How I carved the Pontian

I created this carving on a piece of tilia ( or lime) tree.

First of all I made a basic sketch of the idea I wanted to carve.

Then I transferred the design on the wood.

Using the V tool I carved around the figure. Then with a flat number 4 gouge I lowered the background. I repeated this process several times, until I reached the depth that I wanted.

Then using the V tool and the number 4 I tried to establish the basic forms of the figure.

I used the number 8 tool to created a few big curves on the piece.

Then with the number 4 and the V gouge I worked more on details. I also used a smaller V and other tools trying to match the angles and curves of my design.

I started sanding with 80 grit sandpaper, moved to 150 and 240.

I applied a coat of water based, clear, satin varnish. 

After the first coat dried, I sanded lightly with 1000 grit to smooth the raised grain of the wood.

I applied 4 coats of the varnish, with sanding between them.

After about a month’s work my Pontian is ready.

Inventables are sending us an X-Carve CNC machine and scrapy is already dreaming he's playing with it!

I wanted to thank Inventables for sending me their X-Carve CNC with a new animation of Scrapy. 

How to make a mojito and a pestle for it

First of all I cut a scrap spruce piece to size with my miter box and a saw.

Then I mounted the piece on my homemade drill lathe, and used several wood turning gouges to shape the pestle.

After I was done, I sanded the piece on the lathe, and used a saw to cut it off.

Finally I branded the pestle with the word “Mojito” using my wood burner.

To make a nice mojito you need fresh mint.

I added to my glass 5 mint leaves and two spoonfuls of brown sugar.

I then cut a lime in half and added half of it’s juice to the mixture.

I crashed the mint leaves gently with the pestle in order to release the mint’s flavors.

I added ice and the quantity of rum I like.

I filled the glass with soda water.

I added a few more mint leaves, a lime slice and a straw.

My Mojito was ready, bottoms up!

How to make a wood castle tea light holder

I had a piece of log (I think it is sour orange tree) laying around and I decided to make this candle holder. I wanted it to look like a haunted tower. 

First of all I cut the log to size with a saw, while holding it on my vise.

Then I used a carving gouge to remove the bark.

I used the saw again to create a starting point for my axe.

Then with an axe and a hammer I spilt the log in half.

I made a few along the grain cuts with my saw and then used a chisel to remove big pieces of wood.

I used the carving gouge to smooth the inside a little bit.

I hand planed the outer side.

I used a round scraper to smooth things inside the piece a little bit.

With a small coping saw I made the along the grain cuts of the battlements. Then I used a chisel to carve out the rest.

For the windows I removed some material by drilling a couple of holes. Then I carved out the rest with chisels and gouges.

I glued the piece. I trimmed the outer side with a mini luthiers plane.

In a scrap plywood piece I made a few traces with a pencil and cut out the base on the scroll saw.

I glued the base pieces together.

I sanded the piece with 100 grit sand paper.

I wanted my castle to be haunted so I carved out a few cracks with a v chisel and a woodcarving gouge.

I stained the piece with water based wood stain in the color of walnut.

My little castle is ready! 

DIY message in a wood bottle!

I wanted a quick and creative little project, so I came up with this wood turned bottle.

First of all I mounted a scrap piece of spruce on my homemade drill lathe. 

I roughly made my piece cylindrical, and then using my woodturning gouges I gave it the basic shape of a bottle.

Then I sanded the piece on the lathe starting with 80 grit sand paper and then moving on to 150 grit.

In order to place my secret message in the bottle I had to make an against the grain hole. So I did that by drilling with a small drill bit and then gradually moving on to bigger ones.

I mounted an old wine cork I had on my drill lathe’s chuck. I mounted the chuck on my drill press and sanded it with 80 grit sandpaper to shape it to the size I wanted it. 

I wood burned the title on the bottle, added my secret message inside and that was it.

I hope you like my little miniature wood bottle!

I want to give my special thanks to BM tools for providing me with a set of woodturning  gouges.

How to make a garden hose hanger out of pallet wood!

I found an old pallet in the garbage and I decided to make a hose hanger out of it.

First of all I disassembled the pallet using my hammer to remove the old nails. I kept only the bottom wood of the pallet because that was the only good wood on it.

I roughly joined the pieces with my block plane.

Then I cut my pieces roughly with my circular saw.

I glued the pieces together to make a panel.

Then I used my circle cutting jig and my router to cut a circle out of my panel. I used a straight bit and several light passes to avoid wood burns.

Then using a hand saw I cut the circle in half. 

I used my block plane to round over all the edges and to make things straighter when needed.

I cut a few more pallet wood with a hand saw on my miter box, to create the inside cleats.

I rounded over the cleat’s outer edges with my block plane.

I glued the piece together. To increase the strength of the piece I drilled a few pilot holes, I chamfered the edges and added screws.

I also drilled the holes for the mounting.

I lightly sanded the piece and then I applied a few coats of water based wood stain in the color of walnut.

I set my drill to hammer mode and I drilled the hole on the wall using a bit for wall drilling.

Then I hammered in the upat using my mallet and using screws I mounted the piece on the wall.

My garden hose hanger is ready!

I want to give my special thanks to BM tools for the garden hose. 

DIY led lighted sign for the home cinema

I decided to make this sign out of plywood, MDF and led strip.

First of all I used my circular saw to cut the pieces for my frame out of MDF.

Then I used a hand saw and my miter box to make the cross cuts.

I glued the frame and clamped it with my farm clamp.

For more strength I also screwed the frame.

I also glued four blocks of wood to add more strength and have a place for the back to sit on.

I designed the layout of my sign and printed it out as a template. I joined the pieces of the template and glued them on a piece of plywood with spray glue.

I drilled the starting holes on my drill press and cut out the areas I didn’t want on my scroll saw.

I used rust oil remover to remove the template.

I filed and sanded the top.

I glued the top on the base.

I flushed trimmed the top using my router and a flush trim bit.

I used a rounded rasp to make a place for the wire.

I added the led strip. I secured it by adding hot glue with my hot glue gun.

I painted the piece with two coats of red latex color and then added a couple of coats of clear satin water based varnish.

I connected all the wires with the power source and then solder it with the led strip.

I secured all the wires and the power supply in place with hot glue.

My sign is ready, all I need is pop corn and a good movie to watch!

I decided to call my home cinema “Cine Romanzo”!