Need some advice

[Heirloom]

A dear friend of mine had a stroke last week. In the throws of it he managed to break his favorite coffee cup that was made of wood. He is REALLY upset about this and we have decided to make him a new one. Now here's where I need some advice. I was thinking of using some pecan or pear wood I have for the cup. If not, I will have to build a blank for it from several peices. Would Gorilla Glue be ok for this?? Also what would you suggest for a finish since it will be used for his daily coffee, I want to be sure to use the right kind of finish. ANY help would be appreciated,
THANKS,
Brian

[HaMeR]

I'm Sorry to hear this Brian. Tell your Friend & his Family prayers & well wishes are headed his way en masse for a full & speedy recovery!!

Now then the coffee cup. I have no advice other than to ask these fine turners at the link I am providing. The turn a lot of food related items.

I would also like to offer some 1/4 sawn curly white oak to make the cup from if you like. You may or may not know this but white oak is a favorite among wooden keg makers for a leak free keg. Your decision. If you want it tell me how much you need & it will be shipped tomorrow. (Wednesday)

http://www.woodturnersresource.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl

[wjskip]

After looking at the MSDS for gorilla glue I don't think I would use it.  Titebond III looks to be more human friendly.  An oil finish like they use on salad bowls should work on the inside.  Don't know exactly what it does to the flavor of the coffee.  Someone who turns bowls should be able to hook you up.  Behlin salad bowl finish is available from pen state.  Iy says it is good for coffee grinders and pepper mills when cured.

Bill

[HaMeR]

I've been thinking. And yes it does hurt!!  ;D  I'm not sure there is a finish that will hold up to the hot liquid. I'm thinking it will either need to season or maybe get soaked in vegetable oil.

Of course none of my thoughts are backed up with ANY scientific data. It's merely speculation on my part.  ;D

[HaMeR]

Brian-- I sent your request to Dave Paul,, HuntNCarve,, & he had this to say.

Hi Glen,

Gorilla glue would work pretty well for what he wants to do.  It's waterproof, and heat resistant, so it would hold up.  Provided he does a good job with the joinery?  So his machining has to be on the money.  I would slightly dampen the surfaces with water.  Allow it to flash off.  Then apply a coat of Gorilla glue to all surfaces.  Put the pieces together, but don't clamp for 10-15 minutes.  This will allow the adhesive to wet out the surface.  After 10-15 minutes, apply the clamping force, and leave it sit overnight.  Should be good to go then!
White oak would be a very good choice.  I would not use Red oak.
As for a finish.  He could use a couple coats of a water based polyurethane.  It's basically non toxic, and pretty durable.  Hope this helps?

Dave

My personal opinion is that I would trust Dave on this. If I remember correctly he has some significant background history in the glue industry. I hope this helps you.  ;D

[Heirloom]

What a great bunch of folks you are!!!!! I mean it from my heart too. Calvin is an older fellow who lives in a travel trailer. Has to haul his water i on his truck with a barrel. But a bigger heart you can not find. Thankyou so very much. Things are looking a bit better for him this afternoon, he actually was able to grab a kleenex from the box with his right hand. His whole right sde was parylized this morning.
Glen,
Thankyou for the offer, if you have a piece large enough for a coffe cup, I would definately be in your debt. I think it would be a great choice too. The pecan and little bit of pear I have are real green and will need to season and dry right before I can do anything with it. If you have a peice laying around that would be big enough, I will humbly accept it. Only if you let me send you back some of this pear and pecan at least. Thankyou very much Sir.
wjskip,
 Thankyou for the check on the MSDS. I should have thought of that myself.
I'll be sure to take a few pictures of the cup when it is done too. If you folks are members of NAHC, that is where we are having a benifit for Calvin to help get him some of the help and other things he is going to need. You can bid or donate calls or even just a couple bucks if you please. Lots of nice stuff is up for bid. Here is a link if you like. It is drect to the thread....
http://www.huntingclub.com/Community/Forums.aspx?g=posts&t=130882
Again, I can not thank you kind folks enough.
God Bless,
Brian

[HaMeR]

Brian-- I will get it packaged up & shipped. You will have to glue it up tho. I don't know what you need or how you need it so I'll make sure there is plenty to work with. All I want in return is a real nice picture posted here for everybody to see just how much Calvin means to you & so that Calvin knows exactly what kind of Friend he has in  you. Nothing more. Nothing less. It's all about Friends & Family. Your heartfelt Thank You is payment enough.  ;D

Glen

[HaMeR]

Heading to the PO right now Brian. Let me know when it gets there.  ;D

[Heirloom]

I sure will Glen. Had a gret time talking with you this morning. Even though I had to take that short break...LOL
I got to thinking too after we hung up. The question you had about the striker got me thinking so hard, I had to get another cup of coffee and stare at it awhile. Then I took an extra call blank of walnut, pecan and cherry and a peice of the pear wood that was ready and made one up like I discribed. I used a 3/8 tennon to put the top and bottom peices together. I'll post a picture. It came out fairly decent.  ;D
Thankyou again for your truble and I am sure that it will be appreciated when I get done.

[HaMeR]

It was an enjoyable conversation for sure Brian. I can't wait to see what you came up with over that "cup of coffee".  ;D The Lady at the PO said you should have it Saturday latest.  ;D

BTW-- You know if you were to make two of those,, you would have your own custom coffee cup for when you visited him.  ;D

[Heirloom]

I played around with a piece of pear wood the evening after we talked. I didn't want mess up a nice blank like your sending. So I experimented with some scrap. I'm pleased with it. I used a peice of antler for the handle. I'll post a picture of it as soon as my wife lets me have it back. She's out showing it off. That could be a good sign or a bad sign. It did end up small though from the wood I had. Only holds about 6 or 8 onces.

[HaMeR]

 ;D Practice is good Brian!!  ;D I'm still practicing on pens too!!  ;D ;D  I wondered what you were gonna do for a handle too. Antler sounds like it would be cool.  ;D

[Heirloom]

I'm ging to have to make a bigger handle for Calvin's cup. The Drs are saying the chances of his recovering the full use or better part of partial use is slim. There was some sort of massive damage from the stroke.
Here is a picture of the "prototype". Like I said, I need to make it larger with a larger handle as well for Calvin. But I have proved the concept to myself....That is always the hard part, learning something new.

[Braz]

I think that looks really great. I do have a couple of questions. We need to see a picture of the inside of the cup, and just how the heck are you going to attach the handle? I like the idea of using antler, but how do you fasten it?

[John_NY]

That's a nice looking cup. I'd like to see how you connect the handle to.

John