Does anybody know the collective pronoun for eggs? I believe it’s a gaggle of chickens, but I haven’t got a clue what it is for eggs.
However, apparently eggs sell really well at craft shows. But I haven’t got many (or any, actually). So, a couple of weeks back I decided to change that. I started with a few pieces of curly (rippled) sycamore, then added a stick of yew, and a few offcuts of other species (ash, laburnum).
There is really not that much to it. Turn between centres for the most part of the shape, and sand to finish (about 240 or 320 grit unless it’s yew or other hard stuff, where you want to go to about 400 or 600). The comes the trick: cut off the two ends. Make yourself an egg-chuck. That is essentially a tube from relatively soft wood, with the inside diameter just slightly more than your largest egg (oh, did I mention that they should all be more or less the same diameter? Otherwise this gets very time consuming).
Then make a recess about 1/2″ from the open end, and check that you can fit a pipe clamp into that. Now cut slits into the tube, about 2-3″ deep. 6 slits (3 cuts across) should do the trick. Fit the pipe clamp on, and hey presto, there’s your egg-chuck. By the way, the same principle applies for fruit, just different diameters, that’s all.
Now mount your egg into the chuck, making sure the unfinished end sticks out far enough to get a decent cut on it. Centre the egg, tighten the clamp and finish the end. Reverse, lather, rinse, done.
I finish all my eggs first with some paste wax and then with my own hardwax mixture, and once the wax has set a little, they get polished with a buffing wheel.
Clearly I will need a whole lot more than just these 11. So, at some point during the next few months, I’ll have to dedicate an entire day or maybe even weekend to just making eggs. Loads of eggs. Really big clutches of eggs. Ooops, now I have given it away.