Having a blast trying out my new Belt Sander!

Hello everyone! I've done a little tutorial for you using my Proxxon Jig Saw STS 12/E and my brand new "Belt Sander BS/E". I'll tell you what, I've been so excited to receive my new belt sander! I had a terrible time deciding whether I wanted to try the jigsaw or the sander out first and chose the jigsaw first and then received the Delta Sander OZI/E to try! These tiny tools are just amazing folks! If you use or need some tiny tools, then I would definitely recommend the Proxxon brand.

Items needed for this project:

Proxxon Jig Saw STS 12/E 
Proxxon Belt Sander BS/E
1 or more scrap pieces of gourds
Wood burner tool or carver if you have them
Embossing fluid and powder
metal leaf glue and metal leaf
wire
beads
drill
necklace cord
alcohol inks (orange and red)

I started by cutting out several pieces for a necklace from gourd pieces:

 After cutting out a few pieces, I chose one that I wanted to use as the focal point of my necklace. To start with after the cutting out was finished, I used my new belt sander to smooth out both the side and the bottom of my piece.

You can also hook this sander up to a dust collection system which I have but haven't hooked it up to yet. (Hopefully by the next project.)  I used a 120 grit sanding belt and you talk about smooooooth when I was finished. It worked great and you can get that belt into some small spots too. Once everything was sanded, I wood burned some maple leaves (my favorite thing) onto the front of the pendant (the part that wasn't sanded) and stained them with orange and red alcohol inks. I applied embossing glue to the back of the piece and then added embossing powders and heat activated them to the back of the piece.

I then brushed metal leaf glue around the sides and overlapping the front and applied metal leaf pieces that I had in my box.

Once all that was done I added some wire and beads to the front, applied Kamar Varnish to the piece both front and back, drilled a whole for the cord and put it through the piece with a bead on either side. Turned out pretty good right?

These pendants are so lightweight also, as gourds are very light once they have dried out and been cleaned.

This is a great project and these Proxxon tiny tools (micromot) are just life savers in getting the job done. Make a visit over to www.proxxon.com/us and then come back here and let me know what tool you think you'd like to play with!

Barbara

Pierced Eggs for Easter

It's not too early to start thinking about Easter decorations. And for me, that means eggs. I've created these unique beauties with my Proxxon Engraver GG 12.

To begin, I blow out the insides of the egg using a syringe. (You can also blow them out with your mouth.) Next, the emptied shells soak in a bleach bath (~2 tablespoons of household bleach/1 pint of water) for half an hour. Then, after they are rinsed well in water, they soak in a baking soda bath (~2 tablespoons of baking soda dissolved in 1 pint of water) to neutralize the bleach. One last water bath, and they are put aside to dry.

I use an egg lathe to mark guidelines on the shell.

Using the guidelines, I add preliminary sketches of my design.

I use the Proxxon Engraver and different size burrs to pierce a series of holes in the egg shells to complete the design.

When I'm finished with the piercing, I buff the shells with a thin coat of coconut or olive oil. Jewelry findings are added for displaying the completed eggs.

Give it a try!! It's not as hard as you think, and you'll get impressive results.

Carole

Valentine's Day Treat Baskets

Hi everyone Steph Ackerman here today  as a member of the Proxxon Tiny Tool Design Team. 

With Valentine's Day approaching, it's time to create goodie bags for friends and family.

 

Supplies:

 

 

Proxxon Detail Sander
Wood Baskets
ColorBox Crafter's Ink for Ann Butler - Canyon
Clearsnap Art Screen
Gesso

 

 

These wood baskets were just the right size for Valentine's Day treats and I knew with paints and inks they'd turn out cute! 

Using the Detail Sander, I quickly and easily sanded the baskets.

Once I painted them with Gesso, I resanded them to get a nice smooth surface.

Using a Clearsnap Art Screen, I created the hearts with ColorBox Crafter's Ink in Canyon.  Crafter's Inks work well on all surfaces including wood.

Tie some ribbons to the handles and add tissue paper inside.  Fill with goodies for the kids for a fun Valentine's Day treat.

 

What will you create for Valentine's Day treats?

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

Steph

 

How To Create A Valentine Candle Decoration Using The Proxxon Hot Wire Cutter

Hi everyone, Tammy Santana here today with a fun and inexpensive Valentine craft! I love finding fun supplies at the Dollar Store to make projects with. I found some cute heart stickers, a battery powered candle, some ribbon, and a wire wreath form that I decided would make a great Valentine decoration. 

Supplies I used:

Proxxon Hot Wire Cutter

Ribbon

Small wire wreath form

Battery powered candle

Heart embellishments

How I made the Valentine candle decoration:

1. Cut and heat seal ribbon with the Proxxon Hot Wire Cutter.

2. Tie each piece of ribbon around the wire wreath form.

3. Add heart embellishment stickers to the candle

4. Place candle inside of the ribbon decoration

This craft is so cute and so easy to make! With all of the different kinds of ribbon and sticker embellishments available at the Dollar Store, you can make one of these for every holiday. These would work nicely as a centerpiece or decor for a powder room.

I love to see your projects! Tag me on Instagram @TammySmithSantana

xoxo Tammy

~Hello Valentine~ NEW DT Project for Proxxon by Sherri Welser

~Hello Valentine~

What fun this sweet paper doll Valentine Girl was to create! Wood is a beautiful base for so many fun and unique projects and incorporating it with these beautiful vintage paper dolls by ArtChix Studio was a blast! Proxxon  tools has made working with wood so much easier~ the tools are so well made and easy to operate! For this project I used a scrap piece of wood that I sanded using the  Delta Sander OZI/E. I love the sander and use it often for my woodworking projects!

~Supplies~

Proxxon Delta Sander

ArtChix  Paper Images

Rectangle piece of scrap wood ( Mine is about 2 1/2 x 9")

Acrylic Paint in red

Inspirational stamp saying and  LOVE stamp

 Archival Ink pad-black and Sepia

Metal key

Weldbond glue

Mod Podge

Piece of lace ( about 5 " long)

Canvas  oval tag

Misc charms to hand off of the lace tie

White Sharpie Marker

1)Cut, sand and paint your rectangle  wooden block and let dry.

2) Cut out the paper doll parts and glue on the wood with the mod podge. Adding different hats , crowns, wings etc is also fun! 

3)Using the Sepia Ink pad, create a distressed look on the wood and edges of paper. 

4)Stamp the inspirational phrase  at the bottom with the black ink .

5) Attach the charms and the canvas tag to the lace.

6) Stamp the word LOVE on the tag.

7) Add Lace through the key and  use the Weldbond glue to attach to the wooden rectangle at the top.

8) Using the white Sharpie Marker add dots all around the edges of the girl.

I hope you have enjoyed this easy but very creative project using some Valentine Inspiration!

~In Love & Light~

Sherri

Everyone Loves My Proxxon Tools

One of my sons is a chef, and he created this wooden piece for food presentation using my Delta Sander.

Cambozola with grilled endive and stout cherry jam

Here's how is all came about. Not long ago I was in my studio working on a project using my Proxxon Delta Sander, when my son Seth wandered in. "Oh my gosh!" he said, "Can I use that sander?"

"Sure," I replied. He left the studio, and soon returned with a box full of cross sections from a tree trunk. Recently, landscapers had thinned out trees in our neighborhood, and a large section had fallen off their waste wagon. Seth had retrieved it and found a woodworker who sliced the trunk into cross section slabs, each a little over 2" thick and 15" in diameter.

Now, Seth's task was to remove the bark and sand the sides of the slabs. Here used a chisel to remove the layer of bark from one of the slabs.

Then, he moved on to sanding the edges using the Delta Sander. It was perfect for the task—lightweight to hold, easy to maneuver, powerful enough to efficiently sand the wood.

It was fun to watch Seth enjoy using the sander to create such a beautiful and unique food presentation piece.

Carole

Mid Century Modern Bird House (Part 2 - Roof, Assembly, Finishing)

I love Mid century modern architecture. Flat roofs are one my favorite design elements. The mix of experimental materials like steel and plywood also produces fantastic results.

In my last post, Mid Century Modern Bird House (Part 1 - The Floor/Walls), we used Proxxon Micro Tools to build the walls and floor of the birdhouse. In this post, we'll finish up the roof, assemble it and finish it with paint and linseed oil.

Proxxon tools make it easy to work on a small project like this. The scale of the tools is perfect for a project this size.

What You'll Need

• The base and walls assembled.
• The 8-1/2" square Luan plywood piece for the roof
• 1/4" hardwood dowel (oak or maple is preferable to poplar)
• Scrap piece of SmoothFoam (about 2" x 4" x 8")
• Compass
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Marker
• Glue dots
• Wood glue
• Linseed Oil
• Rustoleum Hammered Steel
• Proxxon Bench Drill Press TBM 115
• Proxxon Original German Chuck for the TBM115
• 1/4" Drill Bit
• Proxxon Disc Sander TG 125/E
• Proxxon Chop and Miter Saw KGS 80
• Hotwire Cutter THERMOCUT 115/E
• Proxxon Rotary Tool with a small drill bit and cutting wheel for wood (like Complete Model Building and Engraving Set)

Steps To Follow 

1. The first step is to drill holes through the roof and in to the house for the supporting dowels. The challenge is that the roof is raised up off the birdhouse and sits at an angle. I knew I wanted it to be about 1" off the front of the house and about 1/2" off the back of the house, but didn't want to think about the math to calculate the angle. Then it hit me - just make a "tool" out of SmoothFoam to hold the roof in place while the holes are drilled! Rest a piece of SmoothFoam on the top of the house. Mark the front and the back edges. Then measure up 1" from the front and 1" from the back. Draw a line connecting those dots. Now you have the exact angle you need, without doing any trigonometry! By the way, it turns out to be about 5 degrees.
2. Cut the SmoothFoam using the Hotwire Cutter.
3. Use glue dots to temporarily attach the SmoothFoam to the base of the house and the roof to the SmoothFoam.
4. Use a pencil and mark where the holes for the 4 support dowels need to be drilled. Use the rotary tool and a small bit to drill through the marks, past the SmoothFoam and in to the base of the house.
5. Now you can remove the roof and SmoothFoam from the base of the house. Be careful to only remove those two pieces as a unit. Keep them together. Now use the Proxxon Bench Drill Press TBM 115 with the chuck and 1/4" bit to drill the holes in the base. You only need to go in to the base about 1/4-1/2". Drill the holes in to the roof as well. Keep the roof sitting on the SmoothFoam so you're sure you're drilling at the correct angle.
6. Put the SmoothFoam and Roof back on to the house.
7. Cut 4 lengths of 1/4" dowel using the Proxxon Chop and Miter Saw KGS 80. I used (2) pieces that were about 2" long and (2) pieces that were about 3" long.
8. Put some wood glue in to the holes in the roof and insert the 4 dowels all the way in to the base. We want to glue the dowels to the roof (but NOT to the base). Put a weight on top to hold the roof down while the glue sets. The dowels will be sticking up above the roof. Let the glue set completely.
9. Use a rotary tool with a cutting wheel to trim the dowels as close to the roof as possible.
10. Take the roof off of the house and remove the SmoothFoam jig. Save it so you can make more houses in the future! Sand the dowels smooth against the roof using the Proxxon Disc Sander TG 125/E.
11. Spray paint the roof with . Be sure to do this in a well ventilated area. If you're inside, it helps to spray this piece inside a cardboard box to catch any over-spray. Now you see why we didn't glue the roof to the house! Let dry completely.
12. Seal and protect the outside of the house with linseed oil. Rub it in using a cotton cloth (rag). Don't apply it to the inside of the house. Let dry completely.
13. Put some wood glue inside the 4 holes in the house and then put the roof in place. Weight the top to hold it down until the glue sets. Remember, you access the house through the flip-up side for cleaning, so this roof can be put permanently in place.

Your Mid Century Modern Bird House (improved design) is now ready for renters! You can attach it to a post or a wall using pipe fittings you would find at a hardware store, like this flange.

Enjoy your birdhouse!

Look for more projects on my website at www.createNcraft.com

Happy crafting!

Joe Rotella