Router: Tamed

So I took the things I had diagrammed yesterday back home and worked on the project again. I think I was doing something wrong, but I still can't figure out what. I haven't changed my methods, but now it seems to be working. Wonder of wonders. So I'll be finishing up that bottle rack shortly, I think. I have decided to go with mitered corners with splines to reinforce. It will still be visually interesting but will hopefully be much easier to do than the finger joints. Once I have it constructed, I'll be staining it and then adding all the other goodies. I'm going to get all holes drilled before I stain so I don't have to go back and re-stain.

I need to get the brass bars I have planned for it cut and installed, too. I'm not quite sure how I want to do the whole thing yet, but we'll see. I may use various bits I have combined with glues and whatnot to make the whole thing look neat without being too much of a pain. I'll try to take more pictures of my progress as I go. I'll definitely take some pictures of it before assembly and before staining so you can see how it all looks.

I also have a big day planned for Sunday. We're helping a young friend of ours with her Halloween costume. We're making her a Darth Revan mask and probably a cloak. If you're unfamiliar, Darth Revan is a central character in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Here's a picture of the mask:



You can see that it's mostly featureless. Oddly, this is tougher than the alternative. In order to get a good fit for her, we'll need to take a plaster cast of her face. We'll also need to get and mix some plaster to pour into that mold to get ourselves a positive mold of her face. Once we have that, we can sculpt the mask on top of the base with clay and it will fit her. Using another face as a base will invariably lead to less-than-ideal fit. So we're hoping to get the mold of her face done and the positive mold poured on Sunday. If we have time we'll also try to demold and put some clay on the face. I'd love to have it set the way she likes it before I leave. That way I can make another mold of it and then work on the fiberglass. This is going to be a very serious mask. She's a very cool little kid and she's certainly going to appreciate the quality of the piece. Even if she doesn't wear it again, I can see her hanging it on her wall or something. It will also be a great opportunity for me to work on my mask-making skills. I think i have quite a bit of work to do in that regard, but this is a relatively simple piece so I think it will be good to practice.

That's about it for now. I'll take pictures of the mask-making process as well so you can see what we're doing and how. Enjoy!