Introduction: Wood Pendant Necklace

About: I like sewing and crafts,and trying new things. I'm vegetarian and always looking for new recipes. My cat's name is Mirko and likes to be in the centre of things, so you will see him in several of my instruc…

Turn scrap pieces of wood into jewelry. In this instructable I made pendant necklaces by sanding small pieces of wood and stained them with a non toxic stain. Use different types of wood (cherry, maple, ash etc) for different colours and picking wood pieces with an interesting grain pattern makes for unique jewelry.

Step 1: Material:

  • Wood
  • Pendant bails
  • Mineral Oil (baby oil)
  • Strong coffee

  Tools:

  • Wood cutting tools (saw, Dremel etc.)
  • Sandpaper (varying grits)
  • Pliers
  • Paint brush
  • Rag

Step 2: Shape Wood

  • Cut the wood to the shape and size that you like with a saw or Dremel tool (one of the pendants I made was about  32mm X 25mm in size with a thickness of 5mm.)
  • Round the edges of the wood, I used 60 grit sandpaper for this.

Step 3: Sand Until Smooth

Sand the wood with increasing grit sandpaper until it is nice and smooth, I used 80,100,150,180, 220, then 320 grit.  Always sand with the grain, and don't skip more then one grit size.

Step 4: Drill Hole for Bail

  • With a pencil mark the centre of the pendant where the hole for the bail should go.
  • Drill hole with a small bit (1/16th).

Step 5: Stain

Since I will be wearing the wood necklace near my skin, I didn't want to use a polyurethane stain.  So I choose a natural, non toxic way of staining the wood, coffee.
  • Brew some coffee stronger than you would drink, I made it about 4X stronger. Filter and let cool before you use.
  • Apply the coffee stain with a small brush, this may take several coats ( I did 5 coats), dry between coats.
  • Since it is a water based stain, it will make the wood a bit rough (it raises the grain) so lightly sand to make it smooth again.

Step 6: Oil

I used mineral oil as a non-toxic finish.  It also deepens the colour of the wood.  Pour a small amount of mineral oil on a rag, rub it into the wood and wipe off the excess.

Step 7: Add Bail and Chain

Put the bail on and squeeze shut with pliers and add a pretty chain.

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