It was only a matter of time...

It begins small: with a threading tool and a diz. Soon you're on to orifice hooks. Before you know it, you've escalated to the harder stuff. I guess it was just a matter of time before I turned to drop spindles.

While perusing the goods at Rockler last week, I bought a bag of maple toy wheels. Add some walnut doweling that, conveniently, comes in just about the right diameter to fit through the hole, apply the now-ubiquitous sandpaper and tung oil, et voila! I've got a rather nice drop spindle or two. Since the spindle with the copper wire rotates more evenly than its sibling, I've decided that the wire is in fact a design feature, not random decorative fiddling.

For the inquiring minds who have asked, the spindles are 9 inches long, and weigh about 1.5 oz. (One weighs 42g and the other 46g.) They spin pretty well considering I've done nothing to balance them. One thing I do need to do is cut a groove in the side of the whorl. This will be part of the balancing act.

I've signed up for a woodturning class later this month, and I'm learning some new lingo: Skew Chisel, Spindle Gouge, Parting Tool, Cocobolo, Bubinga, Macassar Ebony.

Ahh! There's nothing more exciting than a new obsession.