DIY Hardwood Ear Gauge Jewelry?

March 16, 2008 2:56 PM

How does one go about making their own ear gauge plug jewelry from hardwoods?

I'd like to wear an ear gauge plug size 00 made from hardwoods native to my region of upstate new york (think sugar maple, ash, etc), but can't find them for sale anywhere, not even online, all I can find are tropical hardwoods. So I thought maybe I could make my own. Any advice, tips, resources, tools needed, techniques, links, etc. ? Thanks.

posted by franklen to Society & Culture (7 answers total)

Franklen: you'd need a lathe, I think... even something as simple as a piece of wood chucked into a drill or drill press (although I would not recommend this solution). If working from home, I'd recommend you look for a mini or micro lathe, which can be had for $300 to $500 (US).

Be aware that while creating something the size of ear plugs won't cause much dust or shavings, standard workshop safety rules will still apply. You'd also need to find a finish that would be okay with being against your skin all the time; unfortunately, I do not have any expertise in that area.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 3:24 PM on March 16, 2008

A lathe might be overkill--I don't see any reason you couldn't do it with patience and varying grades of sandpaper. As for finish, most of the ones I've seen involve oils of some kind--jojoba and olive are two popular ones.

There's a good bit of information about this subject out there already. Check out rec.arts.bodyart, and visit the pages of people who make organic jewelry (Erica at organicjewelry.com has been doing it for quite a while now, and the folks at onetribe.nu do good work as well).

And I might as well mention that almost everybody who makes wood body jewelry does custom work, and might be very happy to work in your preferred woods. Alternately, a basic double-flare plug would be a simple project for even a very amateur wood carver.
posted by box at 3:59 PM on March 16, 2008

(Don't get me wrong--you can do it. But if you didn't want to do it yourself, and if you were willing to throw some money at the problem, it shouldn't be too tough to find somebody to do it for you.)
posted by box at 4:02 PM on March 16, 2008

I've found that wood ear plugs tend to get gross pretty quickly (at least in my experience.) They are an absorbent material, as opposed to glass or stainless, etc. They soak up all the sweat and grime your ears produce. Also, I haven't seen any wood plugs that seem sealed or varnished in any way--maybe due to the toxicity of the options. But to answer the question: how about using a dremel?
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 4:05 PM on March 16, 2008

Yeah, I think I've read about wax used as a sealant, but, as the porousness is kind of the point for most folks (many folks seem to feel, in contrast to thegreatfleecircus' experience, that the porousness reduces funk and stink and whatnot--seems to be part of the pitch, anyway), it doesn't seem very popular.
posted by box at 4:09 PM on March 16, 2008

While some of the advice here consists of "wood is a poor material for use as body jewelery", I would like to add that I have seen it done before. When I was a sideshow performer I worked with The Enigma, who for a time wore toothpicks in his earlobes...
posted by Tube at 6:46 PM on March 16, 2008

Most of them will be oiled or treated so they're not as porous. I'm pretty sure we used to buy natural woods which were finished with linseed oil, in the piercing shop I worked in. At leastm that's what they smelled like!

You might want to make it hollow, depending on how big it is, as it may be too heavy and hard to keep in if it is solid.

I've seen people use brooms and wooden dowels and al sorts of stuff so I'm sure you'll be right.
posted by indienial at 2:51 AM on March 17, 2008