I need some information on making wooden beads in exotic woods. Turning
them on a lathe seems like it may be a tedious exercise. I am able to
make my own special turning chisel that would make it a bit easier but
produce - only one size of bead for each chisel.
The next problem would be how to polish them. If the bead has a small
hole then it would be real difficult to hold on a mandrel. I thought of
holding them on a tapered pin.
Any info or links would be helpful. - Thanks Snog

The Beads I want to make should be Jewelry ....Many different sizes and
not all perfect spheres. oval, eggshaped...etc

wrote:
I need some information on making wooden beads in exotic woods. Turning
them on a lathe seems like it may be a tedious exercise. I am able to
make my own special turning chisel that would make it a bit easier but
produce - only one size of bead for each chisel.
The next problem would be how to polish them. If the bead has a small
hole then it would be real difficult to hold on a mandrel. I thought of
holding them on a tapered pin.
Any info or links would be helpful. - Thanks Snog

I made a few beads earlier this year. I started with square stock small
enough to be passed through the chuck and hollow headstock spindle. Let
enough material project from the jaws to turn one bead. Square off the
end and use a small drill bit in the tailstock to drill a hole the depth
of the finished bead. Turn to the shape you want and catch the bead as
it drops off. Feed the material through the jaws and repeat. The beads
needed minimal sanding at the point where they were parted off.

For finishing I threaded several beads onto a piece of wire - actually a
straightened out paper clip. I used a danish oil finish, but if you
are making jewelry you may want to check the finish you choose is
sufficiently water proof. When the oil was cured I polished them on a
buffing wheel while still mounted on the wire.

--
Derek Andrews, woodturner

http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com
http://chipshop.blogspot.com - a blog for my customers
http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com/TheToolrest/ - a blog for woodturners

On 10 Dec 2005 19:12:12 -0800, wrote:

I need some information on making wooden beads in exotic woods. Turning
........
Any info or links would be helpful. - Thanks Snog

There was a somewhat lengthy thread on this exact subject back in July
of this year. Check Google for the whole thread, if your server no
longer has it.



--
Chuck *#:^)
chaz3913(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
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September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

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Hi Snog, If the beads need not be personally handmade and you need more
than a few, I wonder if you might be better off buying them. IMHO,
YMMV, etc., but I don't see much fun or thrift in making lots of them
without a setup with jigs etc.

Never bought any from the wholesale firms on the net that sell polished
exotic wood beads in many shapes and I don't know their prices, so only
a suggestion.


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