Every year I make an ornament as a give away to friends and family.  This year I decided to make tree light bulbs.

 

 

I used this as for sizing after an internet search.  I used the C9 dimensions.

 

 

I used some 1.25" birch dowel rods that I found at a local surplus store.  They were three feet long and I cut them into 7" pieces and got two bulbs from each piece so each dowel yielded 10 bulbs.  Somehow I cut a piece off one dowel this Summer and that one one only yielded 8 bulbs.  118 individual bulbs was the final total and I paired most of them together.

 

 

I ordered 1/2" brass tubing from Grainger.  Came in 12" lengths so I set the metal lathe up to cut 1/2" pieces for the thread ends.  I sized the wood for a press fit.  Goofed up a few and had to glue them on.

 

 

I cut the thread end of the bulb first which accommodated sizing for the tubing.

 

 

I have been trying different ways of coloring the wood and think I have found the answer.  I used an acrylic ink I found at Pat Catan's.  As I brushed it on it penetrated the wood like a dye would.  It did raised the grain a bit so I put them back on the lathe after covering the brass with masking tape and lightly knocked it down with pieces of brown paper bag.  Here is the ink bottles.

 

 

I finished them with three back to back coats of shellac.  I made and finished them in batches of 24.  To keep from having to open the can many times over I have gone to filling a saved soy sauce bottle.  I ground the end of a small funnel to fit in the tiny hole in the top.  Pour a some into the bottom of a plastic shot glass from the dollar store as needed.  Seems to keep the finish fresh a lot longer.  The big plus is the convenience of use.  I use needle nose pliers and one of the shot glasses to dip and pour the finish into the funnel.

 

 

 

Great idea and good job, I like it, Dan, Your the Man.

Herb

 Awesome looking pieces Dan. The dye finished them off nicely.

Most excellent Dan. A very clever & unique idea. I had to look twice at your first picture before I realized those were the turned ornaments. You absolutely nailed it on the colors.

Family is gonna' love these.

Uber Cool! I, too, thought they were real bulbs when I first saw them!!

Impressive...

 Great job and very nice duplication job

They look like real bulbs and I agree with Gerald about the duplicating. Well done!

 

Steve

Those are superb Dan.  Very realistic, but that group pic looks like so many Mexican peppers lined up together - especially when you threw the yellow ones into the mix!

Do I understand that you simply dipped these into shellac?  How did you do this without any runs or drips?

Nice job Dan. They really do look real.

1 hour ago, Cal said:

Those are superb Dan.  Very realistic, but that group pic looks like so many Mexican peppers lined up together - especially when you threw the yellow ones into the mix!

Do I understand that you simply dipped these into shellac?  How did you do this without any runs or drips? 

 

I saw them as peppers too and a few others have mentioned it also.  I did not dip the ornaments.  They were given three coats of brushed on shellac.  The shellac dries so quickly it can be laid on thick and brushed smooth while it is drying.  When I feel the brush drag the slightest bit I know to stop and let it dry on its own from there.  Shellac can run if it is too wet or have bad brush marks but it does have a sweet spot.  It doesn't take long to learn to love it especially on small items like this.   

beautiful work...  so creative.

Those are awesome, Dan. 

Now smarty, tell me how you gonna check to see which one is burned out when the whole string goes dark... thats how the lights use to be then they got smart and now its just the one burned out and the rest stays on....

 

 

1 hour ago, Smallpatch said:

Now smarty, tell me how you gonna check to see which one is burned out when the whole string goes dark

 

Seeing how a lot of ornaments on the tree are wood I keep the candles away so they don't catch fire let alone burn out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Dan, that's one awesome looking tree.