Kuksa Cup

I was thinking for a long time what to give to my Viking friend for birthday when a kuksa came to my mind.

I bought some fire wood and draw an upper and side view.

Making the inner shape with a U-chisel was quite a pleasant work - the chisel is not from a regular shop and it is wide enough to make the work quite fast.

When I had the shape, it seemed too small for a cup to me, so I widened the inner circle and restarted again.

Lovely!

I spent a lot of time suffering with a hand saw to make these three cuts :-D

And the same applies for my little axe to get the rough shape.

The final shape was done with a big straight chisel. There is always a "pig nose" left at the front where the threads are perpendicular. When I was trying to cut it away, the kuksa cracked at several spots. I should have been more patiend and/or use a saw insead of chisel. The hands are not as gentle as they should be after a few hours with chisel and hard wood...

A new try...

After a few more tries (OMG).

Very hard beech wood.

I bought a rasp disc for my angle grinder and put it to a stand. This was like a dream compared to working with an axe!

I also used a japanese saw instead a regular one. I don't know why I have so much trouble with other saws getting stuck in the wood, this one fits me and I don't have a problem with it.

I cut it off and carefully did as much with the grinder as possible.

I put a driller in a stand the wrong way :-) and put in a rasp bit to make the shape of the ear.

The eye was drilled out starting with small holes.

After the shaping was done, I took out the sharp edges which gave it a nice finishing touch

Vikings decorated almost everything, so I cut a knotwork at the top with a carving knife. First I cut out the drawn shape and it seemed quite nice but beginner-like. With taking away sharp edges, it started to look proper.

Finished kuksa.

The ear is surprisingly comfortable.

Viking Spoon

I've made a few spoons from wood, but they all were really simple and not well done.

This is my first try for a decorated spoon. The morning I decided to make it, I went out to the forest and found out it has been raining :-D So I spent a lot of time and chose a stick that would look neither rotten nor soaking with water. Unfortunately some part inside was rotten anyway and it went off during carving.

 I usually keep the spoon on the stick as long as possible and cut it off as the last step so that I could hold it better. I traced the design with a roller pen and after carving removed the marks with a chisel. I'm looking forward to make the next one from proper dried wood :)

Weapon Wall Display

 I've got a new bow and I couldn't wait to give it a worthy place to stay at. Even though it is a recurve bow, it's still quite long, so I couldn't find a board long enough in the shop. I bought three pine planks and glued them together with pegs. Having only meter long clamps for a meter and half long board I had to manage somehow, and I'm proud of my solution :-D

I traced the edges - all curves come from some part of my beautiful bow. The edges are decorated simply with use of U-shaped chisel. I wanted to gouge the board through the whole width, but I ended making only small eyes, because I found out it is very difficult to do this at the vertical sides due to the direction of grain. All the cuts and the decoration are sanded.

One layer of transparent paint, sand, second layer of paint.

Mounting this wall hanging with six screws all by myself was a chalenge and I'm aware not all the screws are in wall plugs. But victory is mine anyway :-)

I like my sewing workroom even more now. All things that I love at one place!

Alto Recorder Renewed

I bought a second-hand wooden alto recorder, I'd only had a plastic one.

It didn't look very well with the old chipped laquer.

I used two grit sizes to remove it completely.

Finaly I just wiped it all with an olive oil.

We named her Beauty :-)

Wooden USB Flash Drive - Celtic Knot

I saw a nice video tutorial on making a wooden flash card and wanted to try out - I'll make one for my beloved husband :-)

I took a lath, cut out two pieces with a circular saw. I had a faulty piece of wood where a bit of bark was left, which I found ideal for my flash card. I made inner side flat on a sandpaper, using only big grain.

I outlined the bougt flash card. I've chosen one with a hole so that the card could not be pulled out from the wooden case.

The longer side of chise is used for the vertical outlines, then I flipped the chisel and removed the material on angle towards the cut outline.

I made a slot at both the pieces. I accidentaly tore out a piece at the front. I wish I repaired it then...

No matter.

I used a hot glue to set the flash card in place. This fullfils any space that's left, especially around the hole. I used a glue for wood to attach the inner sides together.

I clamped it between two laths for the glue to dry out.

The wrapper piece seemed too thick to me so I carefully removed the excess with a chisel. I like the V-shaped pattern at the side.

I sanded all the sides and the edges too. Not very much fun, but with good TV series, not a big deal :-)

I drew a simple celtic knot and I removed the wood around it.

Then I took more precise chisels and cut out all the little curved areas, always using the longer side for outline, flipping the chisel and removing the wood with the other side of blade.

I covered the metal part with a paper tape, hanged on a wire and sprayed on several layers of transparent laquer, letting each layer dry perfectly. Here it is.

Ironing Board Sleeve - Finished

I drew the shape of the upper part to the treshold that is not carved. I got a new electrical saw - I attached the wood to the table and cut it carefully. I was surprised that I had to press quite strongly forwards. And downwards when the saw was slowing down.

I glued both smaller wood pieces, let them dry a bit and pressed together to form a T.

I marked the holes, drilled them with a narrow drill. Then I put the pieces together and drilled them through with the same narrow drill. I widened all the lower holes with a bigger drill and two of the upper ones two. I glued the pieces, put them together and fastened with two screws. Then I widened the rest of the holes and put in all the screws.

 I laid the arm to the wadding and drew the outline. I cut it twice, then cut two more layers with allowance for the sides and the biggest piece from twill with about three more centimeters of allowance.

I folded the edges and hammered a few nails. The fabric must be tightened well on the arm.

When I had some of the nails on the place, I added quite a lot of them in the gaps.

At the back, I even nailed the fabric under the upper layer for the fold to hold well on place.

When I was adding the stand, I put it on with two screws already sticking out - this helped me to lodge them to the right place :)

When this happens, you either charge the power screwdriver to full battery and try to drill it out, or take a pair of pliers and take it out with a bit of swinging.

I love this tool! You need to make conical holes for the screw heads to dive.

The V-shaped cut in the middle lets the sleeves and legs to be ironed at the very back of the board.

Ironing Board Sleeve - Heart Finished

I had the basic heart shape and I drew a symmetrical floral pattern inside.

I started carving out the outline between the heart frame and the flower outline.

Always, the outline must be cut with the chisel held vertically.

Then the chisel is taken at angle and the wood is removed, never going below the cut outline.

Outlines done.

The inner structure of leaves is done similarly, just the vertical cut is done just at one side to create shading.

Using only U-shaped (and quite big) chisel is tough sometimes :-) For V-shaped lines I always use the edge of chisel so that the V is sharp and smooth.

Carving is finished.