of the metal portion won't be visible when the completed stopper is viewed from the side.

After cutting the recess and threading the hole, I usually wipe some WOP on the bottom of the turning to seal the wood. The main objective is to provide something that will repel liquids - both water when the stopper is rinsed off after use, and red wine that could seep into a wood turning leading to staining.

By the way, you can take that much further to recess the 'bottom' of the stopper deep within the turning, leaving only enough wood or plastic to cover the metal stud that screws into the turning. That way, the finished stopper won't sit as high on top of the bottle - and when used with white wine, you will need less 'headroom' when you put the bottle in the refrigerator. Also, that 'inside out' approach is another design option.

The other thought relates to the practice of using CA to stiffen the threads. I make a lot of glue blocks and specialty mandrels that are threaded to match the headstock on my lathe, and I routinely reinforce those threads with CA (and also wax them so that they screw on smoothly). But for stoppers, I only use the CA approach if the wood is especially brittle. Otherwise, my view is that those threads will get used exactly twice - once to thread it onto the mandrel for turning and finishing, and the second time when the metal portion is installed - so the threads don't need to be reinforced. I sometimes put a little CA on the stopper threads when I assemble the final product.
 
Good tip with the forstner bit. Nice Tutorial!
I too have been parting the bottom. I usually make it slightly concave so the outer edge of the stopper fits nice and tight.
I use epoxy not only on the threads but a tiny bit where the stopper and base come together. Glued, sealed, never to come apart again.
I have both a taper tap and a bottom tap to follow up with. This is especially good on Woodcraft's Ice cream scoops with the long threaded tang.
 
Chris, articles like this, and tutorials, continue to make this site very valuable. One new tip, such as the forstner bit use, sure improves the quality of the items we make/create.
Hope this becomes a tutorial. Appreciate the effort.
Thanks for posting
 
I used your forstner bit technique last night on 8 Ice Cream scoop handles. It sure sped up the squaring and drilling process.

A couple of members of our turning club and I are doing a turning birthday party for 4 girls Friday night.
Pink colorwood and purple colorwood handles. I squared, drilled, tapped and turned round. I am going to cut the tenon also. Then the girls can take it down to finished shape and sand. One of the other guys will spray finish them. They are about 7 to 10 or 11 years old.

Earlier in the summer, we did a turning activity at a local church's bible school
About 26 kids, 4 lathes and 5 hours. We turned whistles!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom