The "Obscenely Belated Christmas" Post!

I realize it is early April, but free time to write about woodworking, let alone actually wood-working, is harder to come by these days. I have a few projects on the queue so hopefully I will be able to finish (start more likely) them so I can post their (hopeful) awesomeness. But for now I have a Christmas project to tell you all about that I was very happy with.

This year, like most years, we had no money. So we wanted to give gifts that actually meant something and that were fiscally responsible; giving something that required honing a skill that expressed care and time instead of cash. I obviously opted to make something in my wood-shop, but what? I eventually settled with something of a seasonal theme. I just needed a band saw and the skill to draw. I possessed one of those things. If you remember from a previous post, I can't draw.

But I did my best and eventually became contented with the results after a few misfires. I then used a birthday present from my fabulous mother in order to get it sized correctly, duplicated, and printed. It is called a Scanner Mouse. It is a scanner....that's a mouse. Yeah. It worked great! So the end result was this:

I used photoshop to size it to the right dimensions and printed her out. I then cut out a set and glued them to a piece of oak stock. I chose a strong oak due to weak points in the antlers. 

At face value this probably doesn't seem all that difficult (as I thought at first). Just follow the lines with the bandsaw and don't saw off any digits. Well it became apparent fairly quickly that to follow all the lines means cutting off the template on the other side. So in other words I had to use my brain (dang it) and plan my cuts carefully. 

I started with the antlers and made my way down the animal. 

You may notice inconsistencies from picture to picture. Deal. I made more than one. 

And then finally in order to get the rest of it I eventually had to saw off a side completely and then I taped it back on in order to finish the other dimension. 

Here is one rough cut and unsanded:

Now those antlers gave me A LOT of grief I will have you know. A few that I made just completely snapped off during sanding/filing, or they just broke off from me dropping it on the cement. It has weak...points. Many attempts to glue them back together gave way to our finished product. (Case in point: on my way to write this post from the basement with rough sanded reindeer in hand, I misstepped and whopped off the large antlers. #@$!@&!!!)

But First! As with most if not all of my projects I get a kick from showing you the derelict versions of my projects that are the rough drafts if you will. This was my first reindeer:

This one was the product of a very poorly squared bandsaw. From this picture you can't see how bad it really is. Trust me it was bad. This one I dropped ....antlers....off.

Now with the good reindeer all made and sanded neatly, I decided to give it some stain to accent it a bit. But then I decided on something crazy; I added some accessories to my little friends. It's pretty amazing what you can find at a craft store!

The Final Product!

Ta DA!

"hey."

Yes I made them harnesses. I used fake leather and brass chain links for the harness. I asked a little old lady that worked there if they had tiny bells. She responded, "Of course we have teeny tiny bells!!" Ok. Now I know. They make a delightful impish jingling when prompted.

Well there you have it! Maybe next time I will make a whole team with a sleigh. Who knows. 

PAX

Neil