Making a scrap metal guitarist sculpture with silver solder

Silver solder is ideal for soldering small metal parts. To experiment and learn this technique I bought silver solder in rods. The rods I got contained 20% silver. As a flux I used borax powder, mixed with water to a creamy texture. I used my propane torch as a heat source. As a heat resistant surface I used a piece of marble. But that broke apart. So I used a brick instead and this worked out fine.

I begun by making the guitar. This was just a washer and an old wrench. I cleaned the touching surfaces with sandpaper. Then I applied the flux. I then heated both metals at a red hot state. Then I added the solder. The solder should flow were the heat and the flux is. I let the piece cool down for a few minutes and then quenched it in water.

Next I soldered the head with the body. Those were a washer and a nail. As hair I used small nails. 

To give my character more movement I bended the pieces a little, using my vise and a hammer. 

The legs were made out of long nails and metal corners.

When I soldered all the metal parts, I cleaned my statue with the wire brush. I clamped my drill on the vise and used a couple of wire brushing bits to reach all the spots of my sculpture.

Then I took a piece of spruce wood and cut it on the bandsaw to make a base. I used my finger tip to create guide lines. Then I used my rotary tool with a drum sanding bit to blend these guidelines into curves. After that I hand sanded a little with 100grit sand paper.

Then I used my blow torch to make the grain pop a little. This gave a lot of character to the wood.

I predrilled pilot holes on the wood and screwed my statue in place. 

I gave everything three coats of clear. I used my heat gun between coats to speed up the drying process.

My little guitarist sculpture came out nice. I still have a long way to go before I master the silver soldering technique. But I had a lot of fun experimenting and I learned a ton of stuff.

I hope you enjoyed this project as well! See you soon with a new project video!

Experimenting with resin and wood and making a pendant

I wanted to experiment with cast epoxy resin and this came out. I still need a few tools in order to do these things properly, but I think it was worth the try. 

First of all I made a plexiglass mold. I used the bandsaw to cut the pieces. I then used my hot glue gun to assemble it. I filled the mold with water to check for any licks. 

Next I cut a piece of oak on the bandsaw. I abused the wood with a hammer and a chisel. To prevent the wood from floating into the mold, I hot glued it in place.

I then mixed my casting resin. It was two part epoxy with one to one analogy. I poured the resin into the mold. This was supposed to be a self degassing resin. It started bubbling and in a few minutes it was clear. But the next day the blank was full of bubbles. Depending on the resin’s instructions, this might had happened dew to moisture inside of the mold.

So I made a new blank. This time I used a scrap piece of walnut. I shaped it a little with a V carving chisel. 

This time I used a lighter to pop a few bubbles. This worked out better.

In a few days the resin cured. I demolded it and used a chisel to clean it’s edges. I then sanded it flat on a sanding block with 100 grit.

Then I drew my pendant’s shape and used a hacksaw to cut off the excess material. I then finished shaping with sanding. At this point I drilled the hole for the string.

Next I started the sanding process. I added sand paper on a piece of plexiglass to make sure I had a flat surface. I worked my way through the grits until 500. At 500 I begun wet sanding. The soap water helps to keep the sandpaper clean.

When I reached 1000 grit. I started using my special micro mesh sand papers. Those go from 1500 to 12000 grit. Again I walked my way through the grits.

I finished the piece with Yorkshire grit. I applied the abrasive paste and rubbed it on with a cloth. 

I still need a few tools to reach a perfect result on these castings but it was worth the try. 

It was a great learning experience. I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did.

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.

Restoring grandpa's sledge hammer

This tool belonged to my grand father. I really enjoy using tools that are owned by our family for generations.

In this video I show you how to restore an old rusty hand tool. I cleaned the rust off of it and made a new oak handle for it. 

I begun the restoration by sanding the rust off with the angle grinder. I used an 80grit sanding disc. For better results you can soak the iron in vinegar for a few days. To reach a few difficult spots, I used a wire brush bit on my drill.

Next I moved on to the handle. I used my circular saw to cut a piece of oak. I squared my blank on the bandsaw and the miter box.

I then designed the handle’s shape and cut it on the bandsaw. I used the off cut as a guide to design the opposite side, I cut it on the bandsaw as well.

With a few drops of hot glue I glued the offcuts back to their place. Using the same methods I cut the other side view of the tool.

I then marked the size of the tenon. Based on that I created the rounding over guide lines. 

Next I begun shaping with a spokeshave. I also used a round rasp. To clean the rasp marks I used a file and to clean the file marks I used 100 grit sandpaper. 

On the end grain I used the spokeshave diagonally so I can cheat on the hard end grain fibers.

Every now and then I established guidelines. The shaping process is about blending the guidelines to create the curves you want.

Then I started working on the tenon. It has a conical shape to fit the conical shape of the hammerhead’s mortise. I hammered the handle in the metal and got a couple of markings on the wood. Then I worked on the handle to remove those markings with the spokeshave. I repeated this process many times until the handle fitted through the hammerhead.

Then I finished the shaping. I sanded with 100 moved to 220 and stopped at 320 grit.

I then marked the slot for the wedge. I cut the slot with a handsaw. To make sure I cut straight I kept changing sides while cutting.

I then cut a walnut wedge on the bandsaw. I sanded it on the belt sander.

Next I fitted the wedge in the handle. I then I hammered the handle all the way in the iron. I added glue on the wedge and hammered it in place. I cut the excess on the bandsaw and sanded it flush with the grinder.

I finished the piece with my homemade beeswax and mineral oil finish. I added some finish on the metal as well to keep it rust free.

At this point I was done. I am really happy that I gave life back to an old family related tool! 

How to make a simple DIY toy car out of wood

I made this simple toy vehicle out of spruce wood. If you want to make one yourself, there is a template available, through my Patreon page. 

First of all, I designed the shape I wanted directly on my piece of wood.

I then used a forstner bit to remove the material from inside the windows.

Using a regular drill bit, I drilled the holes for the wheels.

Next I cut my shape out on the bandsaw. You can replace the bandsaw with a jigsaw or a fret saw.

Then I used my belt sander to sand the piece smooth. 

I armed my router with a round over bit and gave a round over to  my car. After all toys need to be smooth.

Then I gave everything a light sanding with 220 grit. 

Using a cheap hole saw, I cut the wheels. First I cut half way in, then I flipped the pieces over to finish the cut.

I then passed the wheels through a threaded rod. I added washers and two nuts at each end. I then tightened the nuts. Next I mounted the rod on my drill and using a sanding block, I sanded the wheels.

I then mounted the router on my vise and used it as a router table, to round over the wheels as well. If you don’t feel safe to do that, you can just sand the round over.

Finally I glued the wheels on the dowels I had previously cut using my miter box and a handsaw. I sanded the dowels flush on my belt sander.

My little car came out great. I hope you enjoyed this project, see you soon with a new project video!

How to make two DIY safety shelves out of spruce wood

I made two simple wooden safety shelves. They hang on the wall and have safety bars so in case of an earthquake items cannot fall off them. This feature makes them ideal for the kids room.

I did not find 10cm width boards on the lumberyard, so I ripped a larger panel to width on my table saw.

I then cut the bottom piece at around 70cm. I used this first piece as a guide to mark the rest of the pieces.

Using my table saw and a cross cut sled, I cut all the pieces to length. If you don’t have a table saw, you can use a miter box and a handsaw.

Then I set a stop block on my cross cut sled, at 16cm. I made all the repeated cuts to make the side pieces. 

I wanted the sides to have a slight curve, to I used a spray can as template to design it.

I then made the curves on my belt sander. In case you don’t have a belt sander, you can remove as much material as you can with a handsaw and then use a sanding block to finish shaping. 

Next, I glued and nailed the side pieces in place. I also glued and nailed the back piece as well. Using a wet rag, I wiped off the excess glue.

I then marked the size of the front pieces, and cut them on the miter box.

Next, I glued and nailed the front pieces in place.

I used a spacer to position the pieces in place without having to measure.

Then I filled all the nail holes with wood filler. 

At this point, I let the shelves dry over night.

I used a jig for making vertical holes that would receive dowels. I used a piece of tape as a depth mark on my drill bit. Finally I started drilling the holes. Then I added glue and hammered the dowels in place.

I made a simple jig to mark the positions of the side dowels easily. And then using the same methods I drilled and installed 6mm dowels. Using a flush trim saw, I cut the dowels flush.

I then used my angle grinder to sand. I begun sanding at 80 grit, moved to 120 and stopped at 220. I hand sanded the areas I could not reach with the grinder. 

Finally I made the hanging holes and counter sinked them.

I finished the shelves with three coats of clear, water based, satin varnish. I lightly sanded between coats with 220 grit sandpaper. I also used my heat gun to speed up the drying process. When possible I applied the finish, with the direction of the wood.

Our house walls are brick walls. So I used upats to hang the shelves. I marked the hole positions with a nail and drilled the upat holes. The upats usually have the number of the drill bit on them. In my case it was a number 6 drill bit. I hammered the upats in place and screwed the shelves in place. I screwed almost all the way in with the drill and then tightened  with a screwdriver. If you drill in concrete you should set you drill at hammer mode. If you drill in bricks as I did, this not necessary.

My shelves came out really great! I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did. See you soon with a new woodworking project!

How to make a portable DIY microphone booth for recording voiceover

I wanted a mini microphone recording booth, so I could record better quality voiceovers for my videos. I made it out of 9mm OSB wood and sound insulation foam panels.

This is basically a sound insulated box. I had the OSB panels cut to size at the lumberyard I bought it. 

I used corner clamps, to temporarily clamp the pieces together, while I glue and nail them. I used my air powered nail gun, but you can definitely use a regular hammer if you don’t have one.

Using a wet rag, I wiped off the excess glue. 

I then glued and nailed the other side and the back panel. I did not know how thick OSB I was gonna find, so I ordered the back a bit oversized. I used a hand saw to trim it flush.

Using the method of the diagonals, I found the center of the top rectangle. I then added the handle and marked the positions of the holes. I drilled the holes and mounted the handle with tiny bolts and nuts.

I used a cheap IKEA hole saw, to make the feet of the box. I drilled half way in, flipped the piece over and finished the drilling. I glued and nailed the pieces in place.

On the back of the box, I drilled a hole for the microphone’s extension cable. 

Using my trusty old angle grinder, I sanded everything flush with 80 grit sand paper.

I then cut a few scrap OSB pieces on the bandsaw, to make a tablet holder. The tablet will be used as an autoque device.

Again, I glued and nailed the pieces together. I added the mic in the booth so I could measure the tablet holder. I then cut it to size, on the bandsaw. 

Using a scrap piece as a spacer, I marked the position of the holder. I drilled two holes and countersinked them. I added the screws half way in. Then I pressed the holder against the screws to mark their locations. I then predrilled pilot holes, to avoid splitting. Finally, I screwed the holder in place.

I placed a sound insulation foam panel inside the box. I trimmed it flush with an exacto knife. I then glued the foam panels inside the OSB box, using a special foam adhesive. The adhesive expands and sets in about 20 minutes. 

To hide the ugly end grain of the OSB, I added spruce trim. I cut the trim to size, using my miter box and a handsaw. I then glued and nailed the trim into place. I covered the imperfections using wood filler. Finally I sanded it with my angle grinder.

I finished my box with two coats of clear, satin water based varnish. I lightly sanded between coats with 220 grit sandpaper.

At this point, my booth was ready, I added the extension cable and the tablet. Then I connected the mic and started recording. 

As you can hear in the video, the booth really worked and took my voiceover quality to the next level.

I hope you enjoyed this build, as I have. See you soon with a new project!