EcrosTechWiki | Woodworking / Jewelry and Clocks

Cutting Board Ear Rings

I conceived this project in March 2020 but didn't complete it until early December of that year. The idea came from cut-offs from other projects that looked like tiny cutting boards. When I hit upon the idea of earrings, I knew at once who I would give them to.

I realized that tiny pieces of wood hanging from someone's ears wouldn't necessarily look like cutting boards and I would have to find some kind of miniature knives to attach to them as a clue. If such a thing existed, it would probably be jewelry. I had heard of the Web site Etsy where independent creators of all manner of things, including arts and crafts, sell their wares. After a few hours of searching, I came across what I needed at Bluestocking Designs. I ordered a pair of sterling silver stud earrings in the shape of chef's knives only three quarters of an inch long. My original plan was to put one on each earring, but then I noticed a similar pair of stud earrings in the shape of cleavers, so I added those to my order. A couple of weeks later, I had my miniature knives.

The next problem was getting the slivers of wood attached to earlobes. Although I'd never made earrings before, I knew roughly how this was done from staring endlessly at them while waiting for my wife at arts and crafts shows. I explored the Web sites of a number of suppliers of the bits and pieces that you use to make jewelry. These, it turns out, are called "findings". Considering the selection available and delivery from stock I selected Rings & Things. I ordered a couple of pairs each of three types of French loop earwires and a selection of jump rings.

Now I had to figure out how to drill really tiny holes in the cutting board. Like just about everybody else, the smallest drill I could put my hands on was 1/16". The project stalled at this point for months, partly because it was summer and other work took precedence. In October I ordered parts to make some wall clocks from Bear Woods Supply Company. By chance, I noticed that they sell a set of six "micro drills" and an adapter. I added these to my order.

The pins on the backs of the stud earrings had a diameter of 0.036" so I drilled a hole in each cutting board with the #65 drill (0.035", 0.89 mm, diameter). Using my drill press, I managed to make the holes almost as deep as the thickness of the boards but without breaking through, so they can't be seen from the back. I clipped the pins short and used the cutters to deform them in several places to provide something for the glue to "bite" on. With a length of fine wire I transferred a tiny amount of CA glue into the hole and squeezed the tiny knife and cleaver into place. Neither has fallen out yet, but I confess that I've not tested the bond strength for fear of wrecking the whole thing.

For the holes from which the cutting boards will hang I used the #60 drill (0.040", 1.016 mm, diameter). By opening them quite wide I was able to fit 6 mm jump rings over the edge of the boards and into these holes. These then link with 4 mm jump rings which in turn link with the loops at the ends of the earwires. If I hold up the earwire and imagine it passing through an earlobe in the proper direction I can convince myself that the natural hang is with the cutting board parallel to the side of the head with the knife on the outside. That exhausts my knowledge of earrings. Stay tuned for how they actually fit on the person I plan to give them to.

Wall Clocks

As a fairly new woodworker, I'm not entirely sure where I should be getting my wood. I started by visiting a local store that I easily could drive to. There I learned that there is a huge variation in what you get for your money from one day to another. When the COVID-19 lockdown began, I agonized over ordering wood by mail. At first I assumed that I would get the minimum that satisfied the description of the product. For example, if I ordered bird's eye maple, it would have just enough bird's eyes to not be plain maple. However, Steve Ramsey of YouTube and Woodworking for Mere Mortals points out that companies selling by mail don't want to deal with returns all the time. So, maybe I was wrong. I tried ordering wood from Woodcraft and was pleasantly surprised. My bird's eye maple had lots of bird's eyes! A few things were sub par, for example the three pieces of curly maple all had little figure and one was very badly bowed, but overall I was happy. Then it occurred to me to look at eBay.

Many (but not all) sellers on eBay are offering not a generic product but a unique item. The listing includes photographs of the exact thing that they are offering for sale. So, there is the advantage of being able to see exactly what is on offer without the hassle of driving to a physical store and having to go away empty handed if nothing meets your needs. Prices, it should be noted, are fair. There are few bargains. When you find the perfect piece of wood, you have to pay for it. Nevertheless, for many weeks after this discovery I got totally carried away. I started looking for nice specimens of figured maple, but soon started buying bookmatched curly claro walnut and dogwood burl and all kinds of things that I had no immediate use for. It soon hit me that this was not sustainable and I ought to take a look at what I'd already bought and figure out what I was going to do with it before I bought much more.