i have completed a few coloured pencil projects and they have been quite rewarding!!!, so i decided to attempt a more challenging one...... and i would like to share it with you!!

Supplies

so you will need:

- 22 packets of coloured pencils - 264 pencils (22 pks of 12 pencils).....

- around 300 - 400 ml of epoxy - depending on how big your dish is!! - measuring cups, stirrer.....etc.

- a tin or container of your choice

- some kind of lid or weights.....

- lathe - + Tools....

- faceplate for lathe

- some extra timber or whatever you want to use for your foot.....

- and some oil, lacquer, varnish or whatever you would use (just keep in mind that if it going to be used for serving food the coating must be food safe!!)

Step 1: Unpack Your Pencils and Cut Them to Size

i unpacked my pencils one packet at a time cutting them and stacking them as i went.....

i cut my pencils to 4 cm - 40 mm because the depth of my container was 5 cm (50 mm) and i wanted some room.... i set up a "jig" on my drop saw, so that i could get the same length each time without measuring.

and i left the tops on the pencils with the last cut as it was going to be too dangerous!!

i also used rubber bands to hold the pencils together when i cut them!! (as shown in the pictures)

Step 2: Stack Them in the Tin/ Container

i had a bit of trouble stacking them, and had a few gaps in the blank but it worked out ok....

Step 3: Mix Your Epoxy and Pour It in - Put on the Lid

i got some hard setting resin, and it is a bit hard on the lathe tools, i had to keep sharpening them!!!

when i poured the resin in, the pencils started to float and messed up the mold, so if i was to do it again i would purchase a container with a lid to hold all the pencils in place......but i managed to hold most of them in place but placing some cardboard on top and then placing some weights on top of that to hold it all in place.....

it set alright, i was expecting it to play up a bit especially with the weather we have in our area...... but it worked ok......

Step 4: Attach Face Plate to the Back

the front of the blank was to uneven to attach the face plate...... so i attached it on the back first and evened/ flattened out the front.....

Step 5: Attach the Faceplate to the Front and Start Forming

and then attached it to the front,

and started forming the back of the dish - with a foot that i can clamp into the chuck of the lathe later on.....

Step 6: Form the Rest of the Back and Then Secure in the Chuck

finish off the foot, finish forming the back and turn the blank around securing the foot into the chuck, and then start to "dig " out the front of it forming the 'bowl' shape......

Step 7: Form the Front, Bringing It Back to Desired Thickness

continue forming the front to the desired thickness, don't go to far....... because the project could break, and that could be devastating!!!

Step 8: Start Sanding - WATCH YOUR FINGERS

start to sand the dish with a piece of sandpaper, especially when you reach the outer of the dish (that is if you continued with a square dish) your fingers can get caught in the outer section of the dish because it is square

Step 9: Stop the Lathe and Continue Sanding

i stopped my lather locked the chuck in, and then got a belt sander and sanded the main bits,

and then followed up with a orbital sander and worked my way through the sandpaper to reach the smoothness i was after......

Step 10: Remove and Start Creating Your Foot.....

then remove the dish from the chuck, and start creating a foot

so this foot is going to fit over the other one, so it needs to be big enough...... i just found an old post and cut about 50 mm off and then formed my foot out of that, using calipers to make sure that it would fit........

this is were you can get artistic with your foot design, and make your bowl/ dish look that little bit better