Review of Rockler Travel Mug kit

[Bob Hadley]

About a year ago I bought two of the Rockler travel mug kits. Here is my review.

The good news: The kit has good directions and the cost is only $10. Anyone with basic turning skills should have no problem fitting the carafe/flask or turning the outside to a suitable form.

My samples were turned from spalted poplar and I used clear gloss acrylic on one and gloss spar varnish on the other. After a few months the acrylic finished mug started to show some wear spots and the spar varnish version was still in great shape.

The bad news: They dribble. The stainless steel lid cover needs to be glued to the plastic top to keep coffee from seeping between the two and dribbling down the sides. The accumulated effect of coffee flowing thru there is some grinds will eventually get trapped, build-up in the grooves and get crusty. Ugh! Even with the cover glued down (gorilla glue works great for a steel to plastic bond) the mugs still dribble around the seal. Whether it’s from age or mold flash in the groove (which I cleaned out) the problem persists.

Last week I contacted Rockler about spare seals but they don’t carry them. Bummer! I bought two more kits to get the seals and then it struck me: there’s room for a second groove and seal. So I turned a matching groove and slipped the second seal in place. Viola! No more leaks.

My mugs are great conversation starters, but the dribble problem and cost of the solution is more than a bit annoying. Hopefully in the future Rockler will revise the design or at least offer spare seals. Until then I can only give the Rockler Travel Mug Kit a modest recommendation with reservations.

Bob Hadley

 

[n7bsn]

Bob
Too my (imperfect) knowledge Rockler doesn't get their kits from the guy that is generally credited with developing this kit. He sells direct and also through Woodcraft, CS-USA and Woodturning Z

http://www.smoothturning.com/shop/

I say this because I've seen no trouble like you relate with the ones from him I have made

Ralph

 

[James E Gaydos]

Mug

I'm with Ralph on this one, the only problem I've experienced is the lid separated from the plastic on one. That could have been the owners fault. It was 2 years old.
Jim

 

[Gretch Flo]

mug

Just in time-I am ordering some supplies and was toying with the travel mugs.
Are they stainless steel or plastic liners??? Where is the plastic that James was referring to??? Gretch

 

[Bob Hadley]

The main flask is stainless steel. The lid with the slider valve (open/closed) is plastic with a stainless steel cover over the lip.

I contacted Smooth Turning and Brodie is sending me replacement seals!

Thanks for the tip Ralph. I’m going to order the travel mugs from http://www.smoothturning.com/shop/ from now on!!!

See the gallery for my other spalted poplar mug.

 

[Rick M]

Odd Site Behavior

I just finished checking with a couple of different browsers and confirmed one of the oddest things I've ever seen on a retail web site. Following the link mentioned, I see only 2 products displayed. Odd part is, there's more than 2 products offered and each page refresh displays only 2, in apparently random order. 😕

 

[Greg Ketell]

Rick, having a sub-set of your items in a "featured item" section is pretty common. What is very uncommon is not having a clear method for getting a list of all the items available. But I found it on this site: Click on the "Turning Project Kits" category on the left side of the window. That will take you to the listing of the "full category" of turning projects.

 

[Rick M]

I saw that, too, but the site doesn't make it intuitively obvious that you're looking only at "featured" items--especially when there's only 3 products total and the one you were expecting to find didn't happen to be "featured" at that moment.

Once you catch on, you can deal with the site's eccentricities 🙄. A "heads up" before you go there just helps you see it coming. . . 🙂

 

[Bob Hadley]

I just got two kits in the mail from smoothturning.com and they are not what Rockler sells. They are identical in design (I don't know who copied who) but the parts are dimensionally slightly different.

 

[Gretch Flo]

project supplies on hand

I just got two kits in the mail from smoothturning.com and they are not what Rockler sells. They are identical in design (I don't know who copied who) but the parts are dimensionally slightly different.

Just shows what I have learned. That is, have the project parts on hand before making a bunch only to find out the company no longer sells them, or has a slitely different size on the next order (like craft supplies usa stopped supplying toothpick holders and I had made 3 extra bases) Same with glass bud vase inserts. or any other thing for that matter. Gretch

 

[Brodie Brickey]

I just finished checking with a couple of different browsers and confirmed one of the oddest things I've ever seen on a retail web site. Following the link mentioned, I see only 2 products displayed. Odd part is, there's more than 2 products offered and each page refresh displays only 2, in apparently random order. 😕

Rick,

Sorry about the web site confusion. The 'Turning Project Kits' on the left side would have brought you to the entire list of products. The cart system in use is really intended for a larger product set and doesn't allow me to hard code a straight list for the home page.

I'm currently working on an instruction set for more advanced turners who can take a wood blank, turn the mug and then turn a lid for it from the same block. Testing to ensure fit is one of the challenges.

When finishing mugs most people I've spoken with seem to prefer an oil finish (I've been using Watco) as the poly urethane looks too 'plastic'.

The mugs came about while I was working for a company that gave out a plastic mug as a promotion. The mug broke leaving me with the insert. I didn't like the plastic insert and found a manufacturer who could provide stainless steel ones. Malcolm Tibbetts found my site and wrote the 'Java with Style' article for the American Woodturner in Winter 2006. That same year I was connected with WoodCraft and began distributing through them. I believe Rockler started selling mugs in 2007 or 2008.

If you're in St. Paul for the Symposium this year, stop by and say hello. We'll have a table in the vendor area.