A Few Stottle Boppers

Vaughn McMillan

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Here in SoCal, there is an animal -- known locally as the stottle -- that frequents the tonier parts of town, often seen out and about in the afternoons and early evenings.
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These creatures can be a nuisance sometimes, so some of us trendier Californians have started carrying small but effective weapons to bop them in the head with so we can keep them in line.
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California being what it is, we of course like to carry attractive boppers. Here are a few stottle boppers I've made recently.

Blue dyed buckeye burl

Bottle Stopper2982T - 800.jpg

Gold dyed curly poplar

Bottle Stopper2981T - 800.jpg

Purple dyed buckeye burl

Bottle Stopper2984T - 800.jpg

Black and white pearl acrylic

Bottle Stopper2979T - 800.jpg

Blue and black pearl acrylic

Bottle Stopper2980T - 800.jpg

Clear acrylic with a porcelain rose

Bottle Stopper2978T - 800.jpg Bottle Stopper2978 Detail - 800.jpg

The wooden ones are all stabilized blanks. They were sanded to 12000 Micro Mesh, then a couple coats of medium CA, then worked back to smooth from 320 to 12000 again, followed up with tripoli and white diamond buffs. Two of the acrylic ones were finished the same way -- minus the CA -- but the black and white one was finished a bit differently, following advice from a video I saw by Ed Davidson (YoYoSpin) on the Arizona Silhouette website. He suggests simply starting the sanding with wet 220 grit followed by wet 400 grit, then straight to the tripoli and white diamond buffs. I tried it, and although I spent a bit more time on the buffing wheels, the overall finishing time was much shorter, and I can't find a scratch, even deep in the coves. He uses this same sanding sequence for finishing the clear acrylic blanks, and gets an optical finish by the time he's done with the white diamond. I've been experimenting with the idea of using tripoli instead of the finer grits of sandpaper on a few other pieces. You'll all get to see how they come out. ;)

Comments, critiques, and suggestions are welcome as always. Tell me which ones you do or don't like. :)
 
Wow, these are all very cool. And they address a problem I've always had, having to drain the bottle once opened. Come to think of it, boppers do have a down side.:rofl: :rofl:
 
Those are cool. I don't drink but maybe I will start just so that I can have an excuse to make some of those.
 
I was going to say the same thing as Stu. I did think you had a day job or is this your day job. Did you turn professional on us. I can never find this kind of time.

Seriously though Vaughn those are well done. Beautiful.
 
...Do you plan to sell them?
Yeppers, I don't drink, so these are made for sale. I'm trying to build up a stock of smaller (lower-priced items) for sale at the shows this fall. I figure if I can't pay the entry fees with hollow forms and bowls, then maybe pens and bottle stoppers will help me cut my losses. ;)

And yes, I still have my day job, but I do spend most of my spare time in the shop. I haven't watched an entire TV show in probably about a year. :rolleyes:
 
Yeppers, I don't drink, so these are made for sale. I'm trying to build up a stock of smaller (lower-priced items) for sale at the shows this fall. I figure if I can't pay the entry fees with hollow forms and bowls, then maybe pens and bottle stoppers will help me cut my losses. ;)

And yes, I still have my day job, but I do spend most of my spare time in the shop. I haven't watched an entire TV show in probably about a year. :rolleyes:

A friend who shares space in the art gallery where my pens are also sells stoppers there. They are unique (he's a real talent) and inexpensive. But, they have just regular corks for the stopper part. I asked why. He said that the bought stoppers ($2.95 to $4.95 each) just add too much to the cost. His lower prices help sell his stoppers. The ones I have made were all for gifts.
 
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