Did a little turning this week, getting ready for that church craft show.

These are called "Dibbles" or "Dibbers" and are used by gardeners for making holes to plant bulbs/seeds. These are roughly 8" long and a little over 1" in diameter. The rings are 1" apart to assist in the planting depth. I used a wire "Garotte" to burn the marks, thus making them more visible. Made from hard Maple that had dark streaks. I made 10 of these. Maybe I can sell them for $5 each. The finish is a bee's wax/mineral combo.

On a few of these, I used my Sorby spiraling tool to make "threads". The one on the right was my first attempt. It came out the best of all of the ones I made- beginners luck! The threads are straight but on the other turnings, the threads are wavy. You can see this on the left turning. Not sure what I was doing wrong. If anyone has one of these tools, I would appreciate tips/advice.

 

I'm also making a few bottle stoppers. I have some Spalted Maple that is thick enough for turning. Post pix of them next week.

If you get a chance, head on over to Cliff's page. He's made a really nice tool carousal for his new lathe-

http://thepatriotwoodworker.com/forum/topics/tool-carosel-got-r-dun

He has incorporated some great feature into his design.

Safe turning!

These seem worthy of considerably more than $5! Beautiful!

Thanks for the kind words, Pamela! This will be my first exposure to the craft show thing. I have always had a tough time figuring a fair price for stuff I make. I usually just give most of it to friends.

How long does it take for each one? I'd say $15. for each one. What is the material cost?

Rob

There's only about 40¢ worth of materials and the ones without the "threads" were made in about 20 minutes.