Bow before Zod!

Well really, it should be "Kneel before Zod" but that totally misses the "bow" pun, doesn't it? I have started working on bows. I know, it's been a long time since I posted that I was going to. I got the wood, traced the pattern onto it and then let it sit for weeks. Then I started cutting out the shapes with the bandsaw and really messed it up hard. So I got a second piece of wood, traced the shapes onto it, tightened the bandsaw blade and cut it out, this time meeting with marginal success. I smoothed everything down with a rasp and thumb plane (my little green work pony) and got it more or less how I wanted it. I glued the riser to the bow, so now I just need to mark that out and cut to the lines. You'll notice no pictures. Partly, this is because I figured I'd be messing up a lot and wanted to get pictures of a bow that I could be proud of. Good thing, too.

So anyhow, it seems to be going well so far. I'll let you all know what I think about it as I get farther along.

Halloween: Complete

Halloween was a pretty big success. I got my coat and walking stick completed, got Jenna's skirt and jacket completed and got our friend's mask as done as I could. I'm going to refinish it for her. I may do another coat of resin on the outside to help smooth out the imperfections. I'll be sanding, priming, painting, etc as well. Now that I'm not up against a deadline, I can really spend some time being picky about it and making sure I like it. I could honestly even just re-glass the thing if doing the rest of it turns out to be too much of a pain.

So my next projects are finishing the mask and getting some work done on bow-making. I'm going to run a simple class on making bows from lumber. I'm going to have to make a complete one for myself to make sure I know how to do it, then make several other bows to various stages so I can run my class without getting to the "and now the glue dries" stage. I'll be taking lots of pictures of everything while I'm working on it, for sure.

Walking Stick: Complete

The walking stick is all the way done. No pics just yet, but I'll get some soon. The E6000 glue is freakin' amazing. I was worried about the ball falling off if I looked at it funny but it is rock solid. I've been turning the thing every which way, even upside down and it's fine. I think I'll still be careful with it, but it's good to know I don't need to be concerned about the ball falling off if I lean it against a wall or something.

Also got Jenna's skirt almost all done (need to hem) and her coat almost all done (just needs buttons) so I'm ready to get on with my own coat. It's a short week so I'm hoping to have enough time to get it all done. I may take a half day of work tomorrow or something. We're supposed to get a bunch of snow so I could even have a semi-legit excuse.

Oh, look! A new hobby!

So my wife found something yesterday called Chip Carving. I'm sure I'd seen things done with it before but never really knew what it was or how it was done. We ran over to the local woodworking store (yes, we totally have one of those) and picked up a couple carving knives and a sharpening stone. We also hit the hobby shop and grabbed a big basswood plaque. Basswood is apparently the greatest thing ever for carving. Good to know.

Here's the site where we're getting most of our info: My Chip Carving

There are lots of videos from this guy on Youtube and you probably have some books at the library you could check out, too. It's really just a neat way to decorate wood. I'll need to find a decent source for basswood if we keep going with this but it's certainly a beautiful decoration even if we just use smaller pieces.

Out of my hands

Okay, I dropped the mask off with the recipient yesterday, so the remainder is out of my hands. She and her parents are going to do some foam padding, some paint and glue some ribbons into it to tie it on, so I'll definitely be getting pictures of the finished project. Here are the last few pictures of the mask before I left it. *Sniffle* I'll miss that mask.

This is the visor we'll have taped in there. It's made of a clear report cover with some automotive window tint film applied to it. It's cheap, easy, makes a good color and is flexible enough to be taped into place. For larger projects where I have a lot more time to work, I would still prefer to do a bent piece of tinted acrylic, but this is a great solution for a quick fix.


And there's our Revan! The mask fit her pretty much perfectly, I have to say. If I had it to do over, I would've made the chin a bit longer to allow for more movement of the mouth inside the mask, but it isn't bad as it stands. I'm so excited to see it with paint on it!

Tada!

Here's the actual mask itself, after long last.









Looks a bit messy right now. I'll clean it up, fill the void spots, maybe get a coat of black paint on it or something and then take some more pics. Still, I'm very pleased. It's not very thick or heavy so it should be comfy to wear for a while. For things I make for myself later on, I'll probably do two coats of cloth and a few of mat to get a real thick, heavy piece. I like some weight to my projects because I tend to bash into stuff a lot.

Through a fiberglass, darkly

Well the moment of truth arrived last night. I laid the fiberglass into the mold and started the drying process. This is where we get to see whether all the sculpting and molding and casting and everything actually works out. I'm really hoping that it does, and that this mask will be awesome.

I was a bit worried last night and this morning, as the resin didn't seem to be drying at all. It was just sitting there, staying sticky. I used a lot of resin because fiberglass cloth is very thirsty, and I used what I though was an appropriate amount of hardener. So, I was concerned that maybe I'd messed it up somehow and it wasn't going to dry and I'd have to cut the cloth and lay it in again and all that. Ugh. thankfully, today at lunch everything appeared to be hardening up. The edges are getting significantly stiffer, which is a very good sign. It may be another few hours before the thing is really on its way to being fully hardened and I'm tempted just to leave it be until tomorrow night. We'll see how my patience is looking.

In the meantime, here are some pics of the mold with the fiberglass in it and the workspace. I felt like such a champion when I set up my station. I had popsicle sticks and disposable brushes and latex gloves all ready and waiting, had all my glass cloth cut and laid out, had my respirator, had a little cardboard box for trash and everything. Even had a tuna can for mixing the resin so I don't ruin anything I care about. The preparation really paid off in ease of work. I'll be doing that again, for sure.

This is the workspace and the mold with the glass in it. You can see that it's just a scrap piece of particle board on two saw horses, but it worked well for me. Didn't risk my nice bench top, either.

Looks nasty, right? It smells terrible. It's taking a long time to cure but I'm going to let it just air out for a good long while, too. I may suggest a clearcoat or a coat of paint on the inside of the mask as well as the outside to lock the fumes in.


So there it is! Next pics will be of it pulled out of the mold and ready for trimming.