Well, I can't seem to finish a guitar, but I apparently have all sortsa time for making magic wands.
Actually, I bust these out pretty fast (no more than an hour-and-a-half of carving, plus another day or so for finishing). My 3rd grade daughter is a big Harry Potter fan - I read her the series - and she wanted a wand of her own. This first one is maple, just over 11 inches, with a "dragon heartstring" core. Carved with a spoke shave, rasps, and chisels, finished with Zinsser's shellac.
This one I made for my wife. Oak, about 10", with "phoenix tailfeather" core. Once I had most of the meat shaved off this one, I chucked it up in the drill press on a low speed and lathed it with sandpaper to round it out and make it more symmetrical. The handle was stippled with an awl and dipped in ferric acetate. Finished with shellac.
This last wand was a gift for some friends who are expecting a baby in the new year. They will present it to him/her when they start reading the Potter series. Maple again, as you can read on the tag. This was a very spontaneous carve, with spoke shave and chisels, to make it look very organic and mysterious. The handle was scorched with a propane torch, stained with the ferric acetate, and sanded back a little. Finished with shellac and rubbed out with 0000 steel wool.
I know Chuck has made some sweet wands for his kids, so hopefully he'll be along to show them off, too.
Any other Olivanders out there?
-Ruining perfectly good wood, one day at a time.
) but the kids really get into this stuff and we parents can have a lot of fun playing along.