As the Shoehorn turns – Part 2

Unfortunately, I neglected to take pics of the piece of apple wood before I turned it. Something that I will try my best to remedy before next time. After spending some time on the internet browsing through many various styles of shoe horns, most of which seemed rather blah and boring. Go ahead and try it check Google’s results for shoehorn images, or Amazon’s. Not very inspirational at all. This was supposed to be an epic shoehorn after all.

So I started thinking about Queen Elizabeth I of England, and her 18 shoe horns. One of the first things that I associate with royalty is the scepter. With that in mind, I started turning the handle of the shoehorn.

The two bumps on the top and the bottom of the handle will be removed. They are there for the lathe to hold on to while turning. After I got the shape that I liked, the handle was sanded starting with 220 grit. Next, it is wet sanded with oil starting with 400 then 600 and finally 800 grit. It is amazing how smooth and buttery it begins to feel.

On the right, you can see how as you oil the wood the natural color and grains of the wood start to really become apparent. The center section has a satin gloss finish to it, and then all the way to the left. You can see the high gloss finish. By the time the finishes are applied the wood does feel like butter. As you hold it is hard to imagine that it really is a piece of wood.