Sometimes I get so into a project that I actually forget to catalog what I'm doing for this blog. It's not like I do projects to blog about, mind you. There should be more documentation here but I feel sometimes that I will jinx myself and ruin the project by taking too many pictures.
This project has gone reasonably well although I see only problems with this so far and not, ultimately, how nice it is. Should I have worked harder to make the flags wave? Should I have done more research on blades to get ones that don't flex as much? Again, I'm not a carpenter and a "half empty" kind of person when it comes to my handy work. I'm sure, once it's done, it will be spectacular. I'm off to a good start.
Once more, I find the actual planning of these projects to be a lot more fun than actually doing them. The tedium of the cutting, in particular, I find quite boring. When I'm bored I make mistakes. When I make mistakes I get frustrated and projects either don't get completed or end up being started over. No such bad luck this time. This project is small enough where I can see it's end almost from the moment I started.
After I transferred the image to the board and spent a couple of hours reworking the image to something that I knew I could cut out, I drilled pilot holes where the checkers for the flag will be. I then began the fairly painstaking (boring) process of cutting out the 15 checkers with my trusty, $29 hand held jig saw.
My 15 year was most impressed with the checkered flag cut out. "How did you DO that?" he asked emphatically. He didn't take me up on my offer to join me out in the garage for instruction. That's our Corvette, the inspiration for this whole thing standing majestically in the background of this shot giving it's oily nod of approval of my work to this point.
My previous projects where cut from 3/4 inch plywood. This is cut from white pine boards that are soft, cut easy and what's more, my jig saw blade, the very narrow, slim kind, moves around very easily in. I can't imagine doing this kind of jig saw carving using a harder wood. Still, I'm a little frustrated with the flex of my jigsaw blade. I can't have it both ways it seems; a blade that I can move around like a razor blade inside the wood while giving me smooth, straight cuts. This project is way to big for the scroll saw.
My original plan was to cut the top and bottom of the emblem at the same time. Of course, when I cut out the top, I forgot to reattach the bottom board so I ended up cutting them separately. The advantage to cutting them together was that the top and bottom would have the same cuts. Not so sure the blade would have flexed the way that I would've wanted nor do I think it was long enough. In any event, I did an outline of the top onto the bottom board. It's 90 percent there. Some additional shaving and sanding and it will be pretty good to go.
My wife went through my phone and came across these pictures and she was quite impressed with my handy work. Can't say that I'm not as well. I love that I've found a new hobby at this point in my life. A hobby that's fun, leaves me with something tangible and is quite cheap. Unlike golf or the inspiration for this particular project, our 1977 Corvette.
Much to be done. I plan on painting this upper part all chrome. Hopefully I can find a glossy rattle can silver or chrome. This way it will look like metal when it's all done. The back will have to be hand painted; the checkered flag of course being a bit tedious to do but doable. The Chevrolet logo and fleur de lei, that go on the left, will be cut with my scroll saw.
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