Wooden Crescent Pendant

This is my take on Mrballeng's crescent pendant (which I'm sure y'all have seen already). It's a bit less shiny, but hey, what're ya gonna do.

The other day I saw his 'ible again and realized that I could make something similar to it using an old woodturner's trick. Actually, I think the reason I tried it was because of his comment that the methods he used were somewhat dangerous and he didn't want people getting hurt. So, naturally, I saw it as a challenge to make one without killing myself. 

WARNING and all that: Use appropriate caution and attention to safety when working with power tools. Always know what your tools (and you) are capable of and don't make things do what they're not designed to. If you're unsure of your materials' structural integrity, please, at the minimum, wear a face shield. And it goes without saying (and yet here I am, saying it), ALWAYS wear safety glasses.

Step 1 Prepping the Wood

Here I'm using some osage orange that my dad and I slabbed into ~1" thick pieces with a chainsaw. A 2" x 2" or so square was cut from one of the slabs and trued up on the lathe.

You'll also need a glue block, I'm using a piece of 1" x 2" pine here because it's what I had, but you should use something that doesn't splinter very easily (maybe poplar or whatever else you have on hand). I had problems with the osage coming off because the pine splintered where the glue line was.
Cut a section of the glue block material a few inches long and mark the center. Use hot glue, CA, or something else you trust to glue the puck of osage to the block, trying to keep it as centered as possible.

Now remove two jaws opposite each other from your chuck, and mount the block assembly.

Comments

[unique90]

i love wooden jewelry.......i would love to try this sometime.

[gg1220]

It's definitely a wonderful hobby :)

[Penolopy Bulnick]

Very beautiful pendant! I think it is nice and shiny!

[gg1220]

Thanks! :D

[figuristaya]

It's very interesting

[gg1220]

Thanks :)

[jessyratfink]

What a gorgeous piece! I hope to one day get all the tools to do things like this. :)

[gg1220]

Thank you! If (when?) you get into woodturning, be warned. You'll be asking for tools every time there's a holiday that involves presents ;)