# Bourbon Cups



## Gixxerjoe04 (Dec 15, 2018)

Got some white oak from @rob3232 after seeing a kickstarter for wooden bourbon cups, wanted to make one. Used the pretty piece of white oak and made 3. Drilled out the center then turned the thickness to what I wanted and the shape inside, man white oak end grain is hell on a forstner bit and awkward to get inside to turn it safely without getting a catch. Now my main concern is the finish, not sure what the best choice is. I used beeswax and buffed it on the lathe, bad choice. Of the 3 I made, the finish on the inside, beeswax, unfinished, and charred but unfinished. The unfinished one leaked out the bottom some but the charred unfinished didn’t, neither did the beeswax. Of course once the bourbon touched the outside of the glass which has beeswax, it like dissolved it I guess, changed color instantly. So, anyone have suggestions for finish?

Reactions: Like 3 | Way Cool 1 | Creative 1


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## rocky1 (Dec 15, 2018)

General Finishes Salad Bowl Finish - From an aesthetics stand point, I think I'd char the inside of all of them before finishing. It just looks appropriate. The one coated in beeswax could present problems there however. as the beeswax will want to cook back out of the wood and flare up. The wood will char eventually, but it's going to be a whole different experience on that one.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Dec 16, 2018)

Think I should coat the inside with the finish? Seems like the char did fine with holding the alcohol in. I just wonder if the alcohol will dissolve the finish, seems like that’s what happened with the beeswax finish. I’ve got some salad bowl finish but it’s 2 years old, wonder if it’s still good.


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## barry richardson (Dec 16, 2018)

Cool idea, I might give that a try sometime. I would be tempted to leave them unfinished since oak is an integral flavor of bourbon, of course they wouldn't stay pretty. Not sure any finish is going to hold up to alcohol for long, maybe epoxy?

Reactions: Agree 1


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## rocky1 (Dec 16, 2018)

Just refinished a bread bowl for the mother-in-law with it, and speaking from experience... If you let it set in front of a fan and dry for 3-4 days, you will work your ass off trying to get a simple little run out of the finish, with anything that's not going to damage the surrounding area; 0000 steel wool and 1000 grit, simply are not aggressive enough. Had to back off to 400 and carefully sand the runs, then sand it out smooth. It dries plenty hard! 

Mine was at least 2 years old, reaches temps of 30o over the winter, 115 - 120o in the shop, over the summer. Had no problems aside from it not wanting to cure in cool damp weather. Put the fan on it and walked off, and it cured fine.


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Dec 16, 2018)

barry richardson said:


> Cool idea, I might give that a try sometime. I would be tempted to leave them unfinished since oak is an integral flavor of bourbon, of course they wouldn't stay pretty. Not sure any finish is going to hold up to alcohol for long, maybe epoxy?


Not a fan of epoxy look plus would still be afraid maybe it’d slowly dissolve it over time and don’t want to be drinking that. I would think charring the inside and leaving it unfinished but putting a hard coat like the salad bowl on the outside and bottom then it’d probably be good and not leak. The unfinished one had a thick bottom, I’d be close to an inch and it leaked, the charred one had a bottom probably half inch or thinner and didn’t leak so charring helped that’s for sure.


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## ironman123 (Dec 16, 2018)

Lets have a little drink for Christmas.


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## barry richardson (Dec 16, 2018)

white oak shouldn't leak, that is why it is used for whiskey and wine barrels. maybe a hairline crack in the bottom. For what it's worth, virtually all finishes are food safe once cured, except lead paint, you can finish it with whatever you choose, no matter what you use I don't think it will be durable over time http://www.woodcentral.com/articles/finishing/articles_497a.shtml dont mean to start a thread hijacking debate but here is a good article by Bob Flexnor on the myth of "Food Safe Finished"

Reactions: Like 1


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## DKMD (Dec 16, 2018)

Very cool! I love the charred look, so I’d be tempted to leave the inside unfinished... maybe the outside too? I think Pappy Van Winkle would approve...


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## TimR (Dec 16, 2018)

Thoughts...$0.02 worth
Be sure not to turn end grain oriented, a leaker for sure. 
I’ve made a wedding goblet from pear (very tight grain) as well as a shot glass for a friend using CA glue like pen turners would. Never leaked a drop. That being said, gotta have a starting finish inside that’s smooth as a baby’s butt, that in itself will help prevent channels for liquid to penetrate. 
My friend uses the shot glass often without issue. Ok, disclaimer...the shot glass is made from red tip photonia, very hard and tight grained.
Oh, outside of goblet was poly I think.


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## sprucegum (Dec 16, 2018)

Cool idea . I think I would try some 2 part epoxy bar top finish. It is alcohol resistant. Probably take some messing around to keep it from all running to the bottom. It might look cool over chard wood. I hope you test for leaks with water as it would be alcohol abuse to let good whiskey run on the floor.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 2


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Dec 16, 2018)

TimR said:


> Thoughts...$0.02 worth
> Be sure not to turn end grain oriented, a leaker for sure.
> I’ve made a wedding goblet from pear (very tight grain) as well as a shot glass for a friend using CA glue like pen turners would. Never leaked a drop. That being said, gotta have a starting finish inside that’s smooth as a baby’s butt, that in itself will help prevent channels for liquid to penetrate.
> My friend uses the shot glass often without issue. Ok, disclaimer...the shot glass is made from red tip photonia, very hard and tight grained.
> Oh, outside of goblet was poly I think.


Are you saying turn it like a spindle grain orientation like a peppermill? Problem with sanding the inside is getting my hand down in there, at least to sand the end grain but that was kind of a crap shoot anyways, sides were fine.


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Dec 16, 2018)

DKMD said:


> Very cool! I love the charred look, so I’d be tempted to leave the inside unfinished... maybe the outside too? I think Pappy Van Winkle would approve...


Get to open this one up at Christmas, unfortunately it’s my parents, took my mom to a pappy lottery and she was the first number drawn out of 1000 people.

Reactions: Way Cool 3


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## DKMD (Dec 16, 2018)

Gixxerjoe04 said:


> Get to open this one up at Christmas, unfortunately it’s my parents, took my mom to a pappy lottery and she was the first number drawn out of 1000 people.
> View attachment 157220



Nothing like mom winning a few thousand bucks worth of bourbon!


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Dec 16, 2018)

DKMD said:


> a few thousand bucks worth of bourbon!


You're kidding right?

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Dec 16, 2018)

Holy crap! I just looked that stuff up. I couldn't afford a shot of that stuff. I bet it's smooth though!


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Dec 16, 2018)

Eric Rorabaugh said:


> Holy crap! I just looked that stuff up. I couldn't afford a shot of that stuff. I bet it's smooth though!


haha yea, it cost $300 but could sell for $2,000 in no time, the 2 bottles in my first post were a little under $100 each but worth mid $400 for the 10 year and mid $500 for the 12 year.

Reactions: Like 1 | Way Cool 1


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Dec 17, 2018)

barry richardson said:


> white oak shouldn't leak, that is why it is used for whiskey and wine barrels. maybe a hairline crack in the bottom. For what it's worth, virtually all finishes are food safe once cured, except lead paint, you can finish it with whatever you choose, no matter what you use I don't think it will be durable over time http://www.woodcentral.com/articles/finishing/articles_497a.shtml dont mean to start a thread hijacking debate but here is a good article by Bob Flexnor on the myth of "Food Safe Finished"



Now that I think of it, I got the wood and left it out and even though it was dry and covered in wax the dang thing cracked on one end. I thought I had cut enough of it off but it must have a tiny crack I couldn't see but didn't really look either but that must be the reason for the leak. You think it would be fine to turn one like a bowl orientation with the end grain on the sides and not going up and down? I know I could sell these easy and could turn them quick and easy if I didn't have to deal with drilling or and hollowing the end grain. Bought a brand new $30 bit and it still wasn't easy and I know that thing will be dull in no time.


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## barry richardson (Dec 17, 2018)

Gixxerjoe04 said:


> Now that I think of it, I got the wood and left it out and even though it was dry and covered in wax the dang thing cracked on one end. I thought I had cut enough of it off but it must have a tiny crack I couldn't see but didn't really look either but that must be the reason for the leak. You think it would be fine to turn one like a bowl orientation with the end grain on the sides and not going up and down? I know I could sell these easy and could turn them quick and easy if I didn't have to deal with drilling or and hollowing the end grain. Bought a brand new $30 bit and it still wasn't easy and I know that thing will be dull in no time.


I use forstner style bits a lot, and have quite a collection of larger ones for hogging out the centers of hollow forms. I recently made a series of small boxes, pretty similar to the cups your making in shape, and I found I got the smoothest interior with a forstner and not turning tools, but a turner who has high skills in this area might disagree. The main problem I found was the bits leave a dimple in the bottom and a groove from the cutter that scores the outer edge. My solution was to drill most of the way with a regular bit. I reground another bit (a cheap one) of the same size and remove the pilot point and took down the scoring cutter a little so it made a pretty flat smooth bottom, used that for the last 1/4" of drilling. After that it was just sanding. End grain is definitely harder on the bits, but they can be resharpened many times, with a diamond stick, a file, , or even use my bench grinder sometimes. https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/76/4233/COLT-MaxiCut-Forstner-Drill-Bit these resharpen like a breeze, the angle is easy to get to because of the design, not cheap though.... I have a couple I have resharpened many times...

Reactions: Like 1


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## gman2431 (Dec 17, 2018)

For reaching in stuff like this and also lidded boxes I like using a cupped cutter like @TimR sells. Makes it very easy to cut flat bottoms and also working on straight walls.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Dec 17, 2018)

gman2431 said:


> For reaching in stuff like this and also lidded boxes I like using a cupped cutter like @TimR sells. Makes it very easy to cut flat bottoms and also working on straight walls.


Believe I had the real small one he makes but it just chattered, maybe I didn't have it angled right. I have Ellsworth hollowing tools but just the little carbide bit which doesn't leave the best finish.


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## gman2431 (Dec 18, 2018)

Gixxerjoe04 said:


> Believe I had the real small one he makes but it just chattered, maybe I didn't have it angled right. I have Ellsworth hollowing tools but just the little carbide bit which doesn't leave the best finish.



Shouldn't chatter at all


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## barry richardson (Dec 18, 2018)

I have one of those, can't see how they would work on endgrain bottoms, I find it very prone to chatter too if you extend it more than a couple inches beyond the rest, I think the shaft is only 3/8, any special technique you have?

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Dec 18, 2018)

I think I got like a 1/4" one, it's rather small for like Christmas ornaments.


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## gman2431 (Dec 18, 2018)

barry richardson said:


> I have one of those, can't see how they would work on endgrain bottoms, I find it very prone to chatter too if you extend it more than a couple inches beyond the rest, I think the shaft is only 3/8, any special technique you have?



I have a bunch of welded up tool rests so I can have a rest very deep into objects. I primarily use the cupped cutter vs a flat carbide for these things or my ring tool which is essentially the same cutting style.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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