Handmade Nimbus 2000 Replica from Mahogany

EDIT: If anyone knows why the photos aren't appearing inbetween my text on this post and instead at the bottom and could explain it to me that would be much appreciated!

Hey Friends! I've got several projects on the go right now and the most recent one is a replica of the Nimbus 2000 from the first Harry Potter Film (Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone). I loved the design of the Nimbus 2000/2001's growing up and always wanted to attempt my own but just never got around to it. Like many I wasn't a huge fan of the Firebolt bolt prop, but I think they nailed the Nimbus line

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Props to this thread by Justinas who I think did a really excellent job on his. I have been referencing some of his research on shape and dimensions which has been a huge help.


Part I : Materials

Materials, materials materials. So the base for the broom is obviously made of wood according to Harry Potter lore the Nimbus 2000 line is made from Mahogany. I've seen a few different renditions of this broom done in Pine, some of which are quite nice. The ones that I saw used a mahogany or other stain to then mimic the look with great effect. Currently I'm a little pined out from a ton of other projects I've done in pine recently so I definitely am looking to use something else, so why not a hard wood. This is the main reason I've been putting off this build, if the broom's made of Mahogany then why not just make it out of mahogany! Answer: Mahogany isn't cheap. Buuuuut after putting it off and putting it off I decided I wasn't gonna make this unless I did it right and that meant getting mahogany so I did.

Now if you know a little about species of wood you'd know that there's something like 300 different species named "Mahogany". I wasn't able to track down any reference as to which specific species was use in the film/book so I just went with the most economical.

Enter one 6ft/90$ piece of Fijan Mahogany. I like to think the wizards making the nimbus line are using this tropical wood, kind of like a fancy surfboard.

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It's a little lighter than what I will want it to be in the end meaning I'll need to apply some oil to it when the time comes but for now it's just a really nice piece of wood.

Part II: Design

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Pulled out the handy paper roll and began dimensioning it out. The dimensions I'm using as scaled up for someone of my size (6'1"/185cm). The original prop was built for an 11 year old and seems to magically keep size with him as he grows so I don't feel too bad. As determined in Justinas thread I based the broom size off of Draco's (who's broom was about 10cm overall length taller than the actor in the second film) because assumably he'd have a properly sized broom since he comes from wealth and his father would have gotten him one correctly sized. This worked out to an overall handle length for me of about 120cm. The rest was more or less free handed as I do most all of my simple shape work.

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After the template was cut out I taped it down and traced my handle on with a permanent marker. I chopped the board off to length on my mitre saw so not to waste the extra wood before running the non-templated side through the planer. This took down the thickness of the board from 2 inches to somewhere around 1 and 3/4.

Step III: Cutting Away

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This is the moment when I'm certain that the extra 100$ I spent that one time getting the 6.5 amp Jigsaw over the 5.5 amp one was 100% worth it. I'm not kidding, this thing cuts through 2 inch thick hardwood like it's disappointed in you. Some careful cutting and a few minutes later we have the beginnings of a Nimbus 2000.

Step IV: Shaping

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After spending as much as I did on the materials for this project I wasn't about to screw it up at this stage, so no power tools to do the shaping. Using a spokeshave, hand files and a box saw I have begun the process of rounding the broom, refining the shape and smoothing things out. Surprisingly it only took about 2 hours to get it quite close to the final shape. I've been sitting on it for a few days (not literally!) so that I've looked at it enough and have all of the bits that aren't quite right stand out to me so they can be taken care of before finishing.

I'm really excited about the start I've gotten on this one. If you have any questions/comments/critiques please let me know!

- The Wolf of Bees

 

no idea about the pics but the nimbus looks awesome so far.

 

TheWolfofBees,

I really can appreciate hand made props and I think you're doing a great job! Looking forward to watching the progress on this one.

I had to search too to find out how to imbed pictures, but try this:
Upload your picture.
Click "Preview".
Left click on the icon.
Right click on the picture once it opens and left click "Copy link address"
Go back to your text where you want to place the picture and type in (without the quote marks) "" . This should "paste" the link address between the bracketed IMG and /IMG.
Click preview again and your picture should show up.

Sort of a pain in the backside - so if someone else can chime in with a better way, I'd like to know too!



ATL

 

Nice project. I've made a number of Nimbus 2000s. I got the original idea from this forum, using an axe handle as the broom shaft. Since that first one, I've made about a dozen. Basically every time one of my daughter's friends come over, they see her broom handing from her ceiling, and they ask for one. I enjoy making them so I end up making them for whoever asks. Having said that, I've decided to go for it and make the ultimate Nimbus 2000. I just bought a 4 foot length of 2 inch thick African mahogany to make one similar to what you are making. This type of mahogany seems quite dark, so I'm hoping it will look authentic by the time I finish it. I haven't begun shaping it yet because I've got a few other things I'm finishing up first. The other thing I've done on my last couple of brooms is to make the Nimbus 2000 logo using real gold leaf. It took a bit of practice, but I think I've figured it out now. Anyway, I look forward to following your progress.

 

Wow, this is coming along great! Oh, if I only had your skills with wood and power tools, I'd be making a dozen of these too. This is such a great project. I had to buy my adult-sized broom, but I would love to have the ability to make a unique one. After you've completed your Nimbus's, you should make a few original-styled brooms. Then you can let your imaginations run wild.
:thumbsup

 

Very nice so far! The spokeshave was the tool I was missing to make mine rounder. My build thread is here:

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=199197

maybe it will be some help.

 

Looking fantastic!!! Look forward to seeing your progress.