DIY cut glass bottle candle lamp

 

This is a lamp I made out of a glass bottle, a scrap piece of plywood and some wood savings.

First of all I use my cutting glass bottle jig to create a nice starting cut on the bottle.

Then I slowly heat the cutting line with a candle and then I cool it with water. I repeat this process several times. 

Then I gently hit the bottle. It should brake nicely, but some times this doesn’t always work out right. Most of the times it does.

I sand the cut edge with 180 grit sandpaper.

I create some wood savings with my block plane. I glue them on the bottle with my hot glue gun.

For extra protection I apply a coat of thinned with water wood glue mixture.

I take a scrap piece of plywood and cut out a circle using the adjustable circle cutter bit on my drill press.

Then I use a spade bit to make hole for the candle.

I also add 4 dowels in order for the bottle to stay in place.

I apply a coat of teak oil to the base of my lamp.

My lamp is ready. 

I used the wood savings because the bottle itself loses all the light of the candle. The savings help diffuse the light and make the lamp a lot brighter.

I hope you like it.

Caution: Be careful if you make a lamp like this because the wood savings are flammable. So try this at your own risk. My lamp does really well so far.

5 reasons to love woodworking

I wanted to express myself by making a video about one of my passions, woodworking.

There are plenty of reasons to love woodworking. In this video I present my top 5 of them.

I hope you like it!

How to make a wooden star for the Christmas tree

First of all I designed a template for the star. You can download it here.

The two sides of the star are joined with a half lap joint. The template's inside cut is 5,4cm thick to match my plywood's thickness.

I spray glue on the template and glue it on the plywood. I then cut the two pieces on the scroll saw.

I take a scrap piece and mark the bottom of the star on it. I then I 3D cut it on my scroll saw. I drill a hole on the piece and I have my star's base ready.

Now I glue everything together.

I apply a couple of coats of gold spray paint. I also apply a coat of clear varnish.

My star is ready for my Christmas tree top!

My scroll saw had to be fixed

My scroll saw broke down a few days ago and I had to replace the broken part. I thought someone might find useful a video about it. At first I thought it was not going to work again. Then I found out that I can buy a new part and replace it easily.

Make a center finder and a half lap joint

This joint is a very nice and strong one. To do it you need to find the center of the pieces that you need to joint.

So I begin by making the center finding jig.

I take a piece of wood and draw a line with a ruler. I then take a compass, place it on the middle of the line and mark the two opposite points.

I drill holes on the outer points and glue a couple of dowels.

I add a nail in the middle and i sharpen it with a file a little bit.

My jig is ready. Now time for the half lap.

I take the jig and find the centers of my two pieces.

I mark the second dimension of the joint using the other board as ruler.

I clamp my pieces on the vise and make the two cross cuts in each board.

I take a chisel and remove the pieces I do not need.

My joint is ready.

Scrapy was on artistic mood this time

Scrapy just wanted to draw something out of the box today!

Cheap sharpening method for flat chisels and plane irons

I am not a high end woodworker. This method is not the best one out there but is good enough for me and the type of woodworking I practice.

First of all you need a sharpening kit. The kit contains a two sided sharpening stone, mechanical oil and a sharpening jig.

First of all I mount my chisel or my plane iron on the jig. The jig will help me establish the angle of the cutting bevel of my tool. I usually sharpen my tools at 30 degrees.

I begin with the lower grit side of the stone. I oil it and then sharpen my chisel with back and forth movements.

Then I turn around the stone and repeat the process with the finer grit side.

After a while a small curve is created on the tip of the blade. This is called the burr. You can barely see the burr with naked eye but you definitely can feel it with your fingers.  In order to have a sharp tool you need to remove that burr. To do so gently sharpen the back side of the tool. After a few light passes the bevel is removed.

My tool is ready for action!

Scrap wood city's new channel trailer!

This is the new scrap wood city trailer. I hope you like it.

How to make a wooden stomp box with a piezoelectric pick up

This is a stomp box I made out of some pine pieces and a piezo electric pickup.

First of all I cut my pieces to size.

Then I mark them inside out. This way I know my grain match. I also want to join the pieces using dove tail joinery. This is the reason I mark the insides.

I use my utility knife to mark the depth of my dove tails.

I mark my tails and also mark the waste area.

I clamp the first piece on my vise and make the first cuts. I clean the tails with my chisel.  I use the tails to mark the pins on the other board. I cut, and then chisel out the pins.

Ofcourse I am not a high end worker and my dovetails aren’t the best. But it was fun to make and they’ll do the job.

Before glueing the body I use a forstner bit to reduse the mass of the board in order for the jack and pot to fit.

I glue the body using my frame clamp. I first check for square edges.

For the top I join some boards using glue.

I clean the boards up with a plane.

I glue the top on the body.

I glue some wooden pieces to hold the bottom.

I use  a flush trim bit on my router to make the top and body flush.

I fill some gaps by applying glue with a syringe. Then I remove the excess glue and sand the piece. This way the gaps are filled with wood dust. Not the best method but it’s ok for me.

I round over the top using my block plane. I take it slow when doing that against the grain.

I screw the bottom after making some pilot holes.

Now I solder the electronics. To do that I used a wiring diagram.

I test the pickup and the volume pot.

I apply hot glue on the back of the pickup to avoid feedback.

I hot glue the pick up on the box. And assemble all the parts.

I use my wood burner to draw the top of my box.

I apply a coat of teak oil on the piece.

I screw an old knob on the pot.

My piece is ready to groove.

Make a cubistic DIY wooden flower

This is a cubistic flower made of scrap wood pieces. 

To begin with, we need to make a jig. The jig is just a piece of MDF with an equilateral triangle hole in the middle. The sides of the triangular have the same length with the end grain sides of a piece of pine I will use with the jig later. To  make the triangle first I draw a line and then another line at a 60 degree angle. Then I take the compass and measure equal lengths for the sides of the angle. I join the two end points and I have a triangle with all it’s three sides equal.  Then I cut out the triangle on  my scroll saw.

Now I take my pine piece and fit it into the triangle. It fits OK.

I mark the four points of the end grain side of my piece. I secure the jig on my vise and fit the pine piece with one angle out. I cut it with my flush trim saw. I do that for the other three marked corners of my piece.

The base of my flower is  now ready. Now I mark some points with my compass and a ruler. I mark the two sides that are at a 90 degree angle with each other.  Then I cut out the first side on my scroll saw. Then I cut out the other side on my scroll saw. For this 3D cutting the scroll saw receives much pressure so you need to have a fairly big blade and slow speed on it.

Our 3D flower is ready. For the stalk of the flower I use a dowel which I bent with water and heat. Be careful if you do that and take all the necessary safety precautions. I scrape off the burning marks with my utility knife.

For the flower leaves I cut some of my pyramid scraps with a chisel and a blow with the direction of the grain.

I create some wood savings with my block plane for the inner flower part.

I use the  scrap pyramids from the first cut as cubistic rocks for the base of the flower.

I assemble everything with hot glue.  

My flower is ready. It has a low polygon 3D look which I like.

How to make a scrap wood miniature catapult

This is a miniature catapult made of some scrap pine pieces I had. It used to be the laundry basket.

First of all I cut the side pieces to size. I clamp two of them in 90 degree angle, and trace the miters of the third piece with a pencil. I make some pilot holes with my rotary tool and screw the pieces in place.

I drill the holes for the wheels and the catapult's spoon base. It’s easier to do that now. 

I mount the inner pieces with screws. To make things easier I use clamps to hold thing in place before I add the first screws.

I cut a round piece on an inner piece for the spoon to fit nicely.

I add some screws for to act as holders for the rubber bands.

I flatten the base of the spoon a little bit, to be able to drill easier. I drill in order for the dowel to go through it.

At this point I realized I made a mistake and I have to move the inner middle piece back. Otherwise the spoon doesn’t have enough space to move.

I secure the spoon’s dowel with a few screws.

Now I make the wheels. I join two pieces of wood with my block plane. I glue and clamp the pieces. I place the clamps on opposite directions in order for the piece to be glued straight.

I cut out the wheels using a hole saw bit on my drill press.

I glue the wheels in place.

To make the spoon, I begin by removing a circle with the hole saw bit. I trace the spoon around it and cut it out on the scroll saw. I also cut notch on it. I cut the back of the spoon out of a scrap plywood piece. I glue them together and add a few nails.

To fit the dowel in the spoon I carve the end of it with a knife until I have a snug fit. I glue it and nail it in place.

I assemble my catapult. 

I make some ball of paper tape to use as ammunition and I am ready to roll!

How to make a cigar box style electric guitar!

This is a cigar box style guitar inspired from the early blues.

First of all I cut the pieces of the body with my jigsaw. I use a clamped board as a guide. I also use a smooth cut blade.

I will join the body using finger joints. I mark the depth of the fingers with a sharp knife and cut the joints on my scroll saw.

In one side I make a hole with a forstner bit to reduse the mass of the wood. This way the output jack of the guitar will fit in nicely.

I glue the pieces together. I clamp them with a frame clamp and I check for square edges.

I glue some wooden pieces to provide more strength and also mass for the screws of the top and bottom.

I will join the box with the fretboard using a half lap joint. I start by cutting the body and then use a chisel to finish the cut.

I cut the fretboard and clean the cut with a chisel. 

Now I need to remove wood mass from the fretboard in order for the pickup to fit in. I use my saw and a chisel to do the job.

I mark the the fretboard’s back and cut it on the scroll saw.

I use my rasp to shape the neck.  

I make a wooden pickup frame on the scroll saw. I mark where to cut by using an old pickup frame.

Now I cut notches for the keys to fit in. 

I use a fret calculator to find the positions of the frets. My scale is 63cm.

I mark the fret positions on the fret board with a pencil. 

I cut the fret slots. 

I glue the fretboard on the neck.

I trim the fret board flush with the neck using a block plane.

I drill holes on the fretboard for dowels. The dowels will be used as fret number guides.

I use my glue gun and dowel positions markers to find a good spot to drill the top and bottom for screws.

I screw the top and trim it flush with a block plane.

I trim the dowels on the frets with a flush trim saw.

I cut the fret wire to length. I fit in the frets and add super glue to their edges for strength. I trim the fret wire flush with a rotary tool.

I apply two coats of teak oil to all the wooden parts.

I use the pyrographer to burn my name and the guitar’s name on the wood.

For the wiring I used the schematics from Seymour Duncan’s web site. I downloaded the wiring diagram for a humbucker and a volume pot.

I solder the parts together. 

I make a tail piece from a crap piece of metal. I cut it and shape it on the vise. I drill all the holes needed using oil to cool down the parts, to prevent drill bit brakes. I screw it on the guitar.

I glue the nut with my glue gun.

I make the bridge using a scrap piece which I planed on the right thickness. I glue the bone with my glue gun.

I open the channels for the strings with a small saw.

I make the knob of the pot on my scroll saw.

My guitar needs some more fine tunings but at this point is playable and ready for action!