How to make a wooden toy mouse, on the lathe

I made this little toy, out of a scrap pine piece I had.

First of all I used a hand saw to cut the piece to  size.

I then marked the centers on the front and back and mounted the piece on the lathe between centers.

I then used a round scraper to turn the piece round. I also used a straight chisel to create a tenon on one end, in order for the piece to fit my chuck’s jaws.

I mounted the piece on my chuck and used a bowl gouge and a spindle gouge to shape my mouse’s body.

To remove as much material as I could, before parting the piece I used my skew chisel.

I then sanded the piece from 100 to 300 grit. I finished the surface with yorkshire grit while reducing my lathe’s speed at 500rpm.

I then used my flush trim saw to part the piece of the lathe. I use that kind of saw for this job, because it’s thin and as a result it removes less material. It’s also leaves a much smoother surface.

I then moved on my disc sander and sanded the back. I also sanded one area of the piece flat. This way my little mouse can sit nicely on a flat surface.

I then used the skew chisel and a spindle gouge to turn the ears of my mouse.

To mimic the roundness of my mouse’s body. I removed as much material as I could with my rotary tool and then used the mouse itself as a sanding block. This way I created an inner curve on each ear which matched the outer curve of my mouse’s body.

I then cut a couple of small nails to size, I drilled a few pilot hole and glued the nails in place with super glue. I then glued the ears in place. The nails add a little extra support to the ears.

I then drilled the hole on the back for the tail. I mixed some five minute epoxy and glued the tail in place. The tail is just a piece of cylindrical rubber I’ve had from an old piece of clothing.

After a bit more sanding my little mouse was now ready!

How to make a floor standing DIY video light with LED strips

I made this floor standing light using mostly MDF, pallet wood and led strips. It's light is kind of neutral cold. You can choose the LEDs you want in order for the light to have the color that suits your needs. It is also dimmable, which means you can adjust the brightness of the light.

I begun by cutting a few pieces of 10mm MDF to size on my table saw. For the cross cuts, I used my cross cut sled.

I then glued the sides of my frame using wood glue. I used corner clamps to keep things in place,  predrilled holes and added two screws in every corner of the frame.

I used the bandsaw to cut four wood pieces which I glued in the corners of my frame.

I then cut the backside of my light to size on the table  saw. Because the acrylic front was more sensitive I cut it on my bandsaw. My bandsaw has a finer tooth blade and cut the milky acrylic pretty nicely.

The acrylic front and the MDF back are screwed in place. The screws go into these small wood corners blocks I cut earlier. Ofcourse I predrilled before adding the screws to avoid wood splitting. 

The acrylic sheet in the front helps diffuse the light creating better outcome in the image of the video.

I then used the thickest plywood I had to create two pieces that would be screwed on the frame. I taped them together, sanded them flush on the disc sander and drilled a hole through them in the drill press. I then glued and screwed them in place. To keep them aligned I passed through both of them a metal screw.

I then added a cleat on the back of my frame. This acts as a reinforcement to the structure but it also provides a place for to mount the electric parts of the light.

I then made the post of the light. I shaped it on the disc sander.

The post slides in a pocket which I made out of 12mm plywood. I glued and nailed it together.

I then made four identical legs out of scrap pallet wood. I Cut them on the bandsaw and shaped them on the disc sander. I then predrilled and screwed them in place.

I cut a small metal piece to size, using my angle grinder. I drilled a few holes on the drill press. I used a tap to create threads in the middle hole. This way 6mm threaded rod can tight the post of the light in place.

I then designed a knob on a scrap plywood piece and cut it out on the bandsaw. I used my rotary tool to sand it’s curves.

I then flattened one edge of 6mm threaded rod with my angle grinder. I drilled a hole on the knob. I mixed some two part 5 minute epoxy glue and hammered and glued the rod inside the knob.

Video and photography gear is usually black because you don’t want it’s reflections in your video shots. So I painted all the parts of my light with black matte spray paint.

Now it was time to connect the electrics. I layed out the LED strips on my panel. You must cut them in the places where there is a scissors symbol. I then soldered the positive poles with each other and then the negatives with each other. I then connected the power source to the dimmer and then the dimmer to the LEDS. I made a test and everything worked out OK. 

I then added some hot glue to secure the strips better in place. Their adhesive does not always hold well. 

I mounted the power source and the dimmer on the back of my light. At this point I had to disconnect the LEDs. So I passed the cable inside the light through a hole and reconnected everything. I used electrical tape to make sure the soldered parts don’t touch and I also added some hot glue to make sure the cables were nice and secure. 

My video light was now ready and it works really well. Perhaps in future I will add more LEDS to make it brighter. I can also make a couple of other panels with different colors on the lights in order to achieve different color balances in my videos!

How to make a wooden cat shaped yarn bowl, on the lathe

I came across this idea on line and I thought it would be a cool woodturning project. 

So this is my version of it out of a piece of lime tree.

First of all I had to glue three square pieces of wood in order to get the thickness I needed. 

To do that I first used a hand plane to flatten all the pieces. I clamped each piece on my bench, used chalk to mark the area and then with thick passes perpendicular to the grain I flattened the piece. To smooth the surface I replaned it with the grain and less heavy adjustment on the plane iron. At the end I used the side of the plane to check that everything was flat enough.

I glued the three pieces together with wood glue and clamps.

I then found the center of my block and drew a circle inside the square edges.

I used a hand saw to cut the corners of my block, in order to save some time on the lathe.

I mounted the piece on the lathe using a face plate and used a round scraper to turn it true. I then moved to a bowl gouge and shaped the exterior of my bowl. To smooth things out, I used a sharp straight chisel to do a smoothing pass.

After flattening the bottom of my bowl with a flat chisel, I used the skew and a flat chisel to create tenon in order for the bowl to fit my chuck.

I then mounted the bowl on my chuck, and used a forstner bit on my tailstock to remove as much material as I could and establish roughly the depth of my bowl.

I started hollowing with the bowl gouge and then moved to the spindle gouge. When I was getting close to the sides, I used the skew chisel to create relief steps and then used the spindle gouge to smooth things out. 

I used my depth gage to see where my depth was and realized that I could go a bit further. So I used again a forstner bit to reestablish the depth of my bowl. 

I then finished hollowing and roughly sanded my bowl with 100grit.

I used a pencil to draw the cat shape. I then used the fret saw to cut my shape. I also drilled a few relief holes on the back where there was the spiral shape.  

I used my rotary tool with the drum sanding bit to rough sand the lips of my bowl. I then hand sanded the whole thing. For difficult areas, I cut the sandpaper to small stripes and used scrap pieces of wood as sanding blocks.

I drilled the eye holes with my drill and finished the pieces with 5-8 coats of clear glossy spray lacquer while sanding between coats. 

The bowl is ready and I think it came out really nice. 

It will be a gift for my friend Oops Loops who creates beautiful things with yarn.

How to make a spindle steady rest for the wood lathe.

When you turn long thin items on the lathe you get many vibrations which make the turning process much more difficult. 

I made this spindle rest out of plywood and scrap spruce pieces.

First of all I used my calipers to take a couple of measurements from my lathe’s rails.

I then cut the basic shape of my rest on my table saw and bandsaw.

At the end of the jig I created a tenon the fits snuggly between my lathe’s rails. I then drove the jig against the chuck on which I had added the center chuck. This way I marked the exact center of the turning on my plywood. 

With this center I created two circles. I then divided the circles in three equal parts using a compass.

I cut the outer circle on the bandsaw. I drilled an entry hole on the drill press and used my jigsaw to cut the inner circle.

I then used the table saw to cut the sides. I I used my cross cut sled with a stop block to cut the piece in three equal parts.

I marked the size of each piece on the spindle rest and used my router to open up three grooves. I completed the routing in two passes with a straight bit. I finished the groves with a sharp chisel and a mallet.

On the side pieces I drilled entry holes and cut out an inner piece on the scroll saw. Using a file I cleaned up the scroll saw marks.

I rounded over the edges on the disc sander.

I then used the bandsaw again, to cut a circle out of plywood. This piece pushes against the rails and locks the spindle rest in it’s position. A bolt goes through the spindle rest and the circle and washers and butterfly nuts, hold them in place. I cut the bolt to size with a hacksaw and rounded over it’s edges on the disc sander. I did that in order for the nut’s threads to grab smoothly on the bolt!

I then turned the three wheels on the lathe out of a scrap spruce piece. I used a caliper and a straight chisel to turn them to size. I then used the parting tool to isolate them. I also used a spindle gouge to round over their edges. I drilled a hole through all three of them using the drill chuck on my lathe’s tailstock. I used a flush trim saw to part the wheels of the chuck, I then sanded them flush on the disc sander.

The wheels, should spin freely. To achieve that, I first added a screw which I secured in place with nuts. I then added a washer and then the wheel. I added one more washer and then added two nuts screwed against each other. This way the nuts stay in place and the wheel can spin freely like it would if it had an inner bearing.

My spindle steady rest was ready. It need a few fine tunings but it works really well.

How to make a DIY lightsaber candle holder

I wanted to make a prop for a while. I also wanted it to be some kind of a useful item. As a result this idea came up.

I based my design on original references but I added a few personal touches.

I used lime tree for this build.

First of all I jointed one face of my wood by using a hand plane across the grain to remove much stock. I also marked the area with chalk to let me know which areas of the stock had been removed. I then used the plane parallel to the grain of the wood to smooth things out.

I cut the piece in half on the bandsaw.

I applied glue and glued the two parts together using clamps.

I then drew the diagonals at the ends of my stock and used a compass to drew equal circles in both ends.

I used my wood vise and a long clamp to secure the piece. I then used my plane again to round over the piece. I could do this on the lathe, but I thought it was a cool technique, worth presenting. This also saved me quite a bit of time on woodturning.

I then mounted the piece on the lathe between centers and used a round scraper to round over my stock. I used my regular flat chisel to make a clean cut in the end.

I also used the parting tool to create a tenon on one end for my chuck.

I took the time to design a template which I glued on a piece of MDF and then cut it out on the bandsaw. The templates for the lathe must be halfs of the intended shapes.

I then established the length and the width of my stock on the lathe, based on my template.

I used my calipers and a sharp flat chisel to create a cylinder with the maximum diameter I needed.

I then used the template to mark and measure before shaping on the lathe. I mostly used a flat chisel and a skew to make all the shaping on the lathe.

I the sanded the piece on the lathe, and removed the last bit with a gouge.

I cut the tenon on the bandsaw and sanded it flush on the disc sander.

I then cut a small piece to size to use as the lightsaber’s switch. I mounted the piece on the vise with a piece of sand paper wrapped around it. I then sanded the small piece over that set-up in order make the small piece round underneath. I then glued it in place. 

To make the small buttons I shaped a really small piece on the disc sander and used a chisel to cut out two triangles, which I also glued in place.

I then primed the whole piece. After the primer dried I sanded it over it.

I applied a few coats of silver metal paint.

I masked the piece with blue masking tape and then sprayed on the black color.

I masked again and applied the bronze color. 

I used acrylic paint to paint the buttons red and green.

I sealed the paint by applying a few coats of clear glossy varnish.

My lightsaber candle holder was now ready, I hope you like it!

How to make a spinning top out of epoxy resin and wood, for a good cause

More info on the links below:

Greek Woodturners google+

ArtStreet 52 youtube channel

Contest’s rules

For this video, I used a scrap pine piece, clear casting epoxy resin and red pigment.

First of all I used a center finder, to mark the center of my piece.

I then turned the piece true on the lathe while mounted between centers. 

I used the parting tool to create a tenon in order for the piece to be mounted on my chuck.

I mounted the piece on my chuck and also added a drill chuck on my lathe’s tailpiece. 

Using a forstner bit I opened up a hole on one end of my stock. I used the spindle gouge and a flat chisel  to open up the hole even more and create a mold for the epoxy resin.

I then mixed two part epoxy resin and added red pigment. I should have used less pigment in order for my final product to be more transparent. I poorer the ten in my wooden mold.

This type of resin releases the bubbles on it’s own. I let the resin cure for two days and it came out great.

I then remounted the piece on the chuck. I used a spindle gouge and a round scraper to shape my top.

I sanded the piece starting from 100grit, moving to 220, then 320 and finished by wet sanding with 500 and mineral oil.

I removed the top from the lathe with a flush trim saw.

The tip of the top had the center marked on from the lathe. On the drill press I drilled a small vertical hole and hammered in place a round headed nail. 

This way the tip of the top cannot brake or chip.

I hope you like my little spinning top!

How to make an experimental mini electric guitar

I found an old bed in the garbage. I think it was pine wood. I decided to make a mini guitar with it.

First of all I used a handsaw and a chisel to cut the bed’s post to more manageable pieces and to disassemble the whole thing.

I then jointed two thick pieces with my hand plane and glued them together.

The bed had a cylindrical part. I mounted that on the lathe and reduced it’s thickness to create my guitar’s fretboard.

I planed the glued the boards straight. To remove more material I planed the boards across the grain. Then I smoothed the surface, going parallel to the grain of the wood.

I then drew my guitar’s body, and cut the basic shape on the bandsaw.

To remove the saw marks and to finish the shaping of the body, I used my spokeshave, rasps and sand paper.

I then routed out the place for the pickup. I did that in several passes in order to go deep enough.

I also used the router to open up a space for the electric parts on the back. I connected all the champers by drilling holes. To open up the whole for the jack I used my step drill bit.

I covered some imperfections with wood filler, and sanded over it after it was dry.

Using my table saw and a cross cut sled, I cut out two lap joints for the guitar’s neck.

I then planed down a thinner piece of the bed to act as my headstock. I cut it’s basic shape on the bandsaw and shaped it with a rasp and sandpaper.

I glued the neck on the fret board. 

Out of a piece of plywood I made the pickup’s mounting base. I cut it’s shape on the bandsaw. I removed the inner piece on my scroll saw. I shaped it with my rasp. I drilled all the holes for the screws on the drill press and counter sinked the ones on the edges.

I then glued the neck on the guitar’s body. 

Using a hacksaw I cut a scrap metal piece, to act as my jack plate. I drilled holes on it on the drill press. I used a tap in the middle hole to create threads. This way the jack is screwed on it. I mounted the plate on a vise and hammered it to give it a curve to match the curve of my guitar’s body.

I shaped the headstock using my draw knife, a number 1 rasp, a number 2 rasp and sandpaper.

After the glue was dry, I secured the headstock and the fretboard in place with screws. To add the screws I predrilled some pilot holes and then counter sinked them so the screws sit flat.

For keys I used a pair of old guitar keys I had from an old guitar. I cut them to size with my hacksaw and shaped them on my grinder. 

I then used a saw and a file to cut a notch on the fret board for the nut.

I sprayed a primer to all the parts. After it was dry I light sanded with 300 grit sandpaper.

I then sprayed on the color coats.

I mounted a piece of wood on the lathe and turned a knob for the volume pot. I used a skew chisel and a spindle gouge. To drill the hole in the middle with accuracy I did it also on the lathe.

I wanted the front of the headstock to be black, so I masked the neck with blue masking tape and painted it over.

I finished everything with a few coats of clear varnish.

My electric connections were pretty easy. I used a wiring diagram for a humbucker and a volume and soldered all the parts together. I connected the electric parts temporarily and tested them out on a small amp. I taped the pickup with a metal piece and if it created a sound on the amp, the pickup worked.

I then made the bridge and nut from a piece of hardwood. I cut their shapes on the bandsaw and shaped them on the disc sander. For the bridge I also cut a metal piece with a hacksaw and shaped it on the grinder. Both pieces had to match the radius of the fretboard.

Now it was time for assembly. Most of this procedure was drilling pilot holes and screwing things in place.

I also added two string guides on the headstock.

The stings are mounted on the guitar’s body through two holes. In order for the strings not to hurt the wood, I hammered four rivet heads in place.

I used a small V file to open up grooves for the strings, on the bridge and nut.

For fret I used zip ties. To find their right position, I used an online fret calculator app. The important thing here, is to measure the distance from nut to bridge. I marked the distances of the frets (from the nut ) and added the zip ties exactly before the mark. 

One important thing I did not showed in the video is that I remade the pickup’s base from thicker plywood. This way the pickup sits much closer to the strings and this increased it’s volume and sound quality, pretty much. You can only see this important detail at the end of the video where I play the guitar.

My guitar was ready rock at this point, I hope you liked it.