The Egg
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Today I want to tell you about the crazy journey of making this egg, starting with this piece of sapele. I got it round using my spindle roughing gouge.
Then I used my diamond parting tool to get some tenons on both ends, just making sure they were the right size with my dividers.
Next up was parting it in half with an extremely thin parting tool, being careful not to go all the way through to avoid any mishaps.
A quick saw cut finished that up.
For the top half, I wasn't really focused on making a standard box. My goal was to slot in one of these 3D printed threaded inserts.
This time around, I decided to use PETG for the threads, which, as it turned out, is not as slippery as PLA. Trust me, this little detail became a big deal later on.
I used my parting tool to cut a recess for the insert, even though it’s not the safest way to do it, it's what I've got. The main thing I was watching was the width of the insert.
To get the insert back out after a test fit, I used another set of threads to screw in and then pull the whole thing out.
After some sanding, I moved on to the other half.
The process for the bottom half was pretty similar; measure with dividers, cut a shallow recess, and test the fit until it was nice and tight. Then came the glue – Starbond 5-minute epoxy.
Pro tip: make the hole in the tip bigger, saves a lot of frustration. After mixing part A and part B, I used the back of a paintbrush to spread it around and then gently persuaded the insert into place. I let that sit for an hour or two. I had an idea about matching the grain perfectly, but I figured it wouldn't matter much with what I had planned for the outside.
Now for the shaping. Honestly, when I moved the tailstock up, I didn't have a clue what I was going to do. I just started cutting, and wouldn't you know it, it started looking like an egg. Guess I had eggs on the brain.
I used my spindle gouge to get the rough shape. It wasn't a perfect egg, but that was fine. Because this box is held together with threads, I could make cuts I'd never dream of on a friction-fit box.
Some light sanding and more shaping followed. Sometimes I think I've got the shape right, but then after sanding, I realize I don't like it and have to go back. Chalk it up to impatience.
Then it was time to "lay this egg". I thought I had a clever plan for the bottom, but it didn't work out, so I had to sand it manually.
The next big question was the texture. I went back and forth on some ideas, floral, snake skin, nothing clicked. I started drawing lines and trying to connect them in interesting ways until a spiral started to emerge. It feels like a long way to go for a spiral, but that's the creative process sometimes.
I jumped right in with my rotary chisel, which I love for making deep, straight cuts with a bit of flexibility for curves. This egg got eight major spiral sections.
Next up were the rotary burs to remove material on either side of those chisel cuts. This part can be repetitive, so I usually throw on some music. Lately, I've been enjoying Bonobo.
I’m still figuring out the nuances of using these cup burs, like controlling depth and heat. The idea for this pattern was bigger dots on the raised areas that get smaller in the troughs, with the biggest around the widest part of the egg. This dot carving took a few days, done in the early morning. I'd be in the shop before the boys woke up, and I'm sure they wondered why I always smelled like burnt sapele. As I moved up and down, I switched to smaller burs for a finer pattern at the top.
To get a uniform black color, I used Speedball India ink, which is shellac-based and offers some protection. This is where the real drama started. I was feeling pretty smug after inking the whole thing black, loving the pattern and the spiral. I set it down to dry, and the next morning, I couldn't get it back open! I'm not a small guy, but I couldn't budge it, even with latex gloves.
I was pretty proud of my solution, though. I poured denatured alcohol into the seam, thinking the shellac ink had glued it shut. It didn't work the first few times, and I started to panic as I saw the black ink coming off. It was tough to watch something I’d put so much time into just bleeding away. But I kept saturating it, and finally, after about an hour, it came apart, thank goodness!. My best guess is that the shellac did bleed into the seam and glued it. My heart was pounding!.
To stop that from happening again, I thought about using a very thin layer of wax between the pieces. I also considered waxing the PETG threads, which were definitely stickier than PLA. I opted for beeswax as a safe lubricant. But then it wouldn't close!. Turns out there was some sawdust in there. I decided against painting the surface again because it might mess up the fit. So, I decided to oil the interior. That should help the two surfaces slide better. Then, I gave the outside another coat of India ink since the alcohol messed it up.
After letting it dry overnight, the fit was tight, but it did open. At that point, I realized this was more of an art piece than a practical box. It was cold in the shop, so I took a couple of days off to think about the next step for the outside. I remembered the gilding I did on that crazy bowl. I decided to do something similar with this egg, using the same adhesive from the kit. I even used some very fine-tipped brushes this time for better control on those little dots.
Instead of plain gold, I went with variegated metallic leaf, which has all sorts of blues and purples, giving it a cool heat-anodized look. Someone had commented on my last video about wasting the leaf, so this time, I cut it into very small pieces. After the adhesive got a bit tacky, I pressed the little squares onto the dots. This part was a bit nerve-wracking because the adhesive was curing. I used gloves to avoid getting the leaf everywhere. I did the bottom first so I could still grip the top. After all the leaf was on, I brushed away the excess with a soft brush, making sure to run the dust collector because that stuff turns into glitter. I repeated the process on the top.
And that’s pretty much it. Despite all the panic with the lid getting stuck, I'm really happy with how this one came out. I like the tight pattern and that one dot on top. So, thanks for sticking around to the end!