[01.05.19]Louis of the Creek: Custom Short-staff for Christmas present
Description of Project
This projects objective is to create a short-staff based off of the staff of the main character from the popular cartoonCraig of the Creek. This staff was a present for my roommate who loves the show and has gotten me into the show. The staff created will be from scratch.
Processes Applied:
Summary:
The goal of this project was to fabricate a staff based on the cartoon Craig of the Creek to give to my roommate as a belated Christmas gift. The staff comprised of two distinct parts that had to be done separately:
- The staff, which was turned on a wood lathe
- Casting an Epoxy Resin Crystal
So the first part of this project was to create a staff that had some of the hallmarks of Craig of The Creek's staff. I started with a 2" by 2" by 4' piece of wood, creating a simple cube and sphere head of the staff. This was a bit challenging because I had to turn the sphere by hand without any custom tooling, causing some rough edges where the sphere and cube meet. Once I tackled these features, I turned the rest of the wood to a cylinder.
After turning the piece to a rough cylinder, I decided to create an interesting design for the shaft. I spent 2 hours coming up with designs, evolving the design further down the shaft, and then sanding it with 220, 400, 600 grit sandpaper until satisfied. For the cube, I used an orbital sander to face off each side. Then, I cut off the top and bottom nubs and drilled a hole in the center top of the staff.
To finish the piece, I used Low-gloss Tung Oil for color and protection, applying two coats before hang drying it overnight.
Next came the Epoxy Resin Crystal. I used Alumilite™ Amazing Clear Cast purchased online from Michael's with a 40% off coupon. For coloring, I used resin dye.
The process for making the epoxy resin crystal was to take the CAD model made in the prototyping stage and 3D print it. After cleaning up the surfaces with high grit sandpaper, I poured silicone casting mix (smoothon) around the 3D print. Then, I mixed and poured the resin into the mold, allowing it to cure.
Once removed from the mold, I noticed air bubbles due to not vacuum chambering the mold. After sanding the crystal with various grits of sandpaper, I sprayed 2 layers of clear coat gloss onto it.
Finally, I applied 5-minute epoxy to the bottom of the crystal and pressed it into the hole until it hardened, creating a silly staff reminiscent of Craig's staff in Craig of the Creek.
