Allow me to introduce my grandson, George Francis DeCristoforo, born 12/31/12. This photo was taken when he was twelve hours old.
george_francis_1.jpg
Chris Ramsey gave me some advice that stuck in my head… "Make him a baby rattle…" So I decided to give it a go. Seemed like a simple enough idea but, as is often the case with these things, it was not quite so simple. First off, there are some safety concerns like that it has to be a minimum of one and eleven sixteenths inches in diameter to prevent the baby from stuffing it into his mouth and possibly choking on it.That limited the design somewhat. Also, it has to be sound so as not to come apart, allowing the baby the opportunity to eat the contents, in this case six black eyed peas. And it also has to be pretty light and small. We're not making barbells here!
On the first attempt, I tried splitting the piece of wood, hollowing out the bulb with a small ball grinder, laminating it back together with the peas inside and then turning the outside. Only problem was, there was no way to know exactly where the void was and I ended up getting it too thin. On the second try I cut right through in one spot. On the third one, I got a pretty decent bulb but then broke the handle. Back to the drawing board! Ended up making it somewhat like a christmas ornament with a rosewood burl bulb and an ebony stem/handle. I "funneled" two bulbs before I got a good one… thick enough to be strong but thin enough to have a "nice tone".
So this might just be the most frustrating object I have yet to make on the lathe. And yet, at the same time, it has been the most satisfying. Thanx for the good advice Chris!
georges_rattle_1.jpg georges_rattle_2.jpg
Reply With Quote
