Turned Ice Cream Scoop and Pie Server

When you were a kid if you didn't scream for ice cream it was because you were lactose intolerant.  And even then you were screaming for a whole different reason: for the other dessert option.  As we got older, ice cream became the mustard of the dessert world; an excellent topping that goes with everything and if you ask for it, you got it.  Next to flambe, a la mode is the best French you'll ever see on a menu

Order a la mode flambe immediately
<http://livepretty.com/2011/12/29/a-new-years-eve-tradition-fire-ice-cream/>

The only downside of ice cream has to be how hard it can be coming directly from the tub.  There are about 50 million tutorials on how to serve ice cream as Pinterest would share with you, and they all come down to if you scoop, you need something industrial strength.  An ice cream scoop is the best way to deliver ice cream to the bowl/plate/your mouth without having to try to simultaneously support the spoon with which you're attempting to scoop the rock solid rocky road.

Chips do not have the structural integrity needed

A nice, good quality scoop will last you years, and look really nice in a kitchen as a display piece or when having a grown up dinner party.  Since most of these finer pieces look good in a set but never actually come in a set, it's really nice to be able to make your own.  At that point, you'll have the bonus condition of matching them to your kitchen.  Which, in some cases, is well worth it on it's own.

I'd try to make a joke about how bad it looks, but organized anything looks so right
<http://www.slowyourhome.com/2012/05/22/10-steps-organised-kitchen/>

I decided to turn two of these dessert utensils on my own in an attempt to practice different types of cuts as well as satisfy a sweet tooth.  Also, who can deny the fun of having wooden pieces in their kitchen, or ignore the chance to build up the emergency gift stash?  This will go along great with the Pizza Boss cutter.  Now you've got your work cut out for you.

Only part of the set you can purchase.
<http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/eaba/>

When I decided to start turning an ice cream scoop and pie server, I didn't realize it'd be so hard to find a pie server kit.  If you'd like one, head on over to Chefware Kits & you can find a ton of specialty pieces to fit all your wood turning needs.  After digging a bit it was the only place that carried them.  I also got a fish spatula thing because I had never seen one before and figured, what the heck, I cook fish all the time, this thing is awesome!  Otherwise, your local Woodcraft or other wood shop should fit the bill.  So you can now have your dinner and your dessert utensils match.  Good deal.

Materials:
Ice Cream scoop kit
Pie server kit
2 pieces of stock 1.5"x1.5"x6" (I used Kingswood)
Food Safe Wax
Epoxy or strong glue
Drill
Lathe

When doing any type of turning for pieces that will be or what not, you'll want to drill the hole first.  This is because when you start with the stock already cut, you already have a good idea where the center should be.  Granted cutting the hole is going to make it difficult to mount, but the hole will be centered so you should be good to go.  One of the easiest ways to find center on a piece of stock you know is square is to make an X on each end; the cross is the center.

Sidebar: one thing I find useful before turning all the main piece where you can't exactly put wood back after you've shaved it away, is to create a rough practice piece.  This piece is for you to figure out the shape you generally want and to get the cuts down that you're going to have to make on the real deal.  There are no take backseys in wood turning.  Also, ergonomics of a scoop can be taken into consideration here as you're making it your own!  Fit your own hand!  I found that you're going to want something to grip at the top, have it expand a bit into the main part of your fingers and contour down into the palm of your hand.

A bit like this

After you find what fits you best, you want to turn the actual piece.  Follow the included directions for the size and depth of hole to drill.  Mount the piece between centers and start cutting the top part for the ferrule.  You'll not to only measure the proper depth for a good fit,but a good size to account for whatever hardware also nestles down in there.  If this is the case, mark the difference in distance with a bit of tape and use that to compare to your piece on the lathe.

Check your piece often while turning it to make sure that you'll be able to hold it comfortably.  Here you can more clearly see the shape I was describing before.  Note the bottom is unfinished.

Action shot!

After you turn the top, you can spend your time customizing the bottom.  Just make sure you're satisfied before moving on.

Some examples of ends.  Bottoms up!

After you turn in, take sand paper to this sucker.  We're going to go with various grits up to 400 grit, no more than 100 at a time.  This will finish off the piece and provide a comfortable, smooth surface that is the hallmark of a finished piece.  Also it will feel better in your hands as you're digging into your pint of Cookies and Cream.  After sanding apply the wax and take off the lathe!

It's shiny!

 One of the really cool properties of Kingswood is not only it's unique smell while turning which transports you to a tropical paradise, is it's gorgeous grain that becomes highlighted when coated in wax.  Highly recommend using it.

And adding beads and coves highlights it to no end

 After finishing the turning, glue on the ferrules.  Let dry over night/as long as the glue says to.  You don't want these coming off as they protect the wood and add support to the head where all the stress takes place.

 After ferrules, assemble the rest of the hardware and also dry.  The ice cream scoop had to be screwed into the wood which took a lot of effort.  If it's too hard, take a bit of a sander and make the hole slightly bigger.  Not too much as you actually want the wood to be offering support for the scoop as well as the glue.

An actual workout

Now, go round up some ice cream and apple pie and enjoy your food in style!  Especially after you got the scoop assembled, you've earned it.

</sidebar>

Chevron Beer-Cap Mini Bar

Ever since I started drinking, I've been collecting beer caps.  Partially out of the pack rat mentality, mostly because beer caps are so nifty.  A good beer cap is like the art on a record, not the album cover but the center part that's got some indication that this is the record for Blue Oyster Cult and not the one for Ronnie Davis.  You can make a statement for your company and something instantly identifiable with just over an inch.

Or say nothing at all
<http://cthreedesigns.bigcartel.com/product/blank-bottle-caps-perfect-for-necklaces-and-hair-bows>

They're also good reminders of beers gone by.  I've got some well liked beers from Pennsylvania (Yuengling), North Carolina (Big Boss, Roth, Lone Rider.... keep em comin!), Maine (The Kennebunkport Brewing Company), Maryland (Terrapin) and the National Beer of Texas (Lone Star).  My friends and I actually tried to win land; yes, the beer company was giving away some acreage like some version of the Beer Monopoly game.  I know, awesome was the first word in my mind too.

The Homestead Act had nothing on this

Of course, even better than reminiscing about old beers is discovering new ones!  To feel fancy talking about the brews you've just acquired from your new find down the street/in total wine/at the grocery store you need a minibar to serve them stocked with pint glasses, coasters, and snackage.

Get drunk with class
<http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/cb2-acacia-mini-bar-66246>

So as part of the greater effort to class up my drinking act as well as showcasing the diversity of beers that have helped along the way, I've refurbished an old cabinet into a beer cap topped mini-bar.

Materials:
bottle caps; lots.  I needed 346. (+2 for the knobs) Get drinkin.
clear drying glue
Square ice cube mold  (note: not Ice Cube.  It'd be pretty fly though)
2, 32oz cans of clear resin
tin foil
thin cardboard
painter's tape
duct tape
container to mix resin
A well ventilated area that you can leave things in undisturbed
A piece that needs a good home or other cabinet that's drink friendly

So after stumbling into Good Will trying to id something that'd fit the above bill, I ran into this little gem just saying "take me home... love me."

"Loooooove me... please?"

 Tips for looking for a cabinet that could also make a good minibar:  make sure there are some shelves that you can place pint glasses as well as your mixers.  Since this one doesn't have the whole minifridge going for it, we're going for maximum storage capacity.  The one picked up had a two shelf system.  Since there are additional wood supports for the top, you can always add hanging storage by screwing in S-hooks

Thankfully the inside is white because it'd be so hard to see in there otherwise

Also, the second shelf had a place where the doors (made of the most resilient wood known to man: paneling) could lock closed.  Obviously there was a reason that this was only $8.

Sharp objects and alcohol don't mix

After getting your Good Will, hand-me-down, totally from Home Goods but we can pretend otherwise bar base home, we're going to work on laying down the bottle caps.  You can do whatever type of pattern you'd like, you're only limited by your colors and your imagination.  Here we're going to do a chevron pattern with a different color "stripe" of each color.  The stripe will be 2 bottle caps high so you'll actually get an idea that it's chevron when standing farther away from the bar.  Sort your caps into piles based on the colors: silver/gray, blue, green, yellow, red, black, gold, white, and orange/brass/brown/odd.  Start at one corner and lay one color.  I started with silver because I had a lot of silver.

Leaving exposed wood is also a creative option.  It says I need to drink more diverse beers

The pattern is go down for 3, bottom point, go up for 3 making a zig-zag of 7 bottlecaps.  I tried to pair bottle caps from similar breweries together and scatter the ones I had a lot of along the length of the table.  After doing a couple rows of complete rows, take some time to step back and change around the colors if you don't like how it's arranged.

Here, the silver and the blue are really close in color; swap with the red or the black to get some visual separation

 You will also end up with some incomplete rows where the pattern won't be complete because you run off the edge.  These are perfect for the ones you only have a few of.  There are so few breweries that use green for their caps; it was a Heineken and Woodchuck party down on the bottom of the table.  Also, white came in clutch for filling in some of the holes.  If you aren't lucky to have caps like that, I advocate reusing colors, just make sure that when you fill in the pattern, it'll still follow the chevron stripes.

The hole was for the cap of the beer I was drinking during layout.

 You can glue the caps down with any type of glue that will dry clear.  This will keep the caps from shifting during pouring the resin.  There is an excellent beer cap table tutorial over at Instructables that I used for figuring out how to pour the resin.  I highly recommend following it for the next couple of steps.  Always mix your resin according to the instructions on the label & make sure you're mixing in a clean container

A justification for my soda habit

  The Instructable says to tape around with the tinfoil.  I also highly recommend using some cardboard to add some structure to the outside of the tinfoil, just to keep the resin from flowing down and creating an uneven edge around the top of your table.  It's next to impossible to chip away the resin.  As my tablecloth can tell you.

ProTip: lay down a tarp

Spread the resin across all the bottle caps so it covers all the caps evenly.

Enjoy this action shot of resin drying

Get the corners

 After a week of drying, you can peel off the tin foil.  Surprisingly this is a lot easier than expected.
 

Reeeeeeveal

 There might be instances where the tin foil gets stuck.  Don't worry it's not actually stuck, it just requires a bit more to peel it back.  And if there are instances of where the resin went over the painters tape, it's very easy to also pull this off.  Finger nails or a trusty xacto knife are clutch in these situations.

Not nearly as bad as it looks

There are also techniques for putting the foil up to the edge to get a smooth edge.  These can all be used if you know how high you want the edge to be before you pour your resin.

I also did a handle using one of the bottle caps.  It looks so... official.  The other option I'd go with for doing knobs would be to use the caps from a Steel Reserve.  This is your Reserve and hopefully it has $40 worth of stuff in there.

Here, here.

Happy drinking!

</sidebar>