Of Tool Cabinets, Chewing Gum and Sealng Wax #22: Bowling League 2022 Turned Epoxy & Wood Beer "Glass"

I had such great ideas for this swap. BTW if you have not joined a swap, you should – it will push your limits and you will learn a lot. First idea was a low rim open segment bowl with the openings filled with epoxy. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I didn’t do something right and it literally blew up. Good thing I had a jacket and face shield on. (I should show a picture, but it was too embarrassing, and I didn’t take one) After that disaster I made a small Movingui Salt bowl just to be sure I’d have something to ship if my next invention failed. Shown here in the hand of my recipient JD77 because I didn’t get a picture of it myself.

I had a couple of 3.5” x 3.5” Osage Orange chunks too small for much of anything but I figure if I spaced them and filled the gap with a metallic epoxy I’d have something interesting. Sealed the two pieces, mixed the epoxy and poured, waited a couple days and finally got it out of the “mold.” I glued a piece to the bottom to fit my chuck and started turning. Dang, chips and chunks of epoxy were flying off and hitting my face shield like rain. I did learn to lighten my cut and finally got it round (mostly).

After all the chips and chunks (I thought) I got the diameter down in what I intended to be a graceful curve. Hmmm… more chips and catches. Eventually I ended up with and kind of Bombay curve mostly because I was afraid of shattering the whole thing.

Finally finished the outside and tried to turn the inside. After a couple attempts I decided to just drill it our with a Forstner bit. Boy was that slow going. Cutting the end grain was tough. The bit would heat and gum up and the wood would toast. I spent almost as much time cooling and cleaning the bit as I did drilling. Here, I’m using a tool from another swap to gauge depth.

Finally made it to depth and wanted to thin the lip. Another bad idea – the whole sequence went MUCH better in my head, but caught an edge, flipped it off the lathe and onto the floor which chipped it.

Result? I had to trim off 3/8”. I finally knocked off the sacrificial piece on the bottom that allowed me to chuck the part.

With saw, file, and sandpaper I managed to get the lip where I wanted. Then I mixed a very thin epoxy to coat the inside and lip. That went VERY well and I did a second coat. The result is an OK (I think) Beer”Glass” that holds 8oz exactly and only by shear chance.

I think overall I learned a ton but I need to capitalize on techniques in the coming months.

-- Bill - Rochester MI