Remember this....... ??
Often council tip finds end up as useful items.
This one on the other hand, though "impressive" is only cosmetic in potential.
When I put it in my car, without it hitting the ground, I did not realize it had slots in for swords.
I thought it would be a cool thing to hang up above the wood burner I have fitted in the garage.
Of course that is where one starts..... then you lose control.
So I removed the black backing and made a new one, using a 1.2 X 1,4 meter sheet of hardboard I had stashed for some time.
Decided to change the backing colours while I was at it.
Then this morning I made a "Stencil" to be able to paint the accents to the stretchy bits..... cut a groove into some knotty pine ceiling plank.
The rest of the plank was used to make tow "blades" for the swords.
Initially I had planned to just do a very simple pair, but as I progressed the complexity increased, typical.
Fortunately the bandsaw is perfect for this sort of work.
Now every now and then I get a silly grin on my face, for various reasons... today it was the electric planer I bought from ALDI years ago, rarely used, but to get the two blades shaped into a typical double sided cutting edge associated with large swords, Claymores etc, I got to use the planer to get the edges.
Next up, back into the woodshed to turn a couple of handles, and make a handle with a pommel as well as a cross guard.
Then to split them I made up a quick guide using a couple of clamps and a bit of pallet plank.
Putting the bits together started to make me grin......
Next up to retrieve the silver paint I bought years ago for 50p on a B&Q sale. The gold was also bought at the same sale.
The blades got two coats of silver.
Handle, Pommel and Cross-guard got a couple of coats of Danish Oil and then I used an old cosmetic jewelry to decorate it.
The leather strips came from Nicola's UGG Boots.
I also added some decoration to the tops of the blades.
Finally done.
I had a good laugh as I was pretty pleased with the outcome overall.
Swords just on their own.
Trust you like them.
So next job is to hang it and hope the heat from the chimney does not set it alight.