Frosty

[crokett™]

I don’t like practice for the sake of practice. I decided to attempt this little guy. I figured I’d either get a lot of practice rolling beads or I’d end up with a snowman. I was surprised it turned out this well. I didn’t need to sand anything. The top hat eyes mouth and buttons are walnut. I’m not sure what kind os wood the body is but it is a joy to turn.

[Arlin Eastman]

Cute snow man buddy.  Is it a table setter or for the tree?

[crokett™]

Arlin, thanks. Neither. It started out as let's see if I can make one. Since it turned out much better than I expected I'll give it to my in-laws as a gift. I guess it's a table setter, it's about 7" tall including the top hat. I suppose I could make a smaller, hollow (lighter) one as a tree ornament.

[Arlin Eastman]

Arlin, thanks.   Neither.  It started out as let's see if I can make one.  Since it turned out much better than I expected I'll give it to my in-laws as a gift. I guess it's a table setter, it's about 7" tall including the top hat.  I suppose I could make a smaller, hollow (lighter) one as a tree ornament.

Hollow it out first and then do the outside.  That is what I did anyway.  I taken a small drill bit up into the head and then finished up with a forstner bit and then tapered it from there.  That way I could hold it on the pin jaws to do the outside turning and finishing.

[iclark]

Arlin, thanks.   Neither.  It started out as let's see if I can make one.  Since it turned out much better than I expected I'll give it to my in-laws as a gift. I guess it's a table setter, it's about 7" tall including the top hat.  I suppose I could make a smaller, hollow (lighter) one as a tree ornament.

The ones that I make are ~3" high. When they are that small, they are light enough to not require hollowing.

FWIW, the best source of small eye screws that I have found is Lee Valley. If you stick with making the hat separately, you can use the small twisted wire option for the hanging loop and install it in the hat before gluing the hat onto the body.

[crokett™]

Thanks. The next one I’ll glue up the hat before turning it. I didn’t with this one because I did not expect it to turn out this well Pun intended.

[iclark]

Thanks.  The next one I’ll glue up the hat before turning it.  I didn’t with this one because I  did not expect it to turn out this well Pun intended.

As long as you are going with a contrasting wood for the hat, I would recommend not gluing it on before you turn it. It raises the degree of difficulty of getting the hat/head part at just the right place without adding any real value (IMHO).

I do mine as one piece and then use black markers to color the hat. The eyescrew then goes into the starter-hole left by the live center. The downside is that I have been using walnut oil as a finish for the body. If I do not wait until the oil is truly dry, then the oil poisons a sharpie so that it will not feed/draw for months afterwards.

The other thing that someone suggested to me (and I use) is to use fabric paint for the coal and carrot. I get mine at Michael's. Flat black for the coal and glow-in-the-dark orange for the carrot nose. By setting up a couple of v-blocks (one under the hat and one under the body), I have been able to get the paint for the orange carrot nose to stretch/run a bit and get "carrots" around 3/16" to 1/4". I think that I can do better if I do a whole batch at a time, but too long will make them more difficult to store.

[EightFingers]

Our turning club in Kansas City had that as a challenge. Groups of four had five minutes to make them.
It was a fun challenge and everyone was able to complete them.