Last Earings

Hi all,
You may be pleased to note that this will be the last earring post for the foreseeable future. Not that there is anything wrong with earrings, but I need a change.

Here is a pair I turned from a walnut pen blank.

They came out rather well and look quite nice on my wife. I also made a pair out of an ebony pen blank; I love working with this wood. I wanted a white band in the earrings to contrast with the black of the ebony, so I cut a thin groove with my thin parting tool and filled it with white Milliput. Milliput, if you don't know, is a two part epoxy putty. You simple mix equal amounts of the two parts, fill the hole, or in this case the groove. Then leave it overnight to let it set, then you can carry on turning in the normal way.

Here are the finished earrings.

They look quite classy even though I do say it myself. So that was it for the end of the year and since then I've only managed one other items. It has taken the best part of three weeks to complete because the amount of time I can spend in my igloo cum workshop has been hampered by the ridiculously cold weather we have had this winter. Or am I just getting nesh?

Anyway, I decided to have a go at turning a pen and carving a snake on it.

The markings are done with my pyrography iron and I think it came out well. I'm not sure about the head of the snake, I think that could have been better, but for a first attempt it isn't bad, certainly a change from earrings.

By the way, the inspiration for the snake came from a You Tuber called Mike Stinnett, who carves snakes on walking sticks. Here's a link to one of his fantastic videos

So that is us up to date. Rumour has it that we might be getting some warmer weather this week so I might be creating something. Not sure what yet but if you come back in a few days who knows what you might find.

If you've got any comments on the snake or anything else please let me know.