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Finished Crepe Spreader in Case
Believe it or not, this started as a joke.

My P.O.S. wooden crepe spreader (what's a crepe spreader? see this) broke while my friend Abby was in town, and our emails for a few days after that involved some significant improvements to the design of the spreader.

My suggestions:

I haven't yet made a new crepe spreader, but I'm fairly certain the lathe will be involved (at the very least, the drill press. I mean, come on...). Maybe it should be brass? With its own felt-lined carrying case?
And her's:
I want an update on the status of the brass crepe paddle... though I think a wine colored velvet lining for the case would be classier than felt, because after all, crepes are pretty classy themselves. I can just see the weight of the little paddle sinking into a cushy velvet cushion inside a small dark wooden box that closes with a satisfying clump.
And who was I to argue?

I set to work on my lathe, and turned out this:

Finished Brass Crepe Spreader
Some important points to note:
  • Yes, it's brass. Yes, it's overkill.
  • It comes apart. See:
    Disassembled
  • The flat on the top part of the "T" with the tapped hole was milled on the lathe with my milling attachment.
    Milling the flat
Not to be outdone (by whom, I don't know, seeing as this was overboard enough already), I started making the case.

The basic idea for the case was to make a wooden box (of mahogany), saw it in half, and attach to two halves with hinges to make a case. This is what it came out looking like in the end:

Finished Mahogany Box
The box construction is fairly simple - the sides are connected by mitre joints, and the top and bottom just glued on.
The box pieces The top of the box
Bottom of the box
The sides were cut to length & mitred on the bandsaw, then cleaned up with a woodplane. The top & bottom were rough cut on the bandsaw, then planed to the correct dimenions, with a nice bevel put on the top with the plane.

I then cut the whole thing down the middle on the bandsaw:

Sawing the box
Then I stained the two parts:
Staining the box
It just so happens that my friend Mike Szegedi has a small CNC milling machine that he was kind enough to use to engrave a small brass plaque for the top of the box:
Milling the brass Finished brass plaque
After that was epoxied to the top and the brass hardware put in place, it looked like this:
Done with the case
Now, it was time to put the velvet in. Because I wanted a padded look & feel, I felt some batting was necessary underneath the velvet.
Cushions, finished
They just slide into the box, and aren't secured except by friction.

That's it! Would I recommend this or suggest that it's an economical way to a high-class crepe spreader? Of course not. Was it fun, and totally worth it to see the look on her face? Damn straight.