Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Laser gun update

Still working away on the buttstock and getting all the lines square. I like the progress though--take a look:

Straight as an arrow...as it very well should be.
Carved out the barrel. It will have to be very strong for when someone sets it on its nose. Got a plan, but we'll just take it one thing at a time for now.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Hand Grenade Pipe

A month or so back, I doodled an ugly picture of a hand grenade with pipe stem sticking out of it. I kind of snickered at the thought, and showed it to my neighbor. I joked "I should make one of these." He looked at me and said, with great authority, "Yes, you should."

I took his challenge. Used the drill press at work as a poor-man's lathe to make a fairly ugly Jammed a stem into it and put a paper cutout on the top.

It's not much to look at, but it got a huge response on FB. I received several commissions right off the bat, as well as offers to purchase this piece! I refused to sell this one because it is not up to my standards of quality.

My wife gave her approval on my intent to purchase tools and supplies and go into production. $400 later I had cranked out the first one, with 3 more close behind.
Cork keeps the topper attached when pipe is not in use, does not disturb the cake.


Detail of African Mahogany wood grain.

Sitting open on display base.


The full display.

My personal pipe, maple burl.

I have worked in African Mahogany (shown), Maple Burl (shown), Redwood Burl and Ebony. Looking for some undrilled Briar to work with.

Right now all my commissions have been through facebook. The pipes go for $60 apiece and come with filters and the display box.

Laser Gun updates

Been working on the edges and corners--Bondo holds up a lot better than the spackel.

Noticed that the handguard is lopsided by as much as half an inch...yuck.
Built it up with some scrap foamcore board and hot glue.

Then covered it in bondo. *Gloop*

Lots more sanding and patching have been going on.


I tried out some primer, but it wasn't nearly as sandable as I had expected. Note to self: never buy non-sandable primer again.


After 6 months off-and-on-again work, it still feels like it hasn't really progressed much. I decided to treat myself by painting her black, just to get a feel for what she'll look like. Not worried about the mottled texture. The paint honestly doesn't do the gun much good at this stage, but it's good for my fragile psyche.

Still needs the dorsal bump, and got some more shaping to do, especially in the handguard and buttstock sections. Dying to get to the fiberglassing stage though.