How to make a saw, using a broken bandsaw blade

For this project I used a few scrap spruce pieces I had on the shop. 

Using my miter box I cut two pieces around the same size. 

I glued those pieces temporarily, using double sided tape.

Using a ruler and a compass, I designed the arms of my saw. You can cut those with a fret saw but I cut them on my bandsaw.

Using a hand plane and sand paper I cleared the saw marks. I also drilled a few holes on my drill press.

I followed similar procedures to make the main cleat that unites the two arms.

All the saw pieces are joined with screws, washers and butterfly nuts. 

I then trimmed a broken bandsaw blade to size using my wire cutter. I heated up the blade to reduce it’s hardness and drilled holes on it’s sides, using my drill press.

I used my bandsaw to make the slots for the blade to sit in.  I also used my bandsaw to make a little stop block so that one arm won’t move. I attached that block, using screws. I also made pilot holes to prevent the wood from splitting.

I added the blade using screws as shafts.

For the blade’s tightening mechanism, I added a paracord kind of string which through rotation tightens the blade. This is the same technique we find on bucksaws and frame saws. 

I also used a scrap wood piece to act as the string’s stopper. 

Once my blade is tight I can start sawing!

Wooden folding floor sign for a magical place

Recently Katerina Kris asked me to make a sign for “astriko xorio” a magical place from her new children’s (big and small) book.

The sign had to look like a sign illustrated in the book, which looks like a wooden hand that points to “agkalitsokampos” a place in the book’s story. 

It had to be portable and it had to be able to separate in parts.

I made this sign out of spruce. The main sign was cut on my CNC machine.

The sign folds with bolts and butterfly nuts. It also connects with the base in a similar way.

I gave the whole piece a round over using my router and a round over bit.

Don’t forget to check on Katerina’s work and the awesome “astriko horio”.

How to make a plywood piggy bank

I designed this piggy bank and used several layers of 8mm birch plywood to make it.

First of all I glued four pieces of plywood together. I then glued the inner template of my design on the pieces, using spray adhesive.

I cut the inner piece on my bandsaw. To remove the template I used WD40 rust remover.

In order for the bandsaw to cut the inner shape, I had to make a cut on the external side of it. When I finished cutting, I glued that cut, using glue and a clamp.

After that, I glued two 8mm plywood pieces together, using double sided tape. I glued the front and back template and cut the front and the back at the same time on the bandsaw. I also cut the ears and the nose of my piggy.

I glued the front piece first. 

The back piece is screwed in place, so I can remove it to open the piggy bank when necessary. To do that I pre drilled a few holes with my drill and counter sinked them on my drill press.

To make the slot, I drilled a few holes and then cleaned them up with a chisel and sandpaper.

I sanded my pieces, using several scrap wood pieces as sanding blocks, in order to sand all the different areas of the piggy.

On my drill press I made a few holes to act as eyes and nose holes.

I glued the nose and the ears in place.

I did a final sanding.

I finished the piece with two coats of latex paint, while sanding with 240 grit sand paper, between coats.

My piggy was ready.

You can download a free vector template of my piggy bank, here.

Merry Christmas from scrapy!

Scrapy returns with another animation to wish you all merry Christmas!

How to make a wooden crossbow

I made my crossbow out of 8mm birch plywood.

First of all I designed my crossbow templates in illustrator. I then printed out the templates and joined the A4 pages using tape.

The build begun with the body of the bow. I cut two pieces of plywood with my circular saw. I glued the two pieces together using double sided tape. I glued the template using spray adhesive and cut out the body using my jigsaw. 

I sanded the body with a sanding block. For the curves I used my metal ruler as a sanding block in order to follow the curves of my design, while sanding. 

I sprayed the template with rust remover and took it easily off the wood.

I used my fret saw to cut the smaller pieces of my template.

For extra strength, I glued a few blocks of wood between the two sides of my bow’s body.

I sanded the remaining parts using my belt sander and my metal ruler as a sanding block.

For the trigger mechanism I fist added the trigger. I first drilled a hole on my drill press.

I used my dremel tool and metal cutting disc to grind off a piece, from a few screwable metal rings.

I connected the trigger with string holder using my metal rings and a folded rubber band. I also nailed and glued a stop block. I added the string holder raiser and added a screw to act as stopper.

I preassembled the body and added screws to keep everything in place. 

Using my rotary tool again with a metal cutting disc, I trimmed my screws flush with the bow’s body.

I screwed another stop block for the string holder on top.

I screwed the bow in place. I added screws to hold the string. I also added two guides for the arrow. I nailed and glued them in place.

The string of the bow is just a few rubber bands connected with each other.

On my table saw, I made a simple arrow. I Created a v at the end of it using a chisel. I did that to give the string a place to push the arrow forward.

My bow is ready. 

Please be extremely careful if you try this build. If you do so, do it at your own risk and never point the bow to people or animals!

How to make a rustic pallet Christmas tree

I had some pallet wood laying around, and I decided to make a Christmas tree.

First of all I roughly sanded my pallet boards with my orbital sander, using 50 grit sandpaper.

I then cut off the edges of my tree’s main branch, using my cross cut sled, on my table saw. You can also do that with a regular saw and a jitter box.

I glued and screwed my center piece of the rest of the tree. I first pre drilled some pilot holes, before screwing my piece.

I added thee screws which I connected with string, in order to have the basic triangle, of my piece’s shape. I used a chalk to trace around that triangle, my tree’s shape.

I cut out the shape of my tree with my jigsaw.

I then cut the pieces of the tree’s base using my cross cut sled, on the table saw.

I glued and screwed them together.

I marked the positions of the screws of the base and drilled the holes. I also counter sinked them to the bottom of my base.

I clamped the tree on my vise upside down, used the screws of the bottom as marking pins and predrilled the holes on the tree. 

I didn’t glue the base to the body, because I wanted to be able to take the tree apart for storage. 

I finally screwed the bottom and the main body of the tree together.

I sanded again the piece and applied three coats of clear water based satin varnish with light sanding between coats.

I wanted to add Christmas lights to the back of my tree, in order to create a back light effect.

I added screws on the back and mounted the lights on the screws, using zip ties.

My tree is ready.

Merry Christmas to all!

How to make a case for your air pistol

The pistol came with a foam base. I used that as a mold for my box. 

First of all I cut the sides of the box to size, out of 8mm birch plywood, on my table saw.

I then set my table saw blade to 45 degrees and started cutting the side miters on my cross cut sled.

I glued the carcass of the box using wood glue and my picture frame clamp.

For the bottom and the top of the box I used 4mm plywood, which I roughly cut on my table saw.

I glued all the pieces together. 

I trimmed the caps flush with my router, using a flush trim bit. I used my router upside down as router table.

I cut the box in two pieces on my table saw. Before the last cut, I added a wooden shim on the upper side. The shim’s width matches the width of my saw blade. I did that to prevent the top of the box from moving while I made the last cut.

My CNC machine did a good job, on carving a decorative design on the top of my box.

I applied 4 coats of clear, water based varnish on my box, while lightly sanding between coats.

I added legs on the bottom of my case.

I added the hinges using screws. I also made pilot holes with my rotary tool, before adding the screws.

I used longer screws than I needed. So I trimmed the screws flush, using my rotary tool and a grinding disc.

My case was now ready. I added the foam base, the pistol and it’s accessories.

I hope you like it.

Experimental, DIY, floor lamp from a log

I had a sour orange tree log laying around and I decided to make a floor lamp with it.

I begun by cutting some extra branches with a hand saw. I then Trimmed a few parts of the log with an axe.

I removed the bark of the log with a sharp chisel and a mallet. 

The log was two old and had a few worms in it.

I wanted the cord of the lamp to go through the log. In order to to that I had to split the log in half.

I made a starting point with a hand saw. I then used wedges two split the log. I also used my axe as a hammer.

When the log was split, I used my router with a straight bit, to create a groove for the lamp’s wire.

I used a big carving gouge to clean up the groove a little bit.

I glued the log back together using clamps and glue. 

The hand saw created a gap. To fill that, I cut a few splines on my table saw. I fine tuned the splines with a chisel and glued them in place. I flush trimmed them using my flush trim saw.

I used my chisel to round over a few edges and carved out some worm marks. 

I used wood filler to fill the remaining gaps on the log.

I trimmed the legs with my circular saw and a hand saw.

I used a sanding disc on my angle grinder and sanded the log. I finished sanding with regular 120 grit sandpaper.

I marked the area for my lamp on the end grain of the log. I used my router to open up the hole.

I applied a coat of wood preservative to kill any remaining worms.

I then applied three coats of walnut wood stain while sanding between coats.

To create the lamp’s hat, I used a balloon as a mold. I mixed wood glue and water in a container and dipped a twine ball in it. I wrapped the twine around the balloon and when the glue was dry I had my hat. I was also careful not to cover the holes on the two ends of the balloon. This way I can add the lamp’s base and a light bulb when I have to.

For the electrical parts, I used wire, a socket with an on off switch and a light bulb base with two collars. I assembled everything with a screw driver. I have also soldered the wire with the on off switch end cable.

I glued the lamp’s hat with the log base with hot glue.

I really enjoyed this build. I learned many thing making that lamp. I will probably fine tune a few things on it in the future.