Debra and I went to the Sherwood Forest Faire last weekend, and had a great time. I felt a little out of place, though, wandering around in costume and drinking mead from a plastic cup. Many people had wooden mugs, and there were mugs available for purchase at several shops. Although they were attractive, I didn’t get one. First of all, the least expensive mug I saw for sale was $45. That’s a lot for a hollowed-out piece of wood.

More importantly, the mugs they had for sale were too pretty. Most were perfectly turned on a lathe, had perfectly shaped handles, and were coated with a thick epoxy resin that turned the wooden mug into what was essentially a modern plastic mug that just looks like wood.

Sunday morning I went out to the wood pile and grabbed a hunk of mesquite that seemed about the right size. My plan was to carve a mug that would hold 16 ounces.

After cutting it to size and removing the bark with an angle grinder, I drilled a hole in the center to get started, and then used a die grinder and the Foredom power carver to hollow it. This turned out to be more difficult than I had expected due to the depth. It’s distressingly easy to lose control of the tool when you can’t see where it’s cutting. An aggressive bit spinning at 15,000 RPM will throw a piece of wood across the room when it binds up. I ended up putting a few cracks in the cup that way.

It took a long time to thin the walls from there (using a hook knife), and sand it smooth. I also had to fill the cracks that I made while hollowing. I didn’t take any pictures until after I’d completed the cup and put the oil and wax finish on it.

The finished mug is 4-1/4 inches tall and between 3-1/4 and 3-1/2 inches wide. The width varies because the mesquite log that it came from wasn’t perfectly round.

It holds just a little more than 12 ounces. I just couldn’t get it any deeper with the tools that I currently have. I’ll have to come up with a better way if I’m going to make another one of these. I’ve considered hollowing from both ends and then carving a 1/4 inch thick piece to fit inside at the bottom. The only difficulty would be getting that bottom piece carved correctly. I’m also considering a few other options.

The residue you see floating in the cup there is a little of the oil and wax. Not to worry: the oil and wax are non-toxic. After the oil soaks into the wood, it won’t leech out into my beer. I was impatient to try the mug. It really is a pleasure to drink from.

I decided not to add a handle. Maybe next time. I’ll probably come up with some sort of leather sling that fits around the mug and lets me attach it to my belt so that I can carry it around the next time we go to one of those Renaissance festivals.