Sea Urchin Ornaments

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hilltopper46

hilltopper46

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East Troy, Wisconsin, USA.
Everyone in our family has vacationed or will vacation at the beach in 2015, so I made one of these ornaments for each person in the family. Here are the first one and the last one, out of a total of 5. I've been trying to learn to do finials.:rolleyes:
 

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Very nice and the finials look good. Maybe could be a little lighter and thinner but not bad at all. These are on my to do list. I have a box of mix urchins that at one time I started to play with but never followed through.
 
Very cool. I've been wanting to try those. I hear getting the finial to fit just right is a bit of a pain having to grind the shell down. Also heard the inside should be sealed as well (from Cindy Drozda) to reduce the chance of the shell cracking. Have any trouble making them in those areas? Very nice job on them.
 
Bobostro61 said:
Very cool. I've been wanting to try those. I hear getting the finial to fit just right is a bit of a pain having to grind the shell down. Also heard the inside should be sealed as well (from Cindy Drozda) to reduce the chance of the shell cracking. Have any trouble making them in those areas? Very nice job on them.
Click to expand...
Ditto what Bob says. To stablize mine I pour a half teaspoon(a guess) of medium CA into the shell and then roll it around until the entire inside is coated with CA watching that it doesn't run out of the openings. When it is fully coated I hit it with a spray of accelerator to the inside of the shell. I do this before any work on the shell opening.
 
I just got a box of 10 shells (3.40/shell). I have made 3 previously and they came out fine, so this will be nice.

I appreciate the suggestions to stabilize the shell inside with CA. Has not been a problem, but why take a chance.

Hopefully will be able to work on before my hernia surgery. If not, it will be for next year! :)

Tony: Your finials are fine! You will critique them far more than anyone else (other than other turners..) :)

Have fun and do a bunch more!

A very elegant gift!
 
Finials

Bobostro61 said:
Getting the finial to fit just right is a bit of a pain having to grind the shell down.
Click to expand...

I actually like to get the top and bottom tenons to fit the holes, then then center dowel can be slowly cut to fit... I never go back to resize the shell hole. Only a few minutes to tweak.
 
mark james said:
Bobostro61 said:
Getting the finial to fit just right is a bit of a pain having to grind the shell down.
Click to expand...

I actually like to get the top and bottom tenons to fit the holes, then then center dowel can be slowly cut to fit... I never go back to resize the shell hole. Only a few minutes to tweak.
Click to expand...
The shells I use, and I have a box of 30 or so were fairly cheap because they are not the nice round ones like Tony is using, which are beautiful BTW, mine are the oblong more bean shaped shells. The holes are also oblong, here is an example from last year.
ORN0009.jpg

Due to its shape I sometimes have to trim both the hole and the finial tenon. BTW with the CA coating I have never had to use a "through" tenon or dowel.
 
Thanks for the kind comments.

I think I got the following tips from an article in the American Woodturning (AAW) magazine a year or so ago.

I filled the inside of the shells with expandable foam from a can. I made a tapered stone from an inexpensive grinding wheel from the hardware store and rounded out the large hole. I tapered the stone with a diamond dressing tool. I used a steel burr on a Dremel to touch up the edges of the small hole.

I used a dowel (turned from the same walnut as the finials) to join the top and bottom. No glue required between the shell and the wood.
 
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hilltopper46 said:
Thanks for the kind comments.

I think I got the following tips from an article in the American Woodturning (AAW) magazine a year or so ago.

I filled the inside of the shells with expandable foam from a can. I made a tapered stone from an inexpensive grinding wheel from the hardware store and rounded out the large hole. I tapered the stone with a diamond dressing tool. I used a steel burr on a Dremel to touch up the edges of the small hole.

I used a dowel (turned from the same walnut as the finials) to join the top and bottom. No glue required between the shell and the wood.
Click to expand...

That is what I was going to suggest. You have to watch which foam you use though because there is the more aggressive stuff that will blow them apart. A dremel tool with a sanding drum on it works great.
 
hilltopper46 said:
Here's another one, from a slightly different type of sea urchin shell. I believe this one looks more elegant than the lumpier sputnick type shell.
Click to expand...


Those come pink, purple and green. Not sure what color that is you have. They are a bit more fragile than the one you shown first. Nice job with it. makes for a nice gift. Thanks for showing.

This is where I get my seashells from in case anyone is interested.

http://www.shellhorizons.com/details.asp?ProductID=D2-19&Page=1
 
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