A Wooden Tree made with Proxxon Tools

Since I have acquired so many Proxxon Tools to make my project making easier, I have branched out in my woodworking. Take a look at this Christmas tree:


Supplies used in this project:

Proxxon Table Saw
Proxxon Delta Sander
Proxxon Drill
Plaid Ultra Dye
Plaid Folk Art Stain- 2802 Oak
Wood for the tree
Screws
Sponge brush
rags

 I started out by gathering pieces of 1x4 and laid them out and marked the cutting lines. You have to look close to see the pencil lines on each side.

I then cut out my boards using my Proxxon Table Saw.

I then laid them out on the garage floor to see how they looked and if I had cut them right. Then I used my Proxxon Delta Sander to sand out any rough spots.

I had a piece of 1x2 that I cut down to fit the tree and set it aside.

I used the Plaid Ultra Dye-Emerald to color the boards on the tree part.

I thought the color just looked luscious after it was applied and dried. I used a brush to put it on and then used a rag to wipe any extra off. One of my dogs (Buddy) came out in the garage to check things out and got into the picture.

While the dye was drying on the body of the tree, I made a base for the tree and inserted the backer stick to it and used this Plaid Stain-Oak which was water based to stain it.

After everything was dry I used screws and my Proxxon Drill to attach the main body of boards to the stand.

Didn't this tree just turn out awesome? I haven't decided as to how I'm going to use it or embellish it yet and I thought I would leave that part up to your own imagination.

It may be a little difficult to see but the tree is approximately two and one half feet high. I've really been leaning toward cutting out "Merry Christmas" in vinyl letters to put across the front and setting it in my foyer during the Christmas Season. What are your thoughts? I appreciate any and all comments left here and I can promise you that I read each one. I hope that you have all checked out Proxxon Tool website and maybe even bought yourself a tool or two. Remember Christmas is coming up and you can always put one or two tools on your Christmas Wish list.

Barbara

Little Decorative boxes

How to make a pretty little decorative box using the Proxxon scroll saw

It's Carol 's turn.   Today I want to share with all of you how to make a little decorative boxes the easy way with Proxxon tools.   Actually you get 2 little boxes when you do it this way. 

Equipment/ Supplies:

Proxxon scroll saw

Proxxon mini table saw

Proxxon delta sander

wood glue

double sticky tape

small hinges   (2 for each box)

2 pieces of contrasting thin wood 1/8" to 1/2" thick.  4" x 16"    (choose 1 light colored wood and 1 dark for maximum contrast)

lacquer or spray for finish

felt or flock (optional) to line interior. 

I started out with a simple plan to make a little box    Here is my layout. 

Cut 2 sets   (one from each strip of wood)

I use the Proxxon mini table saw for all my straight cuts.  It makes it easy to stay square. 

After getting all my pieces cut, I used double sticky tape to tape the light colored lid to the dark colored lid so they would act as one unit while I cut them on the scroll saw.   It is important that they don't shift while cutting or they will not fit properly in the end.   For added protection I used paper tape also.   This served a second purpose as I was able to draw my pattern onto it rather than onto the wood. 

Now its time for the fun part.  I love using  my proxxon scroll saw.   It has 2 speeds and is really smooth.   Generally I like to start out slow then pick up the speed when I can. 

Untape the pieces and look what we got.   😃   It looks like a puzzle.  😟

Ok first things first.   Sand the edges using the Proxxon delta sander.   This gets into all the curves with ease.   I rounded the top edges of the light colored inlay because   I thought it would look pretty just slightly higher than the background.   Rounding the edge makes it look soft. 

Now glue them in so that the centers are one wood and the background the other wood.   See you get 2 lids!  I held them in place with rubberbands.  Let dry. 

 

 

Next lets make some boxes for our lids to sit on.   Its easy.  Glue the long sides onto the bottom.  Measure the length of the shorter sides as these will sit inside the longer sides so they will be a bit shorter.   Glue them to the bottom.   Take care to make it as square as possible.  I use the lid set on top to help with this,   (but don't glue the lid 😨)   I rounded the corners using the proxxon delta sander

if you want to get fancy, cut the sides
like we cut the top.

                                                                                    

Let everything dry and add the hinges.   I predrilled the holes using the proxxon rotary tool

I finished with some water based polyurethane. 

For personalized gifts instead of the vine pattern a special person's name could be inlayed. 

I'm going to pick up a little latch and tiny little lock and make mine a worry box, or maybe my prayer box, jewelry box. memory box...

This project was fun.   Give it a try. 

See you next time!

How to Make a Gift Card Holder Using Exotic Woods

This gift card holder is sure to be a hit during the upcoming holiday gift giving season. Made from exotic woods, these double as beautiful tree ornaments.

Supplies for Making the Gift Card Holder

• Piece of wood 1/8"  x 12" x 3". Select a wood with beautiful color and/or graining such as purpleheart, bubinga, zebra wood, curly maple, etc.
• Wood glue
• Clamps
• 12" length 1/8" ribbon

Equipment for Making the Gift Card Holder

• Proxxon Table Saw FET
• Proxxon Bandsaw MBS/E
• Proxxon Disc Sander TSG 250/E
• Proxxon Professional Rotary Tool and Drill Stand

Instructions for Making the Gift Card Holder

1. Use the table saw to cut two 2½" x 3¾" x 1/8" pieces from your selected wood stock.
2. Use the band saw to cut two 1/8" x 1/8" x 4" and one 1/8" x 1/8" x 3 pieces for the inner spacer frame. Alternatively, this spacer can be cut as a one-piece U shape using the Proxxon Scroll Saw DSH/E with outside dimensions measuring 3¾" x 2½" x 1/8". For this tutorial I chose to use a three-piece frame spacer.
3. Set the angle gauge on the table saw to 45° and cut the angles on the three frame spacer pieces—two pieces measuring 3¾" long and one piece measuring 2½" long.
4. Glue and clamp the inner frame to one of the 2½" x 3¾" x 1/8" pieces. Set aside for glue to dry.
5. Glue remaining 2½" x 3¾" x 1/8" piece to the top of the inner frame spacer. Set aside for glue to dry.
6. Sand the completed piece on the disc sander or sand with the Proxxon Delta Sander OZI/E.
   
7. Measure and mark the center of the top of the holder, and drill a hole through both top and bottom pieces for a ribbon hanger.
8. Slide the gift card into the holder; thread the ribbon through the holes to secure the card; tie the ribbon ends to form a hanger.
   

Carole

Happy Fall Sign

Hi everyone, Steph Ackerman here today with a fun new sign I've created for my house.   It was easily created with the help of some amazing Proxxon Tools.

The Proxxon HotWire Cutter is an amazing tool.  Have you tried it?  It cuts through foam like it's butter.  And the cuts are very smooth.

Using a sheet of Smoothfoam, I taped Fall in place.  Since I used my Cricut to cut Fall, I was able to select the font I wanted and then cut it at the size I wanted.

The Smoothfoam panel was 12" x 12" so for ease of working, I cut off the excess portion first, straight across the top of the letters.  I put aside the cut off piece to use for another project.

To cut, I simply guided the design around the wire, removing the tape before it came into contact with the wire.

In about 10 minutes, Fall was cut and ready for decorating.

To get to the interior of the "a", I cut through the letter.  Since I was going to add assorted embellishments, the cuts would not be a problem.

I covered the word with gesso and allowed it to dry before painting.  Using Brushed Metal Acrylic Paint - Antique Gold, I painted the sign.  Then I used a Plaid Stencil with Brushed Metal Acrylic Paint -  Copper, and Color Shift Acrylic Paint - Green Flash,  on each letter.

Since this sign is foam I did not want heavy embellishments.   I pulled from my stash of Prima  flowers in fall colors adding them with brads.  Then I pulled out some clay embellishments I created with Makin's Clay.

Using the Proxxon HotWire Cutter you can create any number of  personalized projects.

Thanks for stopping by.

Steph

How to make a Water Fountain from a Gourd and Scraps.

How to make a water Fountain From Gourd and Scraps

This is not a easy project or at least for me. Could not have pulled it off without the Proxxon Tools.

Finished Project

Tools Required

Proxxon Scroll Saw 

Proxxon Delta Sander 

Proxxon Jig Saw 

Drill with long drill bit 12 to 14 inches long
hole cutting bit 1"

Small water pump & Tubing

Tools for cleaning the gourds 

Drain Plug 

Supplies 

Glue 

Bamboo - length cut according to design. I used 14"

Plaid  Folk Art Paints

Gorilla Glue 

Silicone Glue

Thin wire

Greenery  Optional

Rocks and shells 

L shape PVC pipe to ( attach bamboo to bottom of bowl & tubing to pump)

A very Large Gourd 

Three pieces of scrap gourd for waterfall. 

Rubber gloves if pouring

Your first step is to cut your bowl I used the Proxxon Jig Saw to cut the top off leaving enough of the gourd that is deep enough to hold a considerable amount of water.

Clean out the gourd guts using scrapers or gourd tools.

Then I used the Proxxon Delta sander to smooth the inside of the gourd. Next I used a two part resin. (Make sure you mix it evenly or it won't dry properly) to coat the inside of the gourd.

I poured the paints for the outside of this bowl.  I thought it would look better than a straight brush stroke on the fountain. If you are not familiar with the pouring process You Tube has several instructions videos. Facebook also have sites that show step by step directions. If you are not interested in pouring use a brush and any design you like. 

 I Used Plaid Paints 

Martha Stewarts Celadon #18065

Apple Barrel Key west #21481

Folk Art Sap Green #458

Floetrol ( to help paints flow easily. 

Folk Art winter white #429

to paint the outside of this bowl. 

Pouring is quick and easy but very messy. I use two huge pieces of cardboard and placed the bowl upside down. I poured each cup and let it run over the sides. I would lift and turn the bowl the this way and that as I needed the paint to run. Again if your going to pour watch a few demonstrations first to see how to mix and layer paints.

Now I painted the waterfall pieces the same way.

These are the petals that the water will flow down.

I free handed the fish and painted them around the bowl.

Cutting of  the Bamboo was done on the Proxxon Scroll Saw 

Next the bamboo had to be drilled out at the nodes so the water would flow freely.

Sorry I did not get a photo of that process could not figure out how to hold two pieces and a camera.:-)

At this point we tested the bamboo length to make sure it was going to work.  Noticed that our pump had an adjustment for water flow.  I didn't want the water shooting to the ceiling.  So we adjusted the flow to more of a trickle.  Length of bamboo plays a role in this as well.  Check it out before the next step.  

 Yes, Yippee it worked good.

Now to add the L Shaped  PVC to the bottom of the bowl.

With Gorilla Glue.  This gives support to the bamboo and keeps the tubing inside from crimping.

Ok after that we had to cut a hole in the lower part of the bowl to be able to get the rather large plug on the outside of the bowl. (I did not want it up high on the bowl.)  Do not cut and splice the cord.  It is too close to water.  

Now a lot to be done this to make this water tight.

We used a drain plug used to seal the hole. 

Take the drain stopper and cut off the ring that pulls plug and drill a 3/8 hole in middle. Next make a cut  from the outside to the hole across the stopper, spread it slightly and put the cord inside the hole. After you have it where you want place a good amount of silicone glue inside of the plug and snug it up against the gourd.  Secure with tape until dry.  

The wire that was not cut was painted black.

Now we are trying to attach the petals that are to direct the waterfall.

the top petal has a hole drilled and is pushed on to the bamboo.

The second petal is attached with wire and secured with Gorilla Glue

 The third Petal is put on the same as second

Test the project to make sure all is working 

Add some shells and rocks to the inside of the petals with  Gorilla Glue 

trying to place then to direct the water the direction you want it to flow. 

I could not find  the greenery I wanted so had to make do with what I did find.

Finished project

Thank you for visiting and commenting on this project. Also I would like to thank Proxxon and Plaid for their support.
I also have to thank my Blog partner Carol for assisting with this post as it may never have been completed without her help.

This is a original design by Misty Orlove and this project is the prototype

I am sure it has room for improvement.
But I was pleased it turned out as well as it did. 

Please feel free to use and add or delete steps and design.

Your Input and comments are most welcome.