Latest batch of honey dipper lids. I have about 40 in process but I finish them in batches of 20.  No engraving on these, customer wants about half of them engraved and half not, need to have 120 of them by the middle of June.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mostly maple, cherry, and walnut, although there are some white oak and hickory ones as well.

 

Steve

Edited March 21, 20179 yr by Steve Krumanaker
typo

Nice! But I guess it gets kind of boring after a while.

Nice as always Steve.  The extra income is nice to have when you enjoy doing the work.

You are getting a nice start on that 120! Great Job!

Looks nice!!

 

Well Steve, looks like you have a good start on your "honey dew" list...I really like that spalted maple one in the back right...that one should bring a premium although all of them are really nice.

What kind of finish do you put on the lids? I assume no finish on the dipper portion?

1 hour ago, lew said:

Nice! But I guess it gets kind of boring after a while.

 

I don't know if "boring" is exactly the right word, though I will admit I'll be glad when I'm done with them. I'll finish this 40, actually 44 I think and take a break for about a week. I'm really itching to try out my boring bar on a deep form. That, and there is a project that shall remain unnamed for now I'm anxious to do. If it weren't for those two things I'd just stay on these until they were done.

 

Steve

Edited March 22, 20179 yr by Steve Krumanaker

19 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Well Steve, looks like you have a good start on your "honey dew" list...I really like that spalted maple one in the back right...that one should bring a premium although all of them are really nice.

What kind of finish do you put on the lids? I assume no finish on the dipper portion?

 

Dave, I'm wholesaling these to a local bee farm so one price fits all if you know what I mean. There is a water borne "lacquer" I'm partial to that I use on these. A guy on the old WOOD forums recommended it and it's a great product. From Target coatings, EM6000 production lacquer. You are right, there is no finish on the dippers, which are always hard maple. That's the reason the lids are on jars that are taped off. Easiest way I've found to spray the lids.

 

Steve

6 minutes ago, Steve Krumanaker said:

A guy on the old WOOD forums recommended it and it's a great product. From Target coatings, EM6000 production lacquer.

Spectacular finish on all these Steve...for a clear finish it seems to really enhance the grain regardless the wood. What type of sprayer do you use to apply? Do you do anything special between coats or on final coat...e.g. sand, hand buff, machine buff / polish?

 

7 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Spectacular finish on all these Steve...for a clear finish it seems to really enhance the grain regardless the wood. What type of sprayer do you use to apply? Do you do anything special between coats or on final coat...e.g. sand, hand buff, machine buff / polish?

 

 

In the picture, they are just finished. My schedule is two coats of spray can shellac, sand, then 3 coats of the em6000. The only reason I use shellac first is because the lacquer is water borne and I think the shellac helps to prevent raising grain. Most of the lids are silky smooth as pictured, the white oak and hickory ones will get the end grain buffed a little as the grain on those did raise some.

I can't stress enough how much I like this product. It is the most forgiving finish I've ever used. I lay down a wet heavy coat, it doesn't run or sag and 3-4 coats will pretty much fill walnut grain. I cut my teeth on nitrocellulose and have sprayed hundreds of gallons of it. I don't see me ever spraying it again. I'm spraying with a Devilbiss production gun.

 

Steve

Rather than start a new thread I'll just add this picture here. Just sprayed this batch this morning. In fact, they get one more coat in a few moments. This second batch of 20 are engraved using my little cheap laser engraver. They take only a few minutes to do that way. So, here they are for anyone who cares to look!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

That engraver is getting quite a workout!

 

Are the "bases" just temporary clear plastic?

Very Nice!!

Bee-u-ti-ful...40 down, 80 to go...Thanks Steve

Love your work, Steve.

Herb

56 minutes ago, lew said:

That engraver is getting quite a workout!

 

Are the "bases" just temporary clear plastic?

 

It is! I really feel like it' been a good investment for me. Aside from the capability it offers, I have learned so much. Not just about the engraver and how it works but about Inkscape and Gimp as well.

The bases, more information than you asked for but I recently drastically changed my process on these. When I first started doing them I would glue the knob to the lid and then finish them. I did it that way to keep from getting finish on the inside of the lid or the dipper stem. Doing it that way, it was easy to mar something that had already been finished. So, I wanted to start applying finish as a last step. The problem was how to keep finish off the stem and lid underside.

In my plodding way it occurred to me I could just use pint mason jars. I knew though,  that would ruin the jars for canning or freezing and eventually I'd have to just throw them away. So, I wrap the jars in plastic stretch wrap and tape them off. When the finish builds up enough I will remove the wrap  and replace it. At least that's what I have in mind.

 

Steve

Thanks!