Been a while

Sorry I didn’t post much this summer, my internship took up most of my time. But I was able to make a couple of canes, like this one:

I found a shrub by the side of the road, waiting to be mulched. I brought it home, took some branches off, and let it dry. After a few months, I peeled it and shaped the handle. After that, I had the idea I could french-polish the thing, disregarding everything about such a finish’s lack of durability.

But it was effing gorgeous up close. Still, I might try Tung oil on my next cane.

I still don’t know what kind of shrub this came from. It was very hard wood, which let me do some fine carving (out of frame), and the heartwood was yellow before it faded (I don’t think it was Yellowheart however).

Katana revisited

Okay, so I just discovered that my cell phone is better than my camera at focusing on close-ups. That in mind, I think I’ll post some better pictures of my letter opener.

Yep, definitely better than my actual camera.

Katana Letter Opener

My first semester of college, I joined Alpha Phi Omega. My “big” (mentor) was a fellow Kingdom Hearts fan. It was customary for the “little” to give their big a gift after two semesters. Not having the means to make anything, I designed an APO-themed Keyblade, and presented her the blueprint. She liked it, but I would have liked to actually make something.

So over the summer, my family’s apple tree’s limbs were literally snapping off from the weight of its apples. We got to pruning, and now have a nice little pile of applewood sticks. I began whittling a few of these, and had the idea of making a letter opener from this dense, fine-grained stuff. Noticing the curve of the particular stick I was working, I had the idea of making this a katana.

After getting the sword shape, it took some careful belt-sanding to get a fine edge (my camera doesn’t do very good close-ups). This is more than capable of opening a letter.

Wanting to protect the blade, I made a sheath for it from oak and black walnut. I got some scrap oak about the same thickness as the blade, traced its profile, and cut it out with a band saw. This inner face was lined with green felt. Allowing a 1/8-inch around this profile, I shaped the outer face of the sheath. I glued two 1/8-inch pieces of black walnut to make the walls, and smoothed the overall shape.

After carving out the letters “alpha,” “phi,” and “omega,” I applied a coat of clear varnish. Here’s the end result:

I have yet to give it to my “big,” as I have not seen her since last Spring.

A Gift to my AP English 12 teacher

The last month of senior English was spent watching Lord of the Rings (extended cut).  Mrs. Kay was just such an awesome teacher, I felt like making this for her in Shop class.

I biscuited seven oak planks together, about 1/2 in. thick, and cut out the shape with a band saw. After a bit of sanding I did a base coat of flat black spray paint. I taped off the two black quarters and used blue and green enamel paint.

The hand, horse and tree were made with a silver Sharpie.  The horse was detailed and outlined with a gold paint pen. This pen was also used for the ring in the center.

Not bad for a 12th-grader. The whole class signed the back, and it is now a wall hanging.  Mrs. Kay retired, but she took this with her.  Guess she liked it.