pulleyt
Established Member
One thing I've really enjoyed is being able to make presents for the family at Christmas - it sure beats shopping!
We had a short holiday in Stockholm one November and several shops had some fabulous Father Christmas figures which were such a simple but highly effective design. So the first September in retirement I got going on that year's 'Christmas cards'. Take a simple 25mm square length of wood (made from my maple offcuts of course) and cut a 60 degree face diagonally to form a rhombus and paint as below. Each set comprises one short, two medium and one tall figure. In all I made over 360 figures so had quite a production line going. Each set was wrapped up in a custom covering and then given as a 'perpetual' one-off christmas card - i'm not good at sending cards usually!
I bought the plans for a snail money box from Christopher Blasius' HolzMechanik site. I'd found a video of his moneybox online when I was researching automata and thought it would be a good introduction to scrolling as well as a first attempt at automata which is my long term interest (once all the household jobs are completed).
I made one each for our sons. The link to Christopher Blasius above has a video of the operation of the money bank.
My early christmas present to myself was an Excalibur Scroll saw from Axminster
Another technique I'd seen on YouTube was scroll saw inlay which I was also keen to try. My partner got a jewellery box with, unfortunately for her, my silhouette on the lid. This was made with walnut and maple and the major inspiration for the design came from Steve Ramsey.
I spend too much time on YouTube and I'd seen Matthias Wandel making a bandsaw Reindeer. I decided to make some scroll saw reindeers, again trying to use up more maple offcuts.
Finally, last year I made a nativity scene for my partner who had often admired various nativity scenes over the years. The inspiration came from a thin sheet of natural edged yew which resembled a rolling hillscape. I added a bit of Christmas bling in the form of LED strings to illuminate the star and to cast a red shadow behind the stable scene.
Now the pressure is on to come up with an idea for next Christmas.
We had a short holiday in Stockholm one November and several shops had some fabulous Father Christmas figures which were such a simple but highly effective design. So the first September in retirement I got going on that year's 'Christmas cards'. Take a simple 25mm square length of wood (made from my maple offcuts of course) and cut a 60 degree face diagonally to form a rhombus and paint as below. Each set comprises one short, two medium and one tall figure. In all I made over 360 figures so had quite a production line going. Each set was wrapped up in a custom covering and then given as a 'perpetual' one-off christmas card - i'm not good at sending cards usually!
I bought the plans for a snail money box from Christopher Blasius' HolzMechanik site. I'd found a video of his moneybox online when I was researching automata and thought it would be a good introduction to scrolling as well as a first attempt at automata which is my long term interest (once all the household jobs are completed).
I made one each for our sons. The link to Christopher Blasius above has a video of the operation of the money bank.
My early christmas present to myself was an Excalibur Scroll saw from Axminster
Another technique I'd seen on YouTube was scroll saw inlay which I was also keen to try. My partner got a jewellery box with, unfortunately for her, my silhouette on the lid. This was made with walnut and maple and the major inspiration for the design came from Steve Ramsey.
I spend too much time on YouTube and I'd seen Matthias Wandel making a bandsaw Reindeer. I decided to make some scroll saw reindeers, again trying to use up more maple offcuts.
Finally, last year I made a nativity scene for my partner who had often admired various nativity scenes over the years. The inspiration came from a thin sheet of natural edged yew which resembled a rolling hillscape. I added a bit of Christmas bling in the form of LED strings to illuminate the star and to cast a red shadow behind the stable scene.
Now the pressure is on to come up with an idea for next Christmas.
