Finish for wine stoppers

[dvoigt]

I have a large amount of wine stoppers that I need to finish. I normally would just finish them on the lathe, but I'm taking them off the lathe to wood burn them before finishing... so I am looking for a good way to finish them off the lathe. Anyone have a good method?

Thanks,

Derek

[AceHoleInOne]

Never made a wine stopper so not sure how they get assembled to the base. However, is there any way to glue a dowel or work a dowel screw up into the wood portion? This would allow you something to chuck them into a hand held drill motor (drill) spin them to apply the finish, un-chuck and place in a shop made drying rack.

-Ace-

Great website you have...those puzzle pens are interesting, hard to make?

[dvoigt]

Never made a wine stopper so not sure how they get assembled to the base. However, is there any way to glue a dowel or work a dowel screw up into the wood portion? This would allow you something to chuck them into a hand held drill motor (drill) spin them to apply the finish, un-chuck and place in a shop made drying rack.

-Ace-

Great website you have...those puzzle pens are interesting, hard to make?

Ace,

I'm trying something like that, only with dipping them in lacquer. I have a few test pieces drying right now.

The puzzle pen isn't "hard" but it is tedious and pricey. I buy the pieces, which are laser cut. Then I have to assemble them together, glue them, then turn them to size, finish, and assemble... but it certainly is an eye catcher.

[jHop]

Looks like the stopper kits you can find at Rockler or Woodcraft. I think those have an insert you screw onto the stainless steel stopper portion, right? I'd say thread and tap a dowel for a disposable finish stand, drill a hole in a scrap wood to hold it, and set them there to dry before you go through final assembly. I'd imagine dipping them would allow for a unique finish, with drips (especially if you can get the drips to run where you want them for maximum effect), but I don't imagine you would eliminate any method for finishing them. Having a couple scrap boards set up so you could batch out a few might help, if you are going to spray. (Maybe a 4" by 4" sheet of plywood, held in spraying place by a couple of half lapped support boards / clamps? Imagine a raised panel frame without the fourth frame rail.)

[alindsey]

You shouldn't even need to thread a dowel. Most of the bottle stopper kits are threaded on both ends, meaning one end that screws into the wooden part and the other end that screws into the stopper portion. Just twist the stopper part off and dip 'em in brushing lacquer or, and this is my preferred method of finishing them, twist the stopper into the wood, remove the stopper part, stick the threaded rod into a hole in a scrap piece of wood (I've taken 2x4s and drilled rows of them for this purpose) and spray on your finish of choice. Either lacquer or water-based polyacrylic.

[Lawrence Brown]

Well, I'll just throw this out in case it's applicable to you:

One of the clock repair videos I've watched is of a guy showing how to lacquer brass. He uses a mixture of 75% solvent to 25% lacquer, so it's an extremely thin coat, and then just dips the part in it and places the piece on edge on a piece of newspaper. I would think it would stick, but evidently if it's a thin edge it doesn't and the newspaper wicks away all the run-off, so the part is perfect.

The one other thing he stressed is that he gets his lacquer from automotive paint stores and he makes sure that the lacquer and thinner are both by the same manufacture and are both the same type. For some reason, there are subtle differences and if they don't match, it can create all kinds of problems.

I haven't tried it yet, but of course watching him do it made it seem pretty simple.

[Derekkest]

I have a large amount of wine stoppers that I need to finish. I normally would just finish them on the lathe, but I'm taking them off the lathe to wood burn them before finishing... so I am looking for a good way to finish them off the lathe. Anyone have a good method?

Thanks,

Derek

Derek,

This may not be relevant. But a lot of the things I finish on the lathe, I do with CA glue. I am not sure if you have ever seen this technique, but it turns out very VERY well for small turned objects. I made a bunch of pens last year just to make them for friends and family,used this technique and they still shine like the first day I did it.

U can also remove your pieces, do whatever you want, and light chuck or pressure chuck them in the lathe just to spin them and add the finish. The process is easy, just do the following:

1) Set your lathe to about 400 rpm or so.

2) Take a paper towel and hold it behind your piece, once it is spinning add the CA glue along the piece with the paper towel in tow to spread i tout.

3) Spray on some accelorator and repeat.

I usually do about 5 to 10 coats, then sand progessivly with a sanding pad up to 12,000 grit. They shine and are very durable...