Making your own custom carving mallets is really satisfying. You can also make them to fit your needs exactly the way you want. I made this one out of bitter orange wood.
I used some masking tape to create a guideline. This way I cut one edge with a handsaw perpendicular to the main cylinder of my wood blank.
I then marked my centers and mounted the blank between centers on the lathe.
With the lathe set at around 500 rpm I started trueing up the blank with a roughing gouge.
Once the blank was true I increased the speed of the lathe. I started shaping the mallet with the roughing gouge trying to follow the bevel of my cutting edge.
This type of wood cracks really easily. I filled a big crack using super glue and wood savings.
To shape the handle I used a spindle gouge and a round scraper.
I also used the skew to create grooves on the handle so that sweat drops from my hand can escape.
I also used the skew on the end grain, so I could cut it off easier on the bandsaw.
I sanded with 100 and 220 grit.
I used a metal wire to burn inside the handle grooves. This gives the mallet a more traditional look.
I polished the mallet with wood savings. This is a classic old school technique.
Finally I cut the excess pieces on the bandsaw. I placed a drill chuck with a sanding attachment on the lathe. And I cleaned the saw marks.
I finished the mallet with a coat of mineral oil.
I made a really heavy mallet that fits my hand. You can customize yours to fit your needs exactly.
But anyway, I hope you liked this one, because that was it. See you soon with a new project video.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
I made this lightbox out of pallet wood, plexiglass and LED strips. It is ideal for tracing images. You can also use it to create hand drawn animations.
First of all I cleaned my wood with a wire brush and my random orbit sander. I then flattened two edges of each board with my jointer. I passed the boards
through the thickness planer and finally I finished squaring up my material on my table saw.
I set up a stop block on my cross cut sled and made the butt joints of the box. I then glued and nailed the box sides. I also used a picture frame clamp.
Next I glued and nailed the cleats in place. Those cleats would hold the milky plexiglass top. I cut the plexiglass to size on my table saw.
The bottom was just a laminated MDF piece which I also cut on the table saw.
I glued and nailed the bottom in place.
To solder all the electric parts I first coated everything with solder. It was then easy to join the jumper wires with the LED strip contacts. I connected the pluses with the pluses and the minuses with the minuses. I also added a dimmer and a power supply. I secured the LED strips in place with my hot glue gun.
Using a forstner bit I opened up a hole for the cable. I created a knot with the cable so it can’t get pulled out. I screwed the dimmer and the power supply in place and connected them with the rest of the circuit. I also added some heat shrinking tube to keep the wires nice and tidy.
At this point my light box was ready. It is really useful for tracing images for illustrations. But the most fun part is that you can use it to create hand drawn animations.
But anyway, I hope you liked it, because that was it, see you soon with a new project video.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
This is a classic woodworking puzzle. I thought it would be a nice paradox to transfer this idea on the lathe. That's because the lathe usually produces round objects!
First of all I used my Jointer/planer and the table saw to create a wooden cube out of iroko wood.
I then marked the centers on each side of the cube.
I mounted the cube on the lathe using flat jaws on the chuck. I usually use these jaws for cleaning bowl bottoms.
On the tail stock I placed a drill chuck with a forstner bit. The lathe was set at it’s lowest speed, around 500rpm.
Then I drilled each side of the cube little by little. I kept on drilling further and further on each side.
At some point inside of the bigger cube you get a smaller one.
It is a really interesting experiment! I hope you liked it.
See you soon with a new project video!
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
This is the simplest string instrument I have ever made. I made it mostly out of reclaimed pallet wood.
I begun by cutting and planing my pallet wood to size. You can use pre planed clean lumber from your local wood supplier.
I then used my miter box and a handsaw to cut the sides of my box. I cleaned any burrs using a sanding block.
I then glued and nailed the four sides of my box.
I glued and nailed a thin MDF melamine piece in the back of my box. You can find pieces like this one on old drawers. I took mine from the back of an old bookcase. I then flush trimmed the piece with a saw.
I filled any imperfections of the wood, using saw dust and super glue.
The top of my instrument is a thin spruce panel. I had one in stock but you can use thin plywood or the thin sides of vegetable crates.
I found the center of the top and used a hole saw to open up the sound hole.
I then glued a brace and a thin piece to support the bridge. Once the glue was dry, I shaped the brace with a chisel.
I made a small block on which the fretboard would be placed. To glue it in place I added two nails and cut their heads off. The nails kept the block from sliding around while glue up.
I then secured the block in place with two screws. I glued the block in such a way, so that when the top was placed it was flush with the block.
I glued the top in place. Again I added two nails to prevent the piece from sliding around while glue up. I removed them later on.
Using an exact knife I trimmed the top flush. I finished the job with a block plane.
To make sure the top pieces where dead flat, I sanded against a sanding block which I made out of plexiglass.
I finished sanding with my random orbit sander.
It was now time to start working on my fretboard. I gave it some round overs to make it look a bit nicer.
I removed some material from the headstock so that the tuning pegs and the nut would stay nicely in place. First I did a series of cross cuts and then I removed the material with a chisel and sandpaper.
The scale of my instrument is 43cm from nut to bridge. I went on an online fret calculator to find the fret positions.
I then marked the fret positions with a pencil. I created a small groove over each fret using a saw. I then widened up the slots using a V shaped file. This provided enough glueing surface.
At this point I glued some bamboo sticks in place as fret position indicators.
My guitar uses nylon classical guitar’s strings. So I used bamboo sticks as frets. I glued them in the slots I created earlier. I then trimmed the frets flush and leveled them with a sanding block to avoid string buzzing.
I removed some parts from the tuning pegs so I could mark the locations of their holes. I then drilled the tuning peg holes.
At this point I glued and screwed the fretboard in place.
Out of a scrap piece of iroko I created a string holder. I glued and screwed it in place.
Again out of iroko I created a bridge and a nut. I shaped them with a block plane. I created the string slots with a V shaped file.
Finally I installed the tuning pegs and glued the nut in place.
I used a rotary tool with a sanding bit to open up the sound hole. This increases the volume of the instrument a little. I also added a string guide on the headstock.
Finally my little box guitar was ready.
It came out great. I think most people can make it using a few basic tools.
It does’t sound bad! I think it can play the blues really well.
Anyway, I hope you liked it because that was it, see you soon with a new project video.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
