DIY Scuttle(Kind of)

So I finally found a great Shaving bowl. It was one from the IKEA 365+ collection. While checking the reviews on this site, I noted that there are two different kinds. One is larger, and single walled. The other, the Plocka, is double-walled, meaning there is a void in between to keep heat in like a thermos. Someone suggested that drilling a hole would make for a poor mans scuttle. I happen to work w/someone who has a family member who works at IKEA. I had them pick me up one of the basic 365+ bowls, and also two of the "Plocka" bowls. I got the Plocka bowl yesterday, and wanted to find out if it could be made into a scuttle.

I started by drilling a small hole in the side about where I thought the "void" started in-between the walls. I used a glass/tile drill bit I had in my tool box. In order to prevent the bit "walking", I used the bit to score a little "x" on the outside of the bowl. It took me a little while, but I managed to drill through the wall.

Since I worried about cutting through the other side, I then resorted to a dremel w/a diamond dust bit to enlarge it.
I tried it out in my sink, but I found that it took some doing to get water in, and also out because the hole was small, and there was only one. I then hit upon the notion of not worrying about getting the water out. I could leave it in, and have it be a hot water "sleeve". I decided on using water, as I worried mineral oil might soak in too much. I placed the bowl on it's side, and filled it w/distilled water with a few drops of Barbicide to prevent any gunk from possibly growing.

To seal the hole, I went with PC-11 epoxy paste. It has the advantage of being white, waterproof when cured, and also can cure underwater. I mixed up a small amount and waited 15 minutes to apply as per the instructions for curing in a wet environment(I use an old mirror glued to a piece of ceramic tile to mix glues. When dried, the old glue can be scraped off w/ a razor blade to clean.). I then carefully applied it to not displace too much water.


I let the glue dry overnight, and was greeted with this this morning.

Apparently either the water cooled, or was somewhat absorbed into the ceramic of the bowl, and created a tiny suction, which made the PC-11 sink in a little. I shook the bowl, and you could feel/hear the water slosh around, which is a good sign. I will re-apply some more into the hole tonight, then when it cures for a few days, cut off/sand down the excess putty until it is flush with the outside. I will then give everyone an update on the success/failure of the project. I think if I attempt again, I will add the liquid, then wait a day and add some more until I think the bowl has absorbed enough liquid to saturate the ceramic.

Costs:
Plocka bowl: 4.99
Glass drill bit: 5.99 (a few years ago)
Ceramic dremel bit: $12.99 in a Harbor Freight dremel knock off kit(I could probably avoid needing this next time, as I don't need a big hole to fill w/water this way.)
PC-11: ~$5.00 (can be used for other things)
Barbicide: ~$6.00 for a huge bottle which has other uses

I welcome any suggestions questions.

How exactly do you plan on warming up the water in between the walls of the bowl?

You can't see how wide the rim is, but what about drilling a hole on the top of the rim instead of the side of the bowl?

Very cool, but I would be worried about steam or heat expansion from the water popping our your plug, or worse, cracking the scuttle.

Lucius said:

How exactly do you plan on warming up the water in between the walls of the bowl?

You can't see how wide the rim is, but what about drilling a hole on the top of the rim instead of the side of the bowl?

Click to expand...

I plan on soaking it in my sink like I do with my current bowl, but with the extra water, it should retain heat better, I hope. The rim isn't wide, unfortunately. It starts out almost normal thickness, and after about 1/2 inch, the inside of the bowl bulges in. It can best be described/imagined as a bowl with a slightly smaller bowl inside. When I get home, I'll take some better measurements and perhaps better shots to try and show this better. I did think about notching a hole from the rim down to the void, so it would have like a thumb grip, but I worried about the loss of strength in doing this.

Confuzius said:

Very cool, but I would be worried about steam or heat expansion from the water popping our your plug, or worse, cracking the scuttle.

Click to expand...

I don't plan on heating it to a temp beyond what my hot water pumps out. So I'm guessing around 120-130 tops. If I do get a plug pop, I will more than likely attempt again with mineral oil. Since it sucked in the putty, I am hoping that it expanded larger than the hole on the inside, so it can't push it back out. I hope.

Radar O\'Reilly said:

I tried it out in my sink, but I found that it took some doing to get water in, and also out because the hole was small, and there was only one.

Click to expand...

Drilling a second hole of equal or smaller size an inch or so away would solve that problem., You need room for the air to go when you are filling the gap, and the only place it can go is through the filling hole when there's only one. If you have two holes, the air can escape through the second hole while water fills through the first.

+1 on the concern of cracking the ceramic with the hole plugged. You might be better off using small rubber stoppers which can be removed while heating the scuttle. Or just leave it open - I don't see any harm in doing so.

Here's to experimenting!