Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update 10-31-11...

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

I agree that the Nobel wands are nice but the handmade wands are much more unique. These look fantastic. How long does it usually take to make one?

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

Thanks to everyone who has replied, I really enjoy making them, and Olivander is one of my favorite characters. I would like to walk into his shop and spend all day going through the hundreds of wand boxes seeing the unique and weirdly designed wands.

aaronblake- it all depends on the wand really, something shaped on the lathe takes a lot less time than completely shaping/sanding/carving a square block of wood.

Some of the wands like McGonnagal's and Malfoy's have two tones so painting them black is a must, using waterbased stains/dyes, so you can still see the grain pattern.
Do you use black spray paint or tube/jar paint.

If at all possible I use dark woods instead of painting them. Ginny's, Snape's, Wormtails are a deep black that having them made from actual ebony or blackwood just doesn't compare at all to any other wood. Holly is very dense and great for carving detail, but ebony and blackwood are even heavier and hold detail just as well, plus you don't have to finish them just give them a good waxing and they look brilliant. Alot of the exotics are amazing in color variety and grain pattern that resin just can't compare to. Making each and every wand created, even though they have the same design, unique and one-of-a-kind.

I tried burning wands for coloring but don't do that now. The wands tended to warp when they got to hot and because they were so narrow in diameter it was hard to control the temp of the wood, and some woods are so dense burning them didn't effect them all that much. I just stick to staining the wood for simulated burned effects/coloring. Maybe it could be done with a heat gun instead of a flame though.

As soon as I get my ebony and blackwood I will post a newer version.
I am currently taking pics of all of the new wands I have done, and will post more soon.

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

Actually it's funny that you mention burning the wands to darken them because I actually use a technique that's along those lines to age some of the wands I've stained. First I'll carve the wand, then stain it according to the closest match I can find, and then, very carefully, I'll run the entire length of the wand through the flame of a pillar candle in long even strokes. It's pretty cool because it takes the color of the stain and just kind of makes it richer, and the small amount of soot that's produced as the candle burns creeps into the little details of the wand and makes it look aged. I never do it to wands that have been painted because the paint will just burn, but the ones that are just bare stained wood look amazing after this process!

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

I agree in terms of how long it takes to carve and finish the wands. Because each one is so different, it can literally take me anywhere from about an hour to a few weeks to finish just one wand. Here are two that I've made on both ends of the spectrum.

The first is James Potter's wand, which, as you can see, it's VERY plain. The only detail on it is the spider web motif that wraps around the shaft of the wand. And in this case, the shaft and the handle are essentially the same thing because there's really nothing to distinguish the two. (Even though this wand is really plain, I still like it a lot because even whenever you hold it, you can feel the little indentations made by the web pattern, plus it's bare wood so you can look at it and clearly see that it's not some flimsy replica that will break if you wave it around)

The second wand is Professor Slughorn's. I absolutely love this wand, and it took me a few tries to get a version that I'm satisfied with. This wand has so much going for it (in fact, some people think that because there's so much going on, it looks gaudy or tacky. But I really like whenever the entire wand looks cool, instead of just having just a plain shaft with a unique handle - everything about this wand is unique!). It took me a long time to figure out exactly how to construct this wand, and then once I had it completely carved, painting it was a whole painstaking process in itself. As such, this wand took several weeks to complete (I say it's complete, but I also have a tendency to look at my "finished" wands and then go back in and change something again and again until I'm 100% satisfied).

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

...although, I suppose that the level of ornamentation a wand has isn't necessarily always a good indication of how long it will take to make it. Case-in-point, Narcissa Malfoy's wand. Despite the fact that this wand has (arguably) about the same amount of details and quirky little things about it that make it as unique as Slughorn's, this wand only took me a couple of hours to make. For both Slughorn's and Narcissa's, I used the lathe first, and then continued from there with my trusty set of carving knives and used my dremel for a few details. I guess really, it all comes down to having a plan. In wood carving (I'm realizing this more and more, as I carve these wands), part of the fun for me is trying to work out a plan of attack for how you're going to achieve your final result. Sometimes, it takes a few tries, as it did for me when I first tried to carve Slughorn's wand. With Narcissa's though, I had kind of a cool idea, that for all those little studs along the handle of the wand (I realize my version doesn't have as many studs as the Noble Collection replica), I could drill tiny holes and insert toothpicks in them, glue them, and then cut them to size. When all the toothpicks were glued in the holes before they were cut, the whole thing looked like some bizarre miniature medieval weapon! But it was really a cool effect, and I think it does the wand justice in this case. So it was really a simple idea and it saved me a lot of time!

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

dcn5002 said:

...although, I suppose that the level of ornamentation a wand has isn't necessarily always a good indication of how long it will take to make it. Case-in-point, Narcissa Malfoy's wand. Despite the fact that this wand has (arguably) about the same amount of details and quirky little things about it that make it as unique as Slughorn's, this wand only took me a couple of hours to make. For both Slughorn's and Narcissa's, I used the lathe first, and then continued from there with my trusty set of carving knives and used my dremel for a few details. I guess really, it all comes down to having a plan. In wood carving (I'm realizing this more and more, as I carve these wands), part of the fun for me is trying to work out a plan of attack for how you're going to achieve your final result. Sometimes, it takes a few tries, as it did for me when I first tried to carve Slughorn's wand. With Narcissa's though, I had kind of a cool idea, that for all those little studs along the handle of the wand (I realize my version doesn't have as many studs as the Noble Collection replica), I could drill tiny holes and insert toothpicks in them, glue them, and then cut them to size. When all the toothpicks were glued in the holes before they were cut, the whole thing looked like some bizarre miniature medieval weapon! But it was really a cool effect, and I think it does the wand justice in this case. So it was really a simple idea and it saved me a lot of time!

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I really like narcissa's wand that you did... but would it be possible to use small brads to get a similar effect? I was thinking some along the lines of the tiny brads used to nail down model railroad tracks. I think it might be easier and give many more studs like you are hoping for... just a thought.

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

Enjoyed your pics... looks like you put a lot of time and love into them all.

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

Absolutely! At one point, whenever I carved Slughorn's and Narcissa's, I intended for all the silver parts to actually be real metal. For Slughorn's, I had the idea that I would cut the silver patterns out of a thin sheet of aluminum, and actually recess them in the shaft of the wand, and try my hand at using a metal lathe to make the handle. Likewise, with Narcissa's I was going to use small nails or something for the studs along the handle, and three studded rings for the ends of the handle (they used to sell relatively inexpensive stainless steel pyramid stud rings at Hot Topic that would have been perfect!) Then for the pommel, I might have used a custom cast faceted piece or something to top it off. I do still have that dream of one day using more of a fusion of wood and metal (the only metal right now are the beads on Slughorn's wand), but for now, I'm happy with the all-wood designs.

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

Not to completely monopolize this conversation (forgive my enthusiasm, but I'm new to TheRPF and very eager to show my work and get other peoples' opinions on it!), but I have a final post for the night to show you a few more of my wands. I originally wasn't the biggest fan of these wands because they're three of the more "organic/naturalistic" wand designs. When I first started carving, I thought that wands should essentially just look like tapered dowel rods - perfect and smooth and symmetrical. The wands from movies 3-8 though really opened me up to how much more interesting they can be if they're purposely made to be not perfect; it's the imperfections that give them personality and make each one unique. To that end, the first wand in this group is Gregorovitch's.

Gregorovitch's wand was very easy to make because I simply found a stick with a shape that was fairly close to the actual replica of this wand (I purposely didn't try to make it look exactly like the Noble Collection replica, in the spirit of enjoying imperfections. From there, the majority of the work was making the shaft straight, and sanding the entire thing very well. I finished it by burning in runes on the handle and coloring the shaft. The dark brown color of the shaft is actually just paint for now, but some day, I might sand the paint off and attempt to make the transition from light handle to dark shaft more gradual by using the same technique I already described in a previous post using the flame of a candle.

The second wand is Grindelwald's. I actually bought Noble Collection's replica of this wand and when I got it in the mail, I was shocked. For those of you who haven't seen this wand before, it's completely different from every other one. It's not exactly what you might think of as a wand, per se, because it's not your typical slender wooden rod. Instead, it's made to look like it's a long, thin strip of tree bark that kind of twists and curls on itself. It also has thorns on it, and it just looks like it has to be the wand of a dark wizard - I say that when you look at this wand, you can tell its owner is evil because the wand itself is literally "rotten to the core" because there is no core wood of the wand left. I'm not entirely sure what kind of wood this is made from (I found a piece of wood back in the woods behind my house, and carved this wand from it), but the wood was almost yellow in color, and it had a great sweet smell to it.

The third wand is probably the most recognizable. It's Harry's wand, and this particular version (like some of my other wands) is made of real holly wood, just like it is in the book! This wand took me a surprisingly long time to carve because I wanted it to be just right. I've seen other holly wands advertised on the internet, but I have to wonder if they are, in fact, actually made from holly. In my experience, the only holly I have ever carved has come from one of two large holly bushes beside my house. This means that the pieces I've carved have all started out as branches that were only about two inches in diameter at the most. I'm not sure if there's anywhere in the world where holly is readily available in boards and other forms, but at least with my replicas, I can be 100% sure that it is genuine holly wood. For this particular wand, I found a perfectly pristine branch with no knots or imperfections. From there, I turned the general shape of this wand on my lathe, and then carved the rest by hand with my set of carving knives. To get the color right, I used a combination of paint, stain, and candle-tinting. The Noble Collection version's handle looks more gray, and their shaft is more of a lighter brown, but I think the coloring of my version looks more natural. Let me know what you think! Thanks guys!

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

Amazing work done on these wands

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

The detail on the grip of the Potter is wonderful!

I'm a fan of the bendier designs as well - in fact, Krum's wand was the one that got me interested enough to start carving them - and I was happy to see that they worked more of them into the series (and attributed the difference in styles and level of finishing to a different maker, apparently).

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

@dcn5002, your wands look great! You did so well with the handle of the harry wand, are you planing on painting a little bit more 'depth' into the shaft? But it's truly remarkable how close your wands are! They're great!

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

lukeforester1 said:

@dcn5002, your wands look great! You did so well with the handle of the harry wand, are you planing on painting a little bit more 'depth' into the shaft? But it's truly remarkable how close your wands are! They're great!

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Here, here! Amazing looking wands dcn5002!

... so when are you going to start offering them in the Junkyard?

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

Lukeforester1 - at some point down the line, I might consider going back into Harry's wand to give it a little more "depth" as you say. I've seen pictures of the actual prop used in the movies, and if you look VERY closely, you can actually see that the shaft has small knots all along it, they almost look like tiny thorns or the very small beginnings of tiny branches. It's as if the entire piece of wood would have sprouted if Ollivander hadn't come along and selected it to be a wand. So I guess thinking about this a little harder, I'm not sure. I'm pretty happy with this particular wand as it is now, but maybe if I try it again, I'll include more detail in the shaft.

Edraven99 - I'm glad you like the wands, keep checking back for new pictures of my other ones! As far as selling them goes, apparently I can't sell them in the junkyard just yet because I'm a brand new member of TheRPF, but I have sold several wands in the past on eBay. So if there is interest in them at this point, I would definitely consider selling them through that avenue again.

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

dcn5002 said:

Edraven99 - I'm glad you like the wands, keep checking back for new pictures of my other ones! As far as selling them goes, apparently I can't sell them in the junkyard just yet because I'm a brand new member of TheRPF, but I have sold several wands in the past on eBay. So if there is interest in them at this point, I would definitely consider selling them through that avenue again.

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What's your eBay handle? I'll be sure to keep my eyes open!

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

dcn5002, I am also new here (as of today). I fancy myself to be an expert on wands (which ones are made+sold by which companies, which wands they make replicas of, archiving pictures of wands they have not mass-produced yet, and wooden replicas made by talented people such as yourself. Sadly I gain this knowledge and stay up to date on this by spending a*shameful* amount of time searching to web for them

In all my searches and finds, I must say your wands are SUPERB and OUTSTANDING. The level of detail is unparalleled, but what makes yours so unique is that you have replicated 3 wands from solid wood in such staggering detail (Slughorn, Gregorovitch and Grindelwald) that as of yet I have not seen ANYONE attempt in any respectable level of detail (referring to Slughorn's only here). You are a first for Grin & Greg's.
I sir, tip my hat to you. Bravo!
You and HeirofOlivander are in a class all your own when it comes to detail.

This makes me wonder if you would be a worthy endeavor for an idea I have had for quite some time. A challenge for you sir, if you would be so daring. Private message me or let me know if I should message you first, if you're interested

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

If only the Harry Potter park sold wands made of wood. These are all so amazing and extremely well crafted. I had only ever seen one website selling a wooden Herminone wand. Great work!

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

Man, these wands are fantastic! I'm definitely in for several when they become available.

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

Hey everybody! Thanks to everyone for all of your comments! It's great to hear that you all love my wands so much! Here are a few more and a little blurb about each one, I hope you enjoy these ones as well!


Dumbledore
I love Dumbledore’s wand, because really this was one of the first wands we saw in the movies that kind of challenged us to think of wands as just always being a straight shaft with some kind of a variation on a handle - it’s hard to say where the shaft ends and the handle begins. In addition, I love the fact that it’s kind of a blend between a more naturalistic style, and something that was purposely manmade - it almost looks like some kind of a plant, but then it has the white section of runes, and the decorative finial on the end. It was really fun to carve this wand, but throughout the entire process, I was constantly saying to myself “go for it, make it bolder! Don’t sand those knife marks!!!“ Almost the entire wand was carved by hand using just my set of carving knives, and unlike most of my other wands, I purposely didn’t sand it because I wanted it to have that rough look that it has in the movies. It’s sort of a careless, primitive style, and it really does make it look very old and appropriately …dangerous. Like a few of my other wands that you’ve already seen, this wand is also made from holly.
　
Voldemort
I first tried this wand way back when I first saw The Goblet of Fire, and I just wasn’t happy with that version. I noticed right away in the graveyard scene that this wand had a subtle curve to it, and it was really important for me to get that right. I also wanted it to really look like bone (as much as I could, considering it’s wood) so in painting it, I used a few different colors to leave tiny little flecks and imperfections in it. I like this wand a lot because of the way your hand fits in it. The large hook at the end fits right around your pinky, and your thumb rests on the other point at the top of the handle. When you hold it like that, you really have a lot of control over it and you can even open your hand without it slipping out. When you watch the movies, you can see the actor had a lot of fun finding different grips for it.
　
Xenophilius
This wand is one of the few wands I have that’s made of oak. I hardly ever use it just because oak’s grain is so prominent that you can never really hide it or get around it, and details just get lost in it. This is one of the few wands, though, where oak is the PERFECT choice, because this wand isn’t really about detail; instead it’s all about shape. (But it’s interesting to note that if you take a close look at the Noble Collection version of this wand, they’ve actually painted it to make it look like it has a prominent grain in it, so this wood really was the perfect choice after all!) This wand is such a simple design, but it’s one of my favorites just because of the way it feels in your hand. I think the spiral on mine is just a little bit tighter than the official replica, but I love it just the same! And the runes on it make it that much more interesting.
　
Sirius
A RIDICULOUS amount of time went into this wand because of all of the engravings, but I think it was well worth it. As I was carving in the engravings little by little, I wasn’t sure if it would really look the way it was supposed to - I can’t really explain it, it just looked odd. But there was a certain point in the wand’s progression where all the symbols sort of clicked and they made the overall wand look great. I guess it’s one of those “greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts” situations

Re: Wood Harry Potter Wand Replicas_update Wormtail's Wand

And four more...

Lupin
I made this wand before the Noble Collection released the official version, so it’s not as screen accurate as my other ones. I had to pause the special features for the Prisoner of Azkaban over and over and zoom in to try to see the details of the handle. In the end, what I could discern out of the pixels was this general pointed bulb/egg shape, and something that vaguely resembled some type of twist. Armed with that information, I created this wand. Even though it’s not an exact replica, I still like this wand a lot because it has a lot of character. It’s made of cherry, and I’ve realized that cherry is actually one of those types of wood that actually changes color a little bit with age. I used the flame-aging technique I mentioned on this wand, but over the years, the wood has darkened a lot on its own. This contributes to the distressed look to it, which I think is perfect for the wand of a werewolf!
　
Tonks
I like this wand a lot, but if I have one complaint about it, it’s that I’m not 100% sure how it should be held. The entire wand is this beautifully abstract shape, but when you pick it up, you kind of go “hmmm…..” I made this wand out of cherry to go with Lupin’s wand, and in spite of the stained stripes, you can see from the color of the wood that Tonk’s wand was made a lot more recently. I don’t really have a whole lot to say about it, but it is definitely unique. If you have any questions, feel free to chime in!
　
Flitwick
This is another wand that I really like because it has a simple design, but it’s not just a plain “shaft and handle” wand. I’ve heard in various reviews of the Noble wand that the shape reminds people of a lot of different things, but for me it almost vaguely resembles the fletching of an arrow. The “fins” give it a really distinct feeling in your hand, and I love the fact that it ends with an angled cross-section. It just wouldn’t be the same if the end of the handle was flat. You can tell that for this wand, I used the flame technique to darken the shaft and I tried to make the fading really gradual.
　
Bellatrix
This wand is in my top three favorites of all time! The shape is just so different from all the other ones, I love it! And I like how Bellatrix has a different way of holding this wand that’s completely different from how any of the other characters hold theirs. To me, it just kind of shows how a wand can really be an extension of its owner, and how they can be such a comfortable fit. This wand is also made from holly, and while I’m not sure I made it look quite “rugged” and bark-like enough, I love it just how it is because it has so much personality on its own. The wood gives this wand the perfect weight in your hand, and it’s really fun to hold.