Rough Wood

I worked the Harry Potter angle for Halloween. Yeah, that’s me.

People have told me that I look like him for years, and I had an occasion to change up my costume this year. I bought the robe, a tie and some glasses. I considered buying the wand. After shopping around I saw that most of them are really cheapo plastic things, the others expensive and overkill for something that would only see the light of day once a year.

Now, I’m no Harry Potter geek, but steps had to be taken. I mean really, a woodworker bringing more plastic into the world, plastic that’s molded and shaped to look like wood. That’s just crazy.

So I decided to make one. During a work crunch. With a $15 set of cheap carving tools that I had originally bought to carve pumpkins.

Questionable judgment aside, it turned out reasonably well for my first carving project. I used some thick avocado dowel that I had bought for something else. I sat on the floor in my office and started hacking away during renders. Unfortunately I didn’t get any shots of the process. I only had a little time to stop and tinker, and just dove in. I referenced photos of props to get the size and general shape of the thing. The original design involved 2 different woods, so there was some delineation to imply.

I learned a lot about carving in those hours of chopping at this rod of avocado. Most importantly, that I was afraid of the grain. I have spent so much energy and effort avoiding tear-out in unsupported grain while working on furniture and other construction-type projects that I spent several hours trying to not carve. I nibbled little hints of twists and and tweaks in the supposedly knotty old wood that made up the handle. I was satisfied enough at the time, but looking at it the next day, I realized that I had made a wooden version of the cheapo plastic wands…

So I got cocky the next day, as it seemed at the time, and just started going at it. I dug deeper and deeper into the wood. I felt reckless and irresponsible; I was crossing the streams.

But it looked a lot better.

After a few more hours I had a much better approximation of the 2 woods that were used in the original wand design. As I erased the tiny scribbles that I had sheepishly scratched into the wood before, I began to feel happier with the results. It was not a work of art by any stretch, but at least it was deliberate.

Now, here’s what I got really wrong. This was also my first time using shellac, and as an experiment I counted on the shellac for the coloration. I knew better, but was in a hurry and powered through it. So I had to use a lot of shellac. The result? Two different colors, neither of which is quite right, and a lot of shine. I will knock it down some day, and might even refinish it with some stain. Also, I have to give The Woodshop Widget another shout, because I was able to mix very small amounts of shellac for this small project. Good times.

As for the potential refinish, I feel like I’m a few steps ahead, having gone through the process in the first place, so I’ll see how much energy I have when Halloween rolls around next year and I dust it off.

It’s true.

Though lately it seems that I only think about, dream about, speak of, write blogs about, read and watch videos about woodworking, I actually did some woodworking last weekend. I’ve been crazy busy with work, and had a huge render going. I was captive for a few hours, so I decided to knock out a plane adjusting hammer.

I had searched for solid brass rods at various hardware haunts, and wasn’t having any luck finding something thick enough to drill a useful hole through. I thought it would be excessive to special-order a 3′ rod, only to use a few inches of it and have the rest sitting in a corner for the rest of my life. So I went with an all-wood solution.

The 2 woods are beautiful, though a mystery to me, considering that they were retrieved from a scrap bin. The handle has some really wild grain, and a beautifully creamy sapwood accent. The head is extremely dense. I could barely make a scratch in the end grain with sandpaper. Punny! It weighs in at 5.2 ounces (3 for the head), and is 8¼” long overall. It works like a charm.

As I’ve come to realize since I first picked one up, I love spokeshaves. I can’t imagine shaping something like a tool handle with a spindle sander, or, as I like to call them, wood erasers. I suspect that these kinds of things are mostly left to large manufacturers and boutique companies these days, which is a shame. Using a tool that you’ve made for yourself is something special. It’s amazing what you can do with a pile of scrap.

I did briefly long for some auto-wood-shaping-device—or at least a dowel plate—to help me with the round tenon. It was my first round tenon, and was shaped with chisels and rasps. It’s definitely not perfect, but the wedge should keep it snug for many years. If I ever need to do this again, it’ll probably be a dowel plate occasion.

On another tangent, I used my BCTW dozuki to cut the wedge for the tenon. I love this saw; it’s like a laser with a handle.

I do enjoy the process of making these random tools—and the results. Maybe some day these trinkets will be retired to a drawer, after I’ve made newer and better stuff, or disfigured them beyond recognition. Then again, maybe they’ll be with me forever. Another mystery.

I have on occasion thought that on the day that I have the space for a real shop I may actually shed a tear. Today, however, I am thankful for not having a shop.

It’s odd, I know, but it’s true. I have been in the process of making various tools for myself, and had an occasion to shape a handle for a marking knife. On this particular day, I did not want to drag out the various implements of my temporary/breakdown shop, and sat myself on the floor with a length of 3/4″ square cherry and a spokeshave. The freedom of not relying upon a workbench, stops and dogs, and all those fun things in woodworking that we all take for granted, led to a much more organic process. I wondered if we have become a bit institutional with all of the hardware, micro-adjusters, RPMs, jigs and precision.

It was definitely less precise, but for something as delicate and curvaceous as a tool handle, that was a good thing. How would you go about shaping such an irregular thing while it’s clamped or stopped, without a lathe? Maybe you wouldn’t, and maybe when thinking about this you’d flash back to seeing your grandfather sitting on his porch, whittling to pass the time or to enjoy his new (to him) pocket knife.

So there I was, sitting on the floor, whittling with a spokeshave in a one-handed fashion, wishing I had a porch but enjoying myself nonetheless. Maybe it’s not so crazy after all, because I have a cool new marking knife, and all I had to do was vacuum the floor afterwards.

In a way, it was also a bit like playing with my new toys on the floor, except with very shiny and sharp toys. That’s even better.