Hi, I was commissioned by someone to turn several small wood "bottles" that will be used to contain essential oils. All is working out fine except that I am having a problem with the matching wood finial that will eventually have a glass rod inserted to dip into the bottle. I drilled a tapered hole into the top of the bottle into which the finial rests inside. I can't get the finial (also tapered) to "snap" into the hole and remain upright. One partial solution that I found was to drill a hole into the bottom of the finial and pack in some tungsten puddy, covered over with epoxy. The added weight is an improvement, but the finial just doesn't seem to snap into place and stay straight. I have attached a pic of one of the samples. Please let me know if any of you have suggestions.
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Getting finials to stand up straight
- Thread starter Mark Benjamin
- Start date
Have it sit on a shoulder? Thread it?
Actually, a shoulder may be a solution. I will experiment with that. I don't think they would be happy with it being threaded. Thanks!
I connect many such things with a drilled straight-sided hole, a tenon turned to fit snugly, and a shoulder. Epoxy into place. I’m imagining a taper would be too much trouble.
Another thing you might do if you have a good way to hold the lid with a chuck is to glue in a finial blank and turn it in place. If the lid turns true the finial has to.
JKJ
Another thing you might do if you have a good way to hold the lid with a chuck is to glue in a finial blank and turn it in place. If the lid turns true the finial has to.
JKJ
Make a mini lid as part of the base of the finial with a recess in the top of the bottle that the lid fits into.
Thanks John, that makes sense.
Thanks Mike. That sounds like the way to go.
Tom Gall
TOTW Team
I may have misread @Mark Benjamin 's post ... but, I assumed he wanted the finial removable because it was going to have a glass rod inserted to be immersed in the essential oils ... whatever that is !!!
I may have misread @Mark Benjamin 's post ... but, I assumed he wanted the finial removable because it was going to have a glass rod inserted to be immersed in the essential oils ... whatever that is !!!
Or I may have misunderstood. Either way, a snug tenon could fit and be removed with a twist. I’d use a hard, fine-grained wood.
The only essential oil I use is what goes in my gas and diesel engines! It’s essential to keeping them running…
Yes, that’s exactly right. The finial will be removable.I may have misread @Mark Benjamin 's post ... but, I assumed he wanted the finial removable because it was going to have a glass rod inserted to be immersed in the essential oils ... whatever that is !!!
In that case, what about threading it? If the wood is hard and fine grained (ebony, cocobolo, dogwood, hard maple, etc) and relatively mall diameter tenon and hole, you can use standard taps and dies to thread both parts. Further harden with thing CA if needed, and re-tap. A bit of wax on the threads can make these easy to screw in and unscrew.
Another option, is a threaded brass insert in the lid and either threads on the finial or a section of brass bolt permanently mounted in the finial, hole drilled first in the end to hold the glass rod. I imagine that would be a first class solution! - very easy to remove and replace. If you don’t have a good way to drill a hole into the end of the bolt, many woodturners have machining capabilities that make this trivial, probably some close to you.
I use brass or SS inserts from Ruth Niles Stoppers (or from the hardware store) for a variety of things that need be taken apart often, say for cleaning, like meat tenderizers with wooden handles. The inserts can be glued into the lid and the threaded rod can be screwed and glued into threads tapped into the end of the finial. (I’d still turn a shoulder on the finial.)
Brass Threaded Inserts - Niles Bottle Stoppers
brass threaded inserts, 3/8-16 thread, 1/2" OD used with wood projects that allows the user to remove the handle for washing.
nilesbottlestoppers.com
The threads on these are a standard 3/8”x16 which may be fine if your glass rod isn’t too large in diameter, but larger inserts are available elsewhere.
JKJ
Thanks! Yes I’m thinking that threading is the way to go.