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About: I'm a French Canadian from Shawinigan. I just want to start it with the proof that nobody is perfect! I’ve produced free humorous woodworking videos for more than one year now. However, this is not my full ti… More About Le PicBois »

A nice drink is much better in a nice glass...

This is why I turned this beer glass on the lathe!

Special thanks to Bill Livolsi at One Car Workshop for helping me write this article!

Step 1: Tools & Materials

wood lathe
drive center
scroll chuck or faceplate
roughing gouge
hollowing chisel
epoxy glue / hot glue
little glass bowl
supply of poutine (optional)
face shield
face shield
FACE SHIELD

Step 2: Preparing the Blank

Prepare a blank with dimensions 3" X 3" X 6". You must mark the center on both ends of your blank before mounting it on the lathe. Otherwise, the piece will wobble.

Step 3: Mounting the Piece on the Lathe

With a drive center installed, mount the blank on the woodturning lathe. Be sure your blank is well secured.

Step 4: Roughing Out the Piece

With a roughing gouge, make the square piece round. CAREFULLY ease the cutter towards the blank to reduce the chances of a catch. Don't just stick it in there!

Step 5: Making a Tenon

Make a tenon on one end of the blank. A tenon gives a scroll chuck something to grab and allows you to work on the other end without tailstock support. If you do not own a scroll chuck, start with an extra-long blank and use a faceplate instead. You can cut off the excess when you're finished.

Step 6: Trim the End

With a hollowing chisel, square off the end of your blank.

Step 7: Hollowing Out the End of the Piece

Using the hollowing chisel, make a bowl shape at the end of the blank. You want the shape to match the bottom of your glass as closely as possible, but an exact fit is not required (the glass will be secured with epoxy later). You can check the fit by stopping the lathe and inserting the glass, but do not take the piece out of the chuck!

Step 8: Applying Finish

At this point, you can apply finish to the inside of the bowl. I used polyurethane and then, after it dried, buffed it with beeswax.

Step 9: Start Shaping

Use your creativity to carve an original shape of your taste.

Step 10: Making the Captive Ring

Begin forming the shape of the captive ring. Start by thinning the stem of the goblet while leaving one area near the middle thicker. Forming the ring near the middle makes it easier to separate it later.

Step 11: Sanding the Ring

Before parting off the ring, we need to sand it. Once it has been parted off, we cannot work with it any more.

Step 12: Parting Off the Ring

With the chisel, make an undercut on both sides of the ring to part it off. This cut also defines the inside shape of the ring. To keep the ring even, work slowly, taking light cuts from alternate sides until you break through.

Step 13: Defining the Final Shape of the Cup

Now that you have your captive ring done, it's time to define the final shape of your cup. Again, this is a matter of personal taste. Get creative!

Step 14: More Sanding

Sand the piece, starting with a low-grit sandpaper and moving up to higher grits. In the video, I started with 180 grit and finished at 600 grit.

Step 15: Putting the Finish On

Apply finish to the rest of the cup. Once it dries, buff it with beeswax.

Step 16: Parting Off the Cup

With the parting tool, separate the cup from base section which is stuck in the chuck.If you don't have a parting tool, you can use a hacksaw or hand saw (stop the lathe before doing this!) or unmount the piece and use a bandsaw.