Be Careful with CA Glue!

I've been working the past couple of days on getting more stopper tops through the final glue stage so I can turn them on the lathe. Most wood glues that I use in furniture (titebond II typically) takes a couple hours to cure before being ready to continue working with the piece. I can't use this type of glue while working on the bottle stoppers or else I'd still be working on the first one! I use Cyanoacrylate... typically referred to as CA. It's basically like super glue and it bonds within seconds.

While working last Wednesday night, I had this short, but very real fear that I'd glued my thumbs together! I went to set down the piece I had just glued up and my thumbs were stuck together. I breifly pictured how it would go down if I had to go upstairs and wake up my wife for help (I pictured a lot of laughing). Not wanting to have to make that journey, I was able to pull my thumbs apart. Thankfully it was just a drop of CA and I didn't have to tear any skin in the seperation process.

It's not just tools with blades that require respect and careful use!

Etsy& My Online Store

I have signed up at Etsy and created my own store!
My store name is darrylmasterson (darrylmasterson.etsy.com)

what is Etsy?
Etsy is: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade.

I've created to store to provide the ability to sell the bottle stoppers I've been making. I have sold my first! The postings from yesterday (stoppers 9, 10, 11 & 12) have not yet been posted to my Esty store, but I should be getting to that shortly.

So stop on by and take a look around at what I've set-up!

Stoppers #s 9, 10, 11 & 12

I've got several stoppers in different phases of the gluing process and I've also finished a few more.


Here's another parallel twist stopper:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)
Secondary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

serial # 2009-009
To purchase this stopper through my Etsy store, click here.


A Parallel twist plus:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Walnut
Secondary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Tertiary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

serial # 2009-010
To purchase this stopper through my Etsy store, click here.


A Speckled stopper:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Secondary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

serial # 2009-011
To purchase this stopper through my Etsy store, click here.


A Random selection stopper:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Cherry
Secondary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)
Tertiary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Quaternary wood: Walnut
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

serial # 2009-012

To answer a couple questions you are probably asking yourselves right now:

• Yes, I did have to do a google search to find out what comes after "secondary".
• No, the Random stopper is not just a bunch of left over bits. My sister had suggested to me a while ago to make a random stopper. I'm glad I listened!

wine bottle stoppers

I worked a little on the adirondacks today, but the day was primarily about wine bottle stoppers. I finished three (well four actually, but I only have pictures of three!):

#5
Stopper Stats:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Secondary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO


#6
Stopper Stats:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Walnut
Secondary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO


#7
Stopper Stats:
Total pieces: 121
Primary woods: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry) & Walnut
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO


I also setup my Etsy store today!

Well that caps my five days away from the real job... heading back to the office tomorrow morning. Thanks for following along the past few days, I hope it was as fun for you as it was for me!

Production & a Break

Yesterday I finished attaching the seat slats to two of the adirondacks. All that's left on this pair is to attach the arms.

I also finished another bottle stopper:

I call this the "Argyle Sock", here are the stats:
Total pieces: 121
Primary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry) & Walnut
Secondary wood: Red Leaf Maple
Cap: Sapele
Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter
Finish: CA/BLO

To end the day, a couple of friends came over and we played several rounds of Mille Borne. It's a fun card game.

New Stopper & Adirondack Backs

I spent most of the day working on the Adirondacks. I got the visible screws plugged & then started working on the backs. I have two of the four Adirondack backs assembled and installed. Tomorrow I should be able to apply the seat slats to the two chairs that have backs. I need to apply a coat of shellac to the two other frames to prep them for paint (the last two chairs I will be painting!).

I wanted to get at least one stopper completed before ending the day, so here's stopper #3.

Stopper Stats:

Total pieces: 121

Primary wood: Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)

Secondary wood: Red Leaf Maple

Cap: Sapele

Dimensions: 2-1/8” tall, 1” diameter (approx.)

Finish: CA/BLO

Adirondack Frames

In day two of my three days in the shop:

I did the final glue up on two more bottle stopper blanks. This puts me to a total of eleven needing to be turned. And of course I need about another dozen to fill the current requests (not a bad thing!).

I also continued working on the four Adirondacks. All four now have completed frames. Tomorrow I hope to make some good progress on completing and installing the backs. I tell ya though, adding four Adirondack frames to an already cramped workspace makes things a little tight!

Working Outside

I've often thought of how nice it would be to break out of the dungeon and have a 1st floor workshop. Wouldn't it be great to open the doors and enjoy the outdoors and woodworking at the same time?

Since it wasn't raining today (and I'm not a fan of cleaning the shop!) I dragged the planer outside to finish prepping stock to cut a sickening number of segments to build more bottle stoppers and pens. Oh, did I mention that it was about 37 degrees today?! It did get up into the 40's but it also rained this afternoon. It was nice to be outdoors though!

Other than prepping that stock for stoppers, I assembled the front legs of four adirondacks and did the final glue up on three bottle stoppers today.