What We're Making

[davemartin88]

There an awfully lot of talented individuals that sometimes post pictures of things they have made, thought it might be nice to have a thread to pull them together. Food, crafts, painting, woodworking, your call, feel free to send along a picture.

I'll start with a couple of Christmas presents I'm making. First is a tree ornament with a lithograph of our sons cat which died this year. He asked me to make this for his girlfriend. First is the litho hanging in a window, second is the ornament hanging on our tree.

Here's a box I made using the CNC router. Emulates chip carving and is made from walnut and box elder. Design looks to be versatile and easy to change the size. I'm looking in to making these to use for a pet urn as I've had a couple of people ask me to make something along these lines.

Looking forward to seeing your photos.

 

[Nodak]

Wow! Very nice.

 

[tinlizzy]

I'm trying my hand at amigurumi.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[davemartin88]

I like those!

 

[LauAnn]

Cute bears.

 

[2017ish]

...
Here's a box I made using the CNC router. Emulates chip carving and is made from walnut and box elder. Design looks to be versatile and easy to change the size. I'm looking in to making these to use for a pet urn as I've had a couple of people ask me to make something along these lines.
...

wow. Very cool. I thought I'd done some reasonably impressive trim work with my router table. CNC router is now bookmarked for sometime after I retire!

 

[LauAnn]

I've made miniature furniture for years.

 

[davemartin88]

Would love to understand more about how these miniatures are made. Any photos of work in progress?

 

[jfn111]

Very nice!

 

[davemartin88]

wow. Very cool. I thought I'd done some reasonably impressive trim work with my router table. CNC router is now bookmarked for sometime after I retire!

Happy to share information about my set up when you're ready. I'm using a Shark Pro HD router now but have a CAMaster Stinger II on order which gives up to a 4' x 4' work space.

 

[LauAnn]

Would love to understand more about how these miniatures are made. Any photos of work in progress?

Sorry, no pics of work in progress. When I first started, I used patterns from miniature making books of which there are quite a few. But I quickly moved beyond that and started making my own patterns on graph paper. Basically, the only thing you really need to understand is that one-twelfth scale is the industry norm for dollhouses. i.e. 1 foot in real life equals 1 inch in miniature. So if a table is 18 inches X 24 inches in real life, it needs to measure 1.5 inches X 2 inches in miniature to look right.

Real Life -> miniature
1 foot = 1 inch
6 inches = .5 inch
3 inches = .25 inch
1.5 inches = 1/8 inch
.75 inch = 1/16 inch
.37 inch = 1/32 inch

I started out using bass wood and staining it. But for quality pieces, it is so much nicer to use walnut or cherry. Mahogany is nice too. I don't plane my own wood rather I purchase it from hobby stores. 3 inches wide by 24 inches long is the norm, and 1/4, 3/32, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 are the thicknesses I like to keep on hand. You can usually different diameter dowels too. But toothpicks and city chicken sticks work too.

I knew a guy who did quality work with just a pocket knife. He even dovetailed his drawers. I don't go to that level of authenticity.

I use a Dremel tool for drilling and have a small table saw with a 3/8 inch arbor(?) for cutting straight pieces. I also have a small Dremel jig saw for curves. Also a 8" lathe, but rarely use it.

 

[Ronstar]

Wow - great stuff here!

 

[walkinwood]

You guys are impressive!
I made footprints in the snow today.

 

[LitGal]

All of these projects are amazing! Thanks for posting the pictures. They inspire me to return to my ho-hum little sewing projects............nothing really worth photographing. Just a few practical Christmas and baby gifts.

I would never have the patience or stamina to take on the projects shared here. Kudos to you all!!

 

[Backpacker]

LauAnn Those miniatures are amazing! I am much more of rough carpenter than a finish carpenter although I'd love to be able to do something like that.

 

[haha]

Beautiful work from all of you.

Ha

 

[LauAnn]

LauAnn Those miniatures are amazing! I am much more of rough carpenter than a finish carpenter although I'd love to be able to do something like that.

Thanks. Believe it or not, it was a hobby I started when I was 21 years old. I had just started working full-time and was looking for something to do on my lunch hour to kill time so I went to the library down the block. There was a book laying out and it caught my eye. It was a book on how to make miniature furniture. I fell in love instantly. Went home and raided all the junk drawers and before the night was out made a croquet set out of toothpicks (for the mallet handles), an arrow (for the mallets), and a string of beads (for the balls). My mother was immediately hooked too. It was a hobby we enjoyed together for many years.

 

[LauAnn]

All of these projects are amazing! Thanks for posting the pictures. They inspire me to return to my ho-hum little sewing projects............nothing really worth photographing. Just a few practical Christmas and baby gifts.

I would never have the patience or stamina to take on the projects shared here. Kudos to you all!!

I just got a sewing machine and a lap frame weaving loom two weeks ago because I wanted to get into the fiber arts. In the past week I made my first wall hanging and crazy quilt block. I'm stocking up on yarn and material!

 

[Live And Learn]

Wow ! Such talent here. Great thread idea

 

[kneehigh]

You guys are impressive!
I made footprints in the snow today.

Not as impressive, but I made footprints with my new asics trail runner shoes in a socal pavement yesterday. :9

 

[Marita40]

This is a timely thread because I have a question for all you crafters. You all do amazing work! I used to be crafty in my day--I think many of us were as we all sewed our own clothes, etc. Way back in elementary school I made these salt dough Christmas ornaments. They have held up marvelously for 40+ years! However, the tree hanger that was inserted in each character's head before the dough was baked has rusted and fallen out over the years. In the photos you'll see only one or two with it still there. I'd love to restore these so I can hang them on the tree but can't figure out how to do so. I tried gorilla glue and a ribbon loop on their backs but just stuck my fingers together The figures are about 4" tall and heavy. I am quite sure I can't attempt to insert anything like a small nail or such or they will shatter. Their backs are also uneven so a very small Command strip hanger won't stick.
Anyway, just proud of my handiwork in 7th grade and any advice would be welcome! I love seeing your projects! One of my retirement goals is to return to my former crafty self.

 

[davemartin88]

I remember making these years ago. How about drilling a small hole at the top? I would think that some 5 minute epoxy to hold a loop of ribbon would also work, sets up quickly and cleans up easily with alcohol pads while wet?

 

[davemartin88]

I just got a sewing machine and a lap frame weaving loom two weeks ago because I wanted to get into the fiber arts. In the past week I made my first wall hanging and crazy quilt block. I'm stocking up on yarn and material!

Looking forward to seeing some pictures of your fiber work. We do a bit of spinning and weaving here as well as we have 9 alpacas that are sheared each year. More fiber than we can process ourselves but winter is when we make the most progress. It's very relaxing to sit with a spinning wheel when it's cold outside and make yarn. My DW uses a treadle wheel and I have one that is motorized so all I have to do is feed and draft the fiber- plus it is small enough to set on my lap so I can spin while watching football or hockey! Have posted pictures of some yarn we've made in the past.

Thanks to all for the pictures so far- this isn't about comparing work so don't be shy to post a shot of what you're doing. Practical things like clothes are interesting as well, at least to me, lol.

 

[Philliefan33]

To fix the salt dough ornaments, you could try a embedding a wire hanger in blob of hot glue on the back of the ornament.

BTW, I like them.

 

[Philliefan33]

Here's a couple of quick photos of a quilt I recently completed. I did not do the quilting (sent it to a long-armer) since I have trouble handling the large quilts on my regular home machine.

The quilt top was pieced entirely from scraps in my stash. I started it last winter, when I was stuck in the house during a snowstorm so couldn't get out to the fabric store. Turned out to be a win-win: freed up some shelf space and gained a fun scrappy quilt in the process.