Cherry Rolling Pin

I like turning rolling pins.  Maybe it’s because of the unique challenges they present, like making a perfectly uniform cylinder.  Maybe it’s because Marisa makes many fabulous baked creations with them, like pizzas, pies, and potica.

I made this one because we didn’t have one in Michigan.  This became the first project I made in the Small Shop.

Like I mentioned above, turning rolling pins present some unique challenges.  With other spindles, you measure and mark the different points of interest, and turn the detail around them.  With a rolling pin, you want the entire rolling surface to be the same diameter.  It should be uniform and smooth.

The style of this one is a straight French or rolling dowel.  It doesn’t have any taper to it, and doesn’t have any handles. Marisa likes this style for pizza dough.

I cut a blank of cherry about 2 1/2″ square, and about 16″ long, the capacity of the lathe.

I cut the blank out of a cherry 4×4 I had milled a few years earlier.  I cut about an inch off of two faces.

The small 9″ Performax bandsaw did a pretty admirable job.

I started roughing it down to about 2 1/4″ in diameter.

As I roughed it down, I frequently checked the diameter with calipers.

 

I used a roughing gouge to get it round, and a 1″ skew for the final finish turning.

I then began sanding it.

I used a basic 3M sanding pad.  The semi-rigid rubber backing on this sanding pad helps ensure a uniform surface.

Looking down lengthwise helped to see if it was good.

After it was rough sanded, I finished the ends.

 

I sanded down to 400 grit.  This left a very smooth surface.

It has a nice weight and works well rolling out pizza dough. 

Thanks for looking!