So what's for Christmas?

Charlie b kinda got the ball rolling here. I have my new Craft Supplies as well as Packard catalogues. The only thing I really noticed that was new was how much some of the prices went up.

I usually use these as idea books, but nothing stands out. I make some gifts and usually sell enough to pay for about half of Christmas if I am not doing something like buying another scroll chuck.

Probably like many here, I have made all the bowls, pencil holders, oil lamps, weed pots, fan pulls, jewelry, pens, ornaments, etc., etc., that I want for a while. Last year I made lamps using the confetti lights in the Craft Supplies catalogue and they not only sold really well but were a great gifts. But I made a bunch of them and I am not in the mood to make more. Same with spoons, ladles, and batter beaters. BTW, the kitchen utensil idea was a great way to use up my odds and ends of

3/4" and 1" thick scraps of 1X4, 1x6 etc. since they didn't have to be but about 10 to 12 inches long to be great.

Sooo.....

Anybody making anything new, fun, and exciting? Something we haven't seen before or a new twist on an old favorite? (No Chinese balls, please ; ^) )

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41
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How diabolical do you want to get?

I've done simple sliding dovetail boxes with space routed in the center for MONEY!. Fold a bill, say a hundred, stuff it in the routed space, slip the top and bottom together, adding just a little drop of glue just before closing. Glue a print of the face on the bill on the top of the "box" and hit it with some spray shellac.

A variation on the small necked bottle trick could be fun. In place of "bottle", insert turned pinch neck small hollow form. Roll up the bill real tight, slip it into the bottle. Inside it will unfurl enough to not fall out - or make it easy to get out of the bottle. Since wood isn't quite as transparent or translucent as glass - you could drill holes in the hollow form so the recipient can see there's a bill inside.

If you don't have to go with wood you can give clumps of bananas with a bill slipped into one of them. Works with a watermellon too.

If you want to really be evil - take the fattest phone book you can find and 50-100 crisp new dollar bills. Open the book anywhere and stuff a bill back near the binding. Repeat randomly 'til you run out of dollar bills. Wrap and have the card note that there's money inside.

just some ideas for you.

charlie b

Reply to
charlie b

Hi Robert

Saw a new one (for me) the other day, but it falls in the jewelry category, namely a pendant, it was made from a Lodgepole pine cone, Jack pine cone would also do I think, these cones stay closed unless it gets very hot, like with a fire. These pendants were made from the centre slice of the cones, highly polished and a clear coating over it, the shapes of the scales and seeds that were clearly visible made for a very intricate and beautiful little hanger. So if it's new to you also, then away you go, and find some pine cones. ;--))

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote:

Reply to
l.vanderloo

LMAO! I don't think I would ever get invited back for any Christmas festivities. Those are actually just a shade past diabolical...

Sounds like fun, though. Just not with my crowd. They are used to getting those "thoughtful" gifts. I'm just tired of making them.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

You know, a couple of years ago I took some tiny, closed pine cones about the size of a really large grape (you could just tell what they were) and dried them out in an open container in the deep freeze. I dipped them in thin shellac that I tinted with a mahogany dye. They were really neat looking and made nice pendants.

I had never even thought of slicing one of those larger cones to make a hanger. I think one of my neighbors has a long needle pine (no Lodgepoles or Norfolks native this far south) that I might be able to experiment with. I wonder... do you think they gave the cone a bath in some kind of finish (shellac or whatever) and let it dry before they sliced it? Seems like a saw would tear a pine cone to pieces no matter how careful you were.

Good one. The wheels are turning over here.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

I found an easy to turn present I'll be making for my green thumb relatives:

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newspaper seedling pot maker They also have a better picture at Lee Valley:
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Reply to
Mark Fitzsimmons

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

Hi Robert

How can you roll the top back while the bottom stays put ?? You'd have to tear the bottom, as is only the last part can be folded back at 45 degrees, yes I know it's getting late, ;--)))

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote:

Reply to
l.vanderloo

Wrap a long strip around the body. Leave a generous amount to fold over at the bottom. Fold it over and whack it against the bottom piece to crimp it. Remove the paper cup. You're done. Fill with soil and plant.

No need to concern yourself about how long it will last as you are only looking to use it for a few weeks and WANT it to disintegrate immediately thereafter. (Life-cycle engineering at its finest!) Typically, once the seeds are planted there would be no need to handle the tubes until time to transplant.

Bill

Reply to
Bill in Detroit

Never thought of doing anything with pine cones, but the scales are all oriented towards the tip- if held it with the base towards you, and a belt rotating away from you, you might be able to abrade half away very nicely with a belt sander. Keeping the seeds intact might be a long shot, but maybe you could break the upper layer of the scales with the sander, and then soak in shellac (or maybe inject clear epoxy into the center with a syringe.)

Kind of makes me want to go find a pine cone, and goof around with it a bit.

Reply to
Prometheus

The dimple crimps the bottom, which is just folded over newspaper from the roll covering the sides, so it won't unroll. Simple enough.

I tried mak> Mark Fitzsimm> > I found an easy to turn present I'll be making for my green thumb > > relatives: > >

Reply to
Mark Fitzsimmons

So are you saying, ( I think this is what Leo was saying ) that the crimp on the top will keep the TOP edge from coming apart as well. I can see the crimp doing its business on the bottom, but with the loose layers on the top/opening, I am not understanding how they stay together.

It looks like a pretty cool deal, and no doubt, I will make one.

As for your situation of making the bases, when I have made parts that require repitition, I use every advantage I can get. I would cut a piece of my round stock as long as I could to make about three or four of the bases at a time. Put the piece in the chuck loosely, then line up the piece centered with your tail stock, and tighten the chuck jaws when centered. Then I would cut the female part into the end.

For straight into the grain, I have found my parting tool is a killer for that. I still use that tool to drill the 2+" holes into end grain when I make clocks and use fit ups. So buzzing into the endgrain of something about 1/2" or so would work easily.

Then part off the piece you finished, and you can start again.

Or..

This is what I did for my repetitive part making. Same as above, but I cut a small groove into the piece at the point I determined to the the length. Mark the stock end of the material so you can rechuck to the same jaws on your chuck before going further. Then take the piece off the chuck, take it to the miter saw, and slice it off to the left of the groove, so the the bottom of the piece will be rounded. The miter saw will leave a much smoother surface than the parting tool (no sanding!). Also, the groove will keep the piece from the tiny splinters you get from cutting on a saw. It is ready for finish off the saw.

And with your jaws marked, put the piece back in, center it up with the tailstock, and have another go. Even when you get to the last one and you are small enough that you don't want to get your fingers near that blade, simply end glue (5 min. epoxy or hot melt) onto your last piece and you can use your material down to the last nub.

You will be surprised... you can buzz off those pieces in just a couple of minutes, and with no sanding after it leaves the lathe the whole process becomes really fast. I think I was making wooden feet or something like that when I came up with that method.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

I made seven of them last night. They're all slightly different, of course. It was pretty easy once I made the larger dia stock small enough to fit deep down into my 3 jaw chuck so it only stuck out about

12". Jamming it up against the spindle helped keep it from wobbling I think.

Made all the t> So are you saying, ( I think this is what Leo was saying ) that the

As long as the paper is wrapped more than one time around, it doesn't come unwrapped once crimped. How could it? I took 8x11 sheets of newsprint, folded in thirds the long way and they wrap around about 2 times, then fold the loose end over first so the rest of the folded over parts help hold the paper in place. Works fine. Make one and you'll see.

Reply to
Mark Fitzsimmons

Back in my organic gardening days I used a lot of paper pots. I was setting out 1200 transplants a year and anything to keep costs down was good. Three wraps of paper around the plunger are good and once the bottom is folded and crimped everything is ready to go. The roots will grow right out the sides of the pot and it will rot into the soil. Once the roots get established in the pot you could take the whole thing and toss it in the air with out the pot coming apart. (Why would you want to?) Leave plenty of room for the plunger to fit into the base with the paper around it. Better a loose fit than tight.

Reply to
Darrell Feltmate

Took me a while to even figure it out for myself with the OT at work lately, but I decided tonight that everyone is getting a big snowman. I've got some dry basswood logs that are the right diameter to make them about 2' tall and still have a little plumpness to them. And I don't feel bad about painting basswood to make them look festive.

Now I've only got a few days to get those made, so hopefully, all goes according to plan.

Reply to
Prometheus

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