sea urchin ornament

[John Daugherty]

I've been making a few of these for Christmas. I don't turn many finials. They are fun to turn though, but they snap in the blink of an eye!

 

[Don Baer]

I can see how you turn the top and bottom piece but I'll be darned if I can figure out how you turn the purple and white piece in the middle...All kidding aside that is real purty.

 

[Dave Hoskins]

That is really nice, John. Downright beautiful. I can see how it is so fragile. With my non delicate paws I don't know how that would turn out if I tried it. You did a great job!

 

[Ryan Mooney]

Looks like fun alright

 

[Darren Wright]

That is really nice!

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Really nice indeed, John. Where do you get your sea urchin shells from?

 

[John Daugherty]

Really nice indeed, John. Where do you get your sea urchin shells from?

Thanks guys!

I get them from Richards seashells and gifts in FL. I get the large sputnik sea urchin. They are around 2 to 2.5" in diameter. They are 1.25 each. Here's the link https://www.richardsseashells.com/

 

[Chuck Ellis]

Great Link John, Thanks.

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Thanks, John!

 

[Jim DeLaney]

Thanks guys!

I get them from Richards seashells and gifts in FL. I get the large sputnik sea urchin. They are around 2 to 2.5" in diameter. They are 1.25 each. Here's the link https://www.richardsseashells.com/

Interestingly, just yesterday I was watching a documentary about the purple sea urchin devastation of the central California kelp beds. They're reproducing in orders of magnitude compared to earlier - mainly because something killed off their main predator - the starfish.

The program showed divers harvesting literally hundreds of thousands of the purple urchins off the sea floor.

 

[Ted Calver]

We saw the same documentary and wondered what they were doing with them. I've had numerous close up encounters with urchins while diving along rocky coasts in heavy waves. Soaking embedded spines in vinegar dissolves them, but it's a painful process and really makes you watch where you are going. There was a big market for them in Japan at the time, that's why I wondered about how they were disposing of them. Apparently there is still a demand, but the larger red urchins are more desirable--says this interesting article. I've eaten them and they are very tasty when properly prepared. Used to free dive for the skeletons and have a big box of them somewhere, but they are nowhere as pretty as the ones John has found and so delicate there's probably nothing left but bits and pieces.

 

[John Daugherty]

They are fragile. I coat the inside with mod podge. Cindy Drozda has a video on YouTube about making them. I attached the top and bottom with hot glue.

 

[Jim Daughtridge]

Beautiful and your attention to detail is great!!

 

[Dave Hawksford]

Great design John. Nice job.