Its Wanderful Part 2 The Begining

Having reviewed the wands with three (3) fellow woodworkers, and having been given solid advice by all three (3) of them, I was still not completely sure how I was going to make the wands. Yet, since I had been  procrastinating like a pro, I decided the time had come buy the lumber and start the making if I was to have any chance of finishing them by the movie premiere. As I’m not familiar with any good local hardwood dealers and the project itself was enough stress, I went to my go-to source for nice wood, Bell Forrest Products. Though I had received advice on good carving woods, I completely ignored everything I’d been told and ordered me up five (5) 1.5”x1.5”x18” turning blanks of hard maple. I know . . . this didn’t make for easy shaping.

Heres a somewhat random picture of the walnut book stand I made for the
2010 Sawdust Chronicles Fall Build Challenge. It doesnt have anything
to do with the wands, but I like it and I dont have any photos relevant
to this stage in the wand saga.

About the same time as I ordered the wood for the wands, I also was lucky enough to have my Slide Out Storage Cabinet featured in the Tools of the Trade section of Popular Woodworking Magazine. The Lee Valley gift certificate I received as a result was put to good use. I ordered a spokeshave, rasp and cabinet scraper. Finally, having received all the advice I could manage and with tools and wood in hand, it was time to start making some wands. The first thing I did was take one of the blanks, and turn it into an octagon by cutting off the corners on the table saw. I then went crazy with my new spokeshave and turned it into a dowel, about ¾” in diameter. Though useless as a wand, this first test piece was set aside for carving practice and dye and finish experimentation.

How did you finally start that project youve been procrastinating about?

Its Wanderful Part 1