The Rolling Pin that wanted to be a Wine Bottle........
Whoops, I mean a Fish Whacker



A couple weeks ago I went on a kitchen gadget making spree -
spoons, scrapers and the like.



One piece of wood looked like it would be suitable for a rolling pin.  
The chainsaw blade which fits on a 4" grinder is an awesome tool.  
I took this from raw wood, bark included, down to this in about half an hour.



I took some measurements after turning it down this far and it looked like it would
not be long enough for a rolling pin before all is said and done.  
I started thinking wine bottle instead.



I started looking at the piece again after getting this far  and decided wine
bottle was out because I did not have enough wood for a matching stopper.
What else came to mind?  Billy club......I mean fish whacker.



I made a fish whacker for a friend of mine a while back out of an 80 year old apple tree.
The wood was quite beautiful. However, when I got down to detailing the knob
at the end of the handle, the knob blew out, sending the whacker careening
across the floor.  Turned out an apple maggot had bored a hole in the handle
and I didn't see it.  The piece turned out quite nicely though, sans knob.



This maple is quite nice.  It is sanded down to 400 grit and finished with
some EEE.  I think I would like to customize it a bit so  how about a turquoise
cap.


 
I have a small arbor press which is useful for crushing turquoise.  
The method used is the same as inlays for pens and bowls.



Always build the stone a bit above where you want it and then start sanding
down.  I like  the Wave sanding disks, pictured on the right.  You can get
these from WoodCraft, or on the net for half the price.

Always blow out  voids created from the initial sanding before adding more
turquoise and CA glue.  You will get lots of little white specks in the finished
product if you don't.  I like compressed air for this chore.



It takes sometimes three or four times of sanding and backfilling to get to
this stage.  I sand the stone to 600 grit and then sand by hand until I get to
4000 grit.  It may seem like a bit of overkill, but it looks really nice.



The finished whacker - suitable for barracuda, sharks  and pike.

Leave it standing up and it doubles as a wine bottle, sort of.

I think I had something subliminal going on early in the project in that the chunk of wood in
the second photo reminded me of some of the clubs on the 'Flinstones' show.  

Fred's, in particular.



2010 - Decided to turn  a Real Fish Whacker