The other night, the cat was watching something intently that was just outside the pool cage. When we took a look, there was a corn snake laying on the rocks outside the pool cage. He had just started shedding his skin. We watched him wiggle out of the thing 1/4″ at a time. It was pretty cool.
My Mother-in-Law is terrified of snakes so I suggested we mail the snake skin to her. That idea was shot down. Then I thought, wouldn’t it be neat to mail her a ring made from the snake skin … that idea was shot down too. However, I couldn’t let it go. I had to try to make a snakeskin ring, even if I couldn’t send it to my mother-in-law. I decided to try making one for my son.
To measure his ring size, I wrapped a piece of blue painters tape around his finger with the sticky side facing out. Then I started wrapping painters tape around a AA cell until it matched the his ring size. I then put a piece of clear packing tape over that, to keep the ring from sticking to it. I cut a strip of black paper to act as a core. Then I cut a section of the diamond pattern from the snake skin to form strips roughly the same width as the paper strip for the core.
As I wound it around 1/4 turn at a time, I applied more super glue. When the core had a couple of windings, I switched to the snake skin. Apply glue underneath, wind 1/4 turn, repeat. I kept this up until I had couple of windings of the snake skin in place. The snake skin was looking pretty pale and bland, so I asked my son if he wanted to put on a little color. He said he wanted green diagonal stripes. So I dabbed on a bit of green model paint/nail polish. In hindsight I should have done this just underneath the last layer of snakeskin as it would have made the color more striking within the diamond pattern of the skin.
I continued by wiping on a few coats of super glue. I switched to my Son’s mini lathe to spin on a few more coats of CA glue. Because the snake skin had texture, I had to wipe on a lot more coats of CA glue before getting it built up enough to sand smooth.
Once it was fully coated I pulled it off of the lathe and sanded the edges of the ring on a flat table until I had the width I wanted. Then I put it back on the lathe for more sanding, and then working my way up through 2500 grit.
I sanded the inside of the ring by hand, with some sandpaper on my finger. Then I put it back on the lathe for applying some Johnson’s paste wax. This made it gleam and sparkle.
I was very happy with the appearance, it was cooler than I had anticipated.
Previously
- Rose Petal Ring
A few weeks back I made a ring from shavings off a mango branch, followed soon after by a ring made of cat hair. With Valentine’s Day approaching, my son wanted to try making a ring from rose petals for his mom. So we bought some roses and some super-glue and got to work. We […]
- Log Toggle Coat Rack
I have seen a bunch of these flip down toggle coat racks and have been intrigued by the designs. Modern and unobtrusive. Toggle a peg down if you need it, up if you don’t. I find them clever, but they are too modern looking for my taste. So I started imagining one that was based […]
- Mango Shavings Ring
I was planing a piece of mango wood for a coat rack I am making, when I got completely sidetracked by something. The shavings were so pretty, the urge struck me to try making a ring out of them. I have never made a ring before, and for the past 24 years I have only […]
- Live Edge Oak Coffee Table
I got a nice section of a Swamp Laurel Oak log from a neighbor that was cutting one down a little over a year or so ago. I wrote up a post about slabbing an oak log by hand. The entire time I was sawing the slabs out of that log, I knew I wanted […]
- Making a Tapered Slab
You can’t throw a stick without hitting someone that has posted a youtube video about making a router sled and using a router to plane a slab of wood flat. They have become very common. I have covered making a router planing sled and what router bits to use for planing. Usually router sleds are […]
- Router Planing Bit Options
I built a router sled back a while ago to use in flattening some slabs. Over the course of flattening multiple slabs, I have had the chance to try a few bit options. Keep in mind that when planing with a router, you want to only have half the bit working at removing wood. So […]
- Curvy Bow Ties – Fun with Woodworking Keys
I have seen a few variations on keys. The wood bow ties that are mortised in cross-grain to prevent further splitting of a crack in a slab of wood (aka dutchman). I’ve seen dark wood keys in light wood, light keys places in dark wood. I have seen fancy carved keys in the shape […]
- Coping Saw – Blade Direction – You lead, blade follows
Almost every coping saw being sold today is set-up wrong. They are backwards. This is not a discussion of the push versus pull in terms of does it cut on the push stroke or the pull stroke. Most of them are set up to cut on the pull stroke, and I am fine with that. […]
- Latex Paint Tacky on Furniture: FIX IT
Though I much prefer the look of real wood, there are some pieces of furniture in my house that are painted. I’ve painted a few with latex paint. The problem is the tackiness. No matter how long I let the paint dry, even years later, it still feels tacky to the touch. Set something […]
- Natural Oak End Table
A neighbor was cutting down an oak tree back in April 2016. I stopped to help, and some pieces followed me home. Then they started talking to me. The log on the left said, “I want to be live edge slabs.” The one standing up on the right said, “I want to be and end […]
- Alcohol Based Tea Stain
As I started planning my next projects using the Oak that I had slabbed, I knew I would want a bit of color. I wanted to accent the grain of the wood and not hide it, so I was leaning toward using a dye rather than a stain. My only problem was that I have […]
- Slabbing Some Oak by Hand
In April of 2016, a neighbor around the block was cutting off parts of an Oak tree in his yard. I offered to help him. While I was helping him move some of it, the wood started speaking to me, and several large pieces ended up following me home. The log on the left saidi […]
- Easy Router Sled
A while back, a neighbor was cutting down an oak tree that was either a Southern Live Oak or a Swamp Laurel Oak. I tried to ID it using this oak tree guide but I no longer have access to leaves or acorns from that tree. They are pretty common, seem to grow fast and […]
- Simple Tool Oiler
I took a simple suggestion from Paul Sellers to make an oiler can by winding up a strip of cloth and putting it in a little can. I made three small ones using some caps from spraypaint cans. I squirted in several soakings of 3-in-1 oil and have found it to be very easy […]
- Clever Table Leaf Extension
I really like this table leaf extension mechanism from Dustin Glasscoe. It is simple to operate and simple to include in almost any table design. I am adding this to my “I am going to use this someday list”.
- Intriguing Mortise and Tenon Foxed Dovetail Joint
This joint from Loyd Arve Nornes is an interesting one that has been rattling around my brain since I saw these videos. It is a locking Mortise and Tenon Foxed Dovetail joint or some variation on those terms. The slots in the piece of wood that makes up the tenon seem to be ripe for a […]
- Adirondack Chairs – without metal
I decided it would be nice to make a pair of Adirondack chairs for my front porch. Most designs have a back that leans back pretty far and a pair of back legs that stick out pretty far too. I didn’t think I had that kind of space on my front porch, So I wanted […]
- Starter Woodworking Kit
My son and I were recently talking about what tools I would replace immediately if my shop got wiped out by hurricane or sink hole. I have a lot of old tools. Many of them are not essential, but I keep them because the have family history (my Dad’s, my Grandfather’s, my Great uncle’s). […]
- Bench Bull Meets Moxon Vise = Bulloxon
My son and I have a game we play in the car (when I am not driving) called “I Draw, You Draw.” I started it to get him to focus on details. On one half of the paper, I draw something that only has a few steps. (maybe a circle with a line) then I […]
Add your comment