How to make a cowboy nightlight

Today I am going to show you a couple of neat little tricks you can do using proxxon tools and a few household items.   The plan is to make a little accent piece that you could also use as a nightlight.  I am going to show you how you can bend some wood using the proxxon table saw and water.

Equipment and Supplies:

1/4" thick plywood piece large enough to fit your silhouette picture

little branch pieces  (from the yard)

small artificial tea light  (dollar  tree)

 Plaid apple barrel paint- black 20504E)

paintbrush

adhesive spray (optional)

glue or glue gun.

Proxxon mini table saw.

Proxxon scroll saw

Drill and drill bit.

around the house stuff:

pan to hold water. 

 Weight to hold the piece down (I used a can of soup)

roll of paper towel or other round object

length of cord, rope, or shoestring

The first thing I did was to choose a silhouette picture I thought would look good as a nightlight.  I chose this picture because I was thinking the light would look good as a campfire.  I cut it straight where the fire was on the picture.  We will provide our own "fire"

I used the adhesive spray to temporarily affix it to the wood.  The next step is to cut it out.  I used the proxxon scroll saw for this.  For the inside cuts I first drilled a small hole and threaded my blade through the hole.

After removing the paper from my wood, I sanded it all smooth using the Proxxon OZI/E delta sander.↗

Next, we are going to use the Proxxon mini table saw.  First I removed the splitter and blade guard and lowered the blade to about 1/8" height.  Using the miter gauge I made lengthwise parallel cuts approximately 1/2" apart.  Notice I used the flat side of the piece against the guide to keep the piece square. 

this is the backside after it was cut. 

 Notice the cuts are approximately halfway through the thickness

Next, I put my cowboy in a pan and covered him with water.  Since wood floats, I placed a weight on it to keep it submerged.  I left it there for a few hours.   This softened the wood up a little bit.  Now I could bend it around the paper towel roll.  Any round object that is big enough will do.   I secured it with a strap and left it to dry.

Now it has a nice curve

Using Plaid apple barrel paint. I painted the whole thing black.  I also painted my little artificial tea light black, and added black smudges to my little branch pieces. These I glued onto the light to look like a campfire.

When everything is dry, it's done!   Place the little light behind the cookpot.   It really looks like a campfire!   And it is going to look great in the dark!

I had fun making this.    I ALWAYS have fun making stuff with my proxxon tools.  Thank you Proxxon.  They are the perfect tools for crafters and hobbyists.!  I know I only used black paint in this project, BUT, Plaid makes so many products.     Check em out at plaidonline.com    Guaranteed you will get inspired.    Thank you Plaid.

Thank you SO much for visiting. 👍  Till next time, play safe.🔨   Carol