magic wand turnings

This is a wand I turned around Halloween, a friend of mine asked if I could tell her how to make a wand out of a stick for her halloween costume and the light bulb went off.

The wand in the first photo is made from curly maple, yellowheart and multi colored plywood all laminated together then turned on my lathe. Finished with natural danish oil, shellac and Mylands friction polish.

The second is made with a walnut dowel (I do not recomend this as it is more stable to use solid wood glued to the other pieces) purpleheart and yellowheart laminated together. Finished with danish oil, shellac and mylands friction polish.

The four wands to the left in the third photo are made from single 2” x 2” x 18” pieces of solid cedar which can be purchased very cheap at the big box stores. I used a torch to give them an aged look then varied the finishes with ebony and dark walnut stains followed by natural danish oil finish followed by shellac then Mylands friction polish.

All wands are sanded to 12000 grit then finished. I know most people only go to 320grit then finish and polish to 12000. For me i like to start with a more polished surface to make the clear coat build easier with less polishing. I also polish the clear coats up to 12000grit by wet sanding it between coats. And using a light coat of wax just because i can.

-- Failure is always an option. :-)