Christmas Projects 2021

Some of the ideas for this year’s small Christmas projects were inspired by special pieces of wood already in the shop. Other ideas came from woodworking magazines, offhand comments by others, and even a meme from the world of cryptocurrency.

Rustic Bud Vases

These pieces were made from a dried butternut bowl blank from a tree that grew in Deb and Jeff’s front yard across the street. The plastic test tube inserts were bought online, but inspired by ones that had come on the stems of individual cut flowers last year.

Slicing slabs from the bowl blank on the bandsaw - alliteration not intended ;-) — Slicing slabs from the bowl blank on the bandsaw – alliteration not intended 😉
Slicing slabs from the bowl blank on the bandsaw – alliteration not intended 😉

Bark and cambium removed with a rotary wire brush
Bark and cambium removed with a rotary wire brush

Drilling bud vase holes
Drilling bud vase holes

The Marietta Wood Works brand
The Marietta Wood Works brand

A few coats of spar polyurethane
A few coats of spar polyurethane

Butternut is in the walnut family and has a warm brown tone and distinct annular growth rings
Butternut is in the walnut family and has a warm brown tone and distinct annular growth rings

Each bud vase insert was custom sized
Each bud vase insert was custom sized

Finished Rustic Bud Vases
Finished Rustic Bud Vases

Turned Bud Vases

These pieces were made from thick sections of dried cherry from a tree that grew in Grandma and Grandpa Sass’s yard in my home town of Bristolville, Ohio. I decided to make them in two pieces so that I could epoxy in a 3/4″ bolt for weight near the base so they would be very stable.

Chunking out cherry turning blanks
Chunking out cherry turning blanks

Boring for the bolts used as counterweights
Boring for the bolts used as counterweights

Epoxying in the bolts
Epoxying in the bolts

Turning the final contours
Turning the final contours

The first few bud vases completed
The first few bud vases completed

Special chucking in the lathe for final sanding
Special chucking in the lathe for final sanding

Completed group of Turned Bud Vases
Completed group of Turned Bud Vases

Polished Steel Cubes

In 2021, crypto watchers were excited about Tungsten Cubes. Why? Who knows. These “amazingly heavy” ornaments are made from aerospace grade tungsten, which you can purchase from Midwest Tungsten Services. When Kyle mentioned this odd trend, it inspired me to make him a novel gift, not out of tungsten, but out of stainless steel. I bought a 1-1/2″ x 1-1/2″ x 6″ bar of 304 stainless from McMaster-Carr for about forty bucks and went about polishing it to a mirror finish. I then enlisted Lucas and his low-speed steel cutoff saw to break the bar down to 1-1/2″ cubes. A bit of cleanup and polishing on the cut ends and Kyle got three mirror finish steel cubes!

After some trial and error, the bar was highly polished
After some trial and error, the bar was highly polished

Initial surfacing of the bar with progressively finer grits of Emery paper and water
Initial surfacing of the bar with progressively finer grits of Emery paper and water

Further polishing and buffing with various grits of buffing compound and cloth wheels
Further polishing and buffing with various grits of buffing compound and cloth wheels

Lucas's carbide-tooth metal cutoff saw in action — Lucas’s carbide-tooth metal cutoff saw in action
Lucas’s carbide-tooth metal cutoff saw in action

More sanding and polishing of the cut surfaces
More sanding and polishing of the cut surfaces

Three highly polished stainless steel cubes
Three highly polished stainless steel cubes

French Rolling Pins

The inspiration for turning a couple of French rolling pins was a comment from my brother, John. He and Linda were visiting somewhere with a gift shop and he said to me, There was a French rolling pin made from cherry and they were asking thirty-eight bucks for it!” In typical Mahan fashion, I thought, “Gee, I have lots of cherry and a lathe!” Turns out that turning these rolling pins entirely with a nice, sharp spindle roughing gouge was very straightforward. Once I made a little fixture to hold them between centers for finishing with walnut oil, completing them was easy and enjoyable, too.

This one started with a 2" x 2" white ash blank — This one started with a 2″ x 2″ white ash blank
This one started with a 2″ x 2″ white ash blank

Minutes later, it was round
Minutes later, it was round

With tapered ends and a bit of sanding, this one was ready for oiling
With tapered ends and a bit of sanding, this one was ready for oiling

This quick fixture for two rolling pins made short work of finishing
This quick fixture for two rolling pins made short work of finishing

Here's a cherry blank on the lathe — Here’s a cherry blank on the lathe
Here’s a cherry blank on the lathe

I ended up with two cherry rolling pins, one without tapers on the ends
I ended up with two cherry rolling pins, one without tapers on the ends

Adjusting Hammers

The idea for these maple-faced adjusting hammers came from the Tips section of a recent edition of Woodsmith Magazine. The unique feature is a 3/4″ NPT pipe tee fitting, with a handle and two faces turned and tapped to screw into it. Finding an inexpensive die on eBay made short work of these home made tools.