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Honey dipper questions

John Torchick

John Torchick

Joined
Jan 24, 2010
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Location
Cleveland, Tennessee
Honey dipper is on the Honey Do list now. SWMBO got a small jar of honey from a friend. SWMBO asked if I could make a honey dipper. Now, the questions- best wood? I have access to wood dowels at Lowe's or wood at Woodcraft. What finish, if any? I do need a 1/8" parting tool. Maybe make one as an extra project.
 
Here is one that I have. I didn't make it ... someone named Nick Cook made it ... He seemed to do a fairly decent job. I have a Sorby parting tool that would have been a Nick Cook parting tool except for the fact that they hadn't thought of calling it a Nick Cook parting tool and raising the price yet. Anyway, my yet-to-be Nick Cook parting tool for half the price seems to work exactly as the one with the signature on the handle. I would recommend it as a good parting tool for making honey dippers. I recommend using hard maple and no finish. I'm with Leo ... no varnish or motor oil on my waffles ... Just straight bee slobber.

image.jpeg
 
Nick's parting tool was specifically designed to cut clean kerfs so that he doesn't have to sand the inside of the grooves in the Honey dipper.
 
Hmmm. Never thought a honey dipper would be so involved. To all who replied- thanks and I have learned a lot on this thread.
 
John Torchick said:
Hmmm. Never thought a honey dipper would be so involved. To all who replied- thanks and I have learned a lot on this thread.
Click to expand...
Pretty much any fine grained wood will wok for a honey dipper. Maple, cherry, birch...
I learned how to make them from Palmer Sharpless, one of the founder of the AAW. He was a great turner, and teacher. The rule of thumb is that a dipper should have an odd number of grooves. 5 usually seems best to me.
 
John,
Honey Dippers are the most common beginner project among our high school students and in 7 years I've learned a whole lot of ways that they can be screwed up--many you could never imagine. I've also learned a few tips for avoiding problems.

1. mount with the dipper side toward the headstock.
2. after shaping the dipper end most of the way into a football, sand it prior to cutting the grooves. (if you sand afterwards, you will round over the edges of fins which changes the look. some people like them rounded)
3. marking where and how many grooves you will cut improves your chances for even spacing and a look you'll like.
4. once you start to cut the grooves, don't pull your small parting tool back out. you can never get it back into the groove without boogering up the edge. you can pause and check things out, but leave the tool within the groove while you do. (personally, I think it looks best if the base of the grooves are all the same diameter. for my own dippers, I make that diameter the same as the diameter of the handle section.)

I like fruit wood for the dippers. If you're Nick Cook and make 50 at a time to sell maple would be good. I make 4 at a time and give them away, and am willing to deal with some figure and challenge for an enhanced appearance. And an oil finish.

Dean
 
Nick is my mentor, and an incredible turner for sure--he taught me to use a hard maple and if you finish he likes straight up buffing to a high finish, or mineral oil or beeswax--but he usually uses nothing himself. I've grown to like a beeswax finish, which I buff as well for the final touch!
 
I would ONLY consider maple or cherry for a honey dipper. As Don says, walnut dust can be toxic, so why take a chance. I know of people who have had some real problems result from using walnut on food related items. Just think of how crappy/nontasty looking honey wood look on dark wood. Just think about it!
 
I’d use Apple,Apricot,Plum,Pear,Birch,Beech,Hickory,Honey Locust,Mulberry,Osage Orange, Sycamore,and a few more.

Any closed grain hardwood, so not Ash or Walnut or Oak, it would be pretty hard to clean that type of wood if there is a need for, dry Walnut is not a problem as such, wood dust of many types of wood can be unhealthy, but that’s not what you make the piece from, I mean dust.
 
Maple, apple, Teak, Ipe, Any hard dense wood that is not poisonous Probably best to avoid the urishol tree.
I think most folks get carried away with the grooves; making 'em a tad too deep.
 
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