Making a simple Easter bunny mechanical toy, out of plywood!

Tools and materials I propose:

Bandsaw

Sandpaper cleaner

Drill press

Cordless drill

Belt sander

Forstner bit set

Cutting board

Heat gun

Air compressor, nail and staple gun kit

Countersink bits

Rotary tool

Happy Easter everybody! This is a simple woodworking project out of 9mm birch plywood. I hope you'll enjoy it!

I begun by making a rough prototype out of OSB. I then created vector templates for the project. 

Mechanical toys require accuracy in order to work. So I also created a 3D model as a simulation. Everything seemed to work.

Next I layed out my templates on the plywood, based on the orientation of the grain. 

I coated the plywood with a layer of packaging tape. I attached the templates on the plywood using spray adhesive. Finally I added a coat of tape over the templates. This technique helps keep the templates in place while cutting. Also the templates can be removed really easily without leaving glue on the wood. To me this is the best method for attaching templates onto the wood.

At this point  I center punched all the holes.

Next I cut everything on the bandsaw. To cut the smaller parts safely, I added an improvised zero clearence insert on the bandsaw. 

I then sanded everything close to the template lines, using my belt sander. I used a chisel to reach some difficult spots. 

I drilled all the holes on my drill press. I then glued and nailed a few parts in place.

I connected the parts of the egg cell with two screws and sanded them flush on the belt sander. 

The bunny should fit loosely, so I sanded it a little bit.

As a shaft, I used an 8mm dowel. 

I stained the egg with water based dye. This has a vivid color but also leaves the grain pattern of the wood visible.

I then finished everything with water based clear varnish. 

I also lubricated the inside of the egg with my homemade beeswax and mineral oil finish.

Finally I glued the crank’s pieces in place. The leaver was secured in place with a screw, so I can remove it if I have to. 

And that was it. My little Easter bunny toy was ready.

I hope you enjoyed this video. Happy Easter everybody, 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.

Making a mini threaded picture frame, on the wood lathe

Tools and materials I propose:

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Bandsaw

Sanding adapter

Metal square

Axe

Forstner bit set

5 minute epoxy

Magnets

This project was a good excuse for me to practice thread chasing on a woodturning lathe. I made it out of apricot wood. 

I also want to thank Mr. Sam Angelo, the Wyoming Woodturner for his thread chasing tutorials.

First of all I split an apricot log with an axe, to make my blank. I then cut it on the bandsaw.

Next I clamped the blank between centers on the lathe, and turned it true with the roughing gouge. 

I filled a few cracks with super glue to prevent them from expanding further.

I used the skew chisel to make the tenon for the chuck. I then parted the piece off and cut it in half on the bandsaw. 

I made the female part first. I hollowed it with forstner bits. The lathe was set at it’s lowest speed. 

At this point, I used my homemade recess tool, to create a groove on the back of my female threads. This will give my female thread chaser a way out, once it completes a cut. 

Then using the female chaser I started creating the threads. The lathe was still set at it’s lowest speed. I begun threading at an angle and gradually I tried to turn the tool parallel to the sides of the wood. Once the chaser creates the first couple of threads, then it kind of follows the threads on it’s own. Minimal pressure needed here. An old toothbrush can help you clean the threads and check how the threading process evolves. 

Once the female side was ready. I created a slightly larger tenon on the male side. I then started threading with the male tool. I kept checking the fit between the male and the female side. It’s better to take it slow here, because if you remove to much material, you can’t go back. 

I then connected the two sides and shaped them together a little. I then parted the piece off the lathe. 

On the back of my frame I epoxied a rare earth magnet in place. I then sanded the piece and finished it with my homemade, beeswax and mineral oil finish. This also acts as lubricant for the threads. 

I used the plastic from an old package as my frame’s glass. I then printed a photo of Scrapy to place inside of my frame. 

I am still a newbie at thread chasing but it was fun experimenting with this technique. My next goal is to match the grain between each threaded side.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this project, 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.

Making the “ocean ripple” pendant, out of resin and olive wood!

Tools and materials I propose:

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Silicon molds

Vacuum chamber kit

Bandsaw

Sanding adapter

Sandpaper cleaner

Hot glue gun

Hone diamond kit

Micro mesh sanding pads

Buffing kit

I begun by cutting a beautiful piece of olive wood on the bandsaw. 

Silicon cake molds we use in the kitchen, work perfectly with resin.

I mixed some slow setting epoxy resin. I also added a few drops of blue dye. Then I degassed the resin on my vacuum chamber. 

After about a week my castings were rock hard. 

I chucked a sanding adapter on the lathe. With that I flattened the bottom of my casting.

I then hot glued the piece on a wooden block which was mounted on a face plate. I turned the piece true with a flat carpenter’s chisel as a scraper. 

Then I parted the piece off and flattened both the casting and the block again.

The ripples were made with eccentric turning. So I hot glued again the piece using an eccentric pivot point. 

First I drilled the hole for the string.

I then used a homemade round scraper to create my ripples.

Once I was happy with my shape, I parted the piece off and started sanding.

I begun with 100grit, moved on to 220 and 340. I started wet sanding at 500 using mineral oil. I sanded until 1000 and then continued with my micro mesh sanding pads.

I then set my lathe at it’s lowest speed and buffed the piece with my three polishing wheels.

Overall the pendant came out nice. If I made it again I would use less blue dye, to increase it’s transparency. But this is ocean ripple and deep blue is a perfect match.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed 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.

How to make a DIY sphere making jig for the lathe

Tools and materials I propose:

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Bowl gouge

Angle grinder

Table saw

Bandsaw

Cordless drill

Air compressor, nail and staple gun kit

Live center

Grinder / belt sander

tool rest

Drill press

Silver solder

Flux

Propane torch

Propane cylinder

Caliper set

This is a simple ball making jig for your lathe. I used 9mm plywood, 6mm threaded rod, washers, nuts and an old woodturning scraper to make it. 

First of all I made a prototype. Knowing that the basic idea worked, it was time to make the final version of the jig. 

I begun by cutting all the parts for the base on the table saw. 

I used the live center of the lathe to align the jig with the center of the lathe. 

Then I glued and nailed the pieces of the base together. 

I cut the curved sides on the bandsaw. I used the first cut piece as a template for the other one. 

I glued and nailed the sides in place but I also reinforced them with screws. 

To make the cutter I used an old, cheap woodturning scraper.

I roughly shaped it with the grinder. Water helped me keep the tool cool. Then I tilted my grinding wheel’s tool rest a by few degrees and sharpened the edge of the cutter.

I made a groove on the table saw to keep the cutter in place. I added some material on the bottom of the cutting mechanism so the cutting edge was just under the center of the lathe.

A piece of steel and a couple of threaded rods with nuts and bolts keep the cutter in place. 

To make a knob for the top I silver soldered a butterfly nut on a 6mm threaded rod. 

At this point the jig was ready for a test. First I prepare the stock so the jig can reach as far as possible. Then I tried it out. I did shallow passes instead of deep fast cuts.

It worked nicely. I hope you’ll find my ball making jig useful!

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.