Harry Potter - Self Made Wooden Wands, First Post

[kingolaf99]

Hey everyone, been lurking here a while. Finally decided to post something. Harry Potter is one of my weaknesses. I made some wooden wands and Ollivander's boxes a while ago and for some reason got the thought to share them today. They are far from being clean, tidy work, and are not screen copies. Just a show and tell, but input is always welcome. Please excuse the photo quality - this is just from my phone, I do not have professional photo equipment.


First up is a Dumbledore / Elder wand, in black walnut. This one was whittled with a pocket knife, as I didn't have a lathe at the time that I made it. Fine details were added with the woodburning iron. Light linseed oil finish.
The box was made from dollar store cardboard gift boxes, cut down to the right measurements and pattern, then glued into shape. I then glued craft papers to cover the plain cardboard. The end labels and Ollivander's label were just plain inkjet printed then antiqued and glued in place. I glued some ribbons in the ends to emulate the old Noble Collection boxes. The fluffy cushion liner is upholstery foam from Walmart, covered in cheap Walmart fabric and glued in place. Creates a nice effect from a distance I think. The color choices on this were deliberate to match the first book.
Also note my original merchandise costume glasses from way back in 2001 haha, can't believe they survived this long.



Next up is a Mcgonagall wand made of fir (as it should be), turned on a lathe this time. Far from screen accurate here, but again I think it's pleasing overall. Gave the for a rubbing of black acrylic for the finish, nothing else.
The blue box pictured here only barely fits this wand, as they weren't originally intended for each other. Construction was the same as the first, but I added a strip of washi tape to the box for a sort of fancier look and to cover the joint in the craft paper. The color was again inspired by the book cover.



And finally a wimpy little Pottermore style wand, which is exactly the size, shape, and wood of my personal Pottermore wand haha. This is apple wood whittled from a branch. Very crude job on this one, but I tried to give it an antiqued look. Turned out ok.
The box for this was constructed the same way as the others, and again with a book cover color scheme in mind.



Here's a group shot. Thanks for looking!

 

[ultraman]

looks pretty good!
keep up the good work and welcome to the site!

 

[kingolaf99]

Thanks! Not perfect, but they're fun and that's what it's all about. Thanks for looking

 

[sidchou]

they looks great!! what material you use under the fabric?

 

[PotionMistress]

I LOVE that you made these from real wood....really great! To me, it shouldn't have to be perfectly the same as a commercial piece...since the whole point of a wand is that it's unique and an individual piece which gives it 'life', so to speak. Excellent boxes also! Keep up good work!

:thumbsup

 

[kingolaf99]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the feedback.

sidchou, the foam under the fabric in the boxes is cheap high density foam:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Morning-Glory-18-x-18-x-2-High-Density-Craft-and-Cushion-Foam/44106462
I just freehand cut the space out for the wands to fit with a utility knife.

 

[AJ Hamler]

kingolaf99 -- Excellent work! Not only do the wands look great, but the supporting documentation and boxes are particularly outstanding!

It's not often I get to weigh in on something here on the RPF that I actually know something about -- woodworking -- so hopefully this will be helpful to the group. I recently did a project that will be included in an upcoming book featuring a Harry Potter-style wand. I didn't do the Ollivander's box or paper docs (not in my skill set, sadly, so kingolaf99 my hat is off to you, good sir!) but the wand part was no problem at all. Ostensibly, I made this magic wand for my very young grandson, who is much too young to be playing around with a pointed stick. Of course, I knew fully well that my doesn't-fall-far-from-the-tree geek daughter (age 32) would snag the wand to "save" it for him till he's older.

The wand isn't accurate to, or patterned on, any Potter screen wand, but the key aspect I wanted to be authentic and true to the Potterverse was that the wand absolutely had to contain a magical object. Fortunately, I just happened to have a magical object on hand....

If you set the Wayback Machine to when my daughter was about five or so, we had a bunch of crows that lived behind our house. (Yeah, it was murder back there.) One of the crows was always instantly recognizable whenever they came around because he had a single white tail feather. We saw that guy behind our house for a couple years. One day they were all in the backyard and when we went outside we startled them and they flew off. When they did, "White Tail" -- as my daughter had named him -- lost a flight feather, which she instantly grabbed once it fluttered to the ground. I told her the feather was magic, but she protested that claim since the feather was black like all his other feathers and not white. I explained that his white feather was what made HIM magic and, as such, he had to keep that one white feather forever. But I further explained that the one white feather made him and all his other feathers magic, and that she should never lose it. And for a long time, she didn't. Of course, little girls get older and forget things, and when that happened I squirreled that feather away, sealed it in an envelope, and put it in my desk. She had no idea I'd done that.

OK, now flash forward 25 or so years. My daughter is still her dad's daughter, and like her old man she's still a lover of all things sci-fi and fantasy, so when my 3-year-old grandson's birthday came up I planned this special project for him -- a Potter-style wand. Of course, it would contain something magical: White Tail's flight feather that I've been saving in my desk for 25 years. How could it not?

I took more photos than what appear below, but these are the key shots of the project.



And, yes, that's the very envelope the feather had been in for 25 years. I lathe-turned the wand in rosewood. Bolivian, if I remember correctly, but I'm not entirely sure -- I have about five different kinds of rosewood in my lumber racks and I really don't know without going down and checking. After turning the wand, I chucked up an extra-long 1/4" drill bit and bored the wand to an adequate depth to accept the feather. Once I had inserted White Tail's feather into the wand, I capped it with a black ebony cap that I also turned on my lathe.

This was one of my most satisfying projects ever.

And, no, my daughter has not yet allowed my grandson to have the wand.

A.J.

 

[CaptChunkyChew]

Awww, that's a lovely story! If it was me, I wouldn't let your Grandson have the wand either! seriously nice work man.

 

[PotionMistress]

kingolaf99 -- Excellent work! Not only do the wands look great, but the supporting documentation and boxes are particularly outstanding!

It's not often I get to weigh in on something here on the RPF that I actually know something about -- woodworking -- so hopefully this will be helpful to the group. I recently did a project that will be included in an upcoming book featuring a Harry Potter-style wand. I didn't do the Ollivander's box or paper docs (not in my skill set, sadly, so kingolaf99 my hat is off to you, good sir!) but the wand part was no problem at all. Ostensibly, I made this magic wand for my very young grandson, who is much too young to be playing around with a pointed stick. Of course, I knew fully well that my doesn't-fall-far-from-the-tree geek daughter (age 32) would snag the wand to "save" it for him till he's older.

The wand isn't accurate to, or patterned on, any Potter screen wand, but the key aspect I wanted to be authentic and true to the Potterverse was that the wand absolutely had to contain a magical object. Fortunately, I just happened to have a magical object on hand....

If you set the Wayback Machine to when my daughter was about five or so, we had a bunch of crows that lived behind our house. (Yeah, it was murder back there.) One of the crows was always instantly recognizable whenever they came around because he had a single white tail feather. We saw that guy behind our house for a couple years. One day they were all in the backyard and when we went outside we startled them and they flew off. When they did, "White Tail" -- as my daughter had named him -- lost a flight feather, which she instantly grabbed once it fluttered to the ground. I told her the feather was magic, but she protested that claim since the feather was black like all his other feathers and not white. I explained that his white feather was what made HIM magic and, as such, he had to keep that one white feather forever. But I further explained that the one white feather made him and all his other feathers magic, and that she should never lose it. And for a long time, she didn't. Of course, little girls get older and forget things, and when that happened I squirreled that feather away, sealed it in an envelope, and put it in my desk. She had no idea I'd done that.

OK, now flash forward 25 or so years. My daughter is still her dad's daughter, and like her old man she's still a lover of all things sci-fi and fantasy, so when my 3-year-old grandson's birthday came up I planned this special project for him -- a Potter-style wand. Of course, it would contain something magical: White Tail's flight feather that I've been saving in my desk for 25 years. How could it not?

I took more photos than what appear below, but these are the key shots of the project.

View attachment 631194View attachment 631195View attachment 631196View attachment 631197

And, yes, that's the very envelope the feather had been in for 25 years. I lathe-turned the wand in rosewood. Bolivian, if I remember correctly, but I'm not entirely sure -- I have about five different kinds of rosewood in my lumber racks and I really don't know without going down and checking. After turning the wand, I chucked up an extra-long 1/4" drill bit and bored the wand to an adequate depth to accept the feather. Once I had inserted White Tail's feather into the wand, I capped it with a black ebony cap that I also turned on my lathe.

This was one of my most satisfying projects ever.

And, no, my daughter has not yet allowed my grandson to have the wand.

A.J.

OMG, THAT IS A MAGNIFICENT STORY! Now THAT is special wand indeed! Ollivander would be proud. (Are you sure you are not his son?;-P) It's absolutely beautiful! Your daughter must be so proud of you. I'm sure she will impart to your grandson how special it is, not only because of how beautiful it is, but because of it's history and the love that his grandfather has put into it. Wow! Lucky kid!

Thanks for sharing your story and talents. If you ever make any more wands (or anything else) , be sure to post about them.

 

[ATL Kenobi]

kingolaf99,

Just saw this post. Good work on the wands and the boxes are a nice touch - they're done very well!

I just completed a wand too, but I think I'll srtart a new thread to display it.

ATL

 

[kingolaf99]

kingolaf99 -- Excellent work! Not only do the wands look great, but the supporting documentation and boxes are particularly outstanding!

It's not often I get to weigh in on something here on the RPF that I actually know something about -- woodworking -- so hopefully this will be helpful to the group. I recently did a project that will be included in an upcoming book featuring a Harry Potter-style wand. I didn't do the Ollivander's box or paper docs (not in my skill set, sadly, so kingolaf99 my hat is off to you, good sir!) but the wand part was no problem at all. Ostensibly, I made this magic wand for my very young grandson, who is much too young to be playing around with a pointed stick. Of course, I knew fully well that my doesn't-fall-far-from-the-tree geek daughter (age 32) would snag the wand to "save" it for him till he's older.

The wand isn't accurate to, or patterned on, any Potter screen wand, but the key aspect I wanted to be authentic and true to the Potterverse was that the wand absolutely had to contain a magical object. Fortunately, I just happened to have a magical object on hand....

If you set the Wayback Machine to when my daughter was about five or so, we had a bunch of crows that lived behind our house. (Yeah, it was murder back there.) One of the crows was always instantly recognizable whenever they came around because he had a single white tail feather. We saw that guy behind our house for a couple years. One day they were all in the backyard and when we went outside we startled them and they flew off. When they did, "White Tail" -- as my daughter had named him -- lost a flight feather, which she instantly grabbed once it fluttered to the ground. I told her the feather was magic, but she protested that claim since the feather was black like all his other feathers and not white. I explained that his white feather was what made HIM magic and, as such, he had to keep that one white feather forever. But I further explained that the one white feather made him and all his other feathers magic, and that she should never lose it. And for a long time, she didn't. Of course, little girls get older and forget things, and when that happened I squirreled that feather away, sealed it in an envelope, and put it in my desk. She had no idea I'd done that.

OK, now flash forward 25 or so years. My daughter is still her dad's daughter, and like her old man she's still a lover of all things sci-fi and fantasy, so when my 3-year-old grandson's birthday came up I planned this special project for him -- a Potter-style wand. Of course, it would contain something magical: White Tail's flight feather that I've been saving in my desk for 25 years. How could it not?

I took more photos than what appear below, but these are the key shots of the project.

View attachment 631194View attachment 631195View attachment 631196View attachment 631197

And, yes, that's the very envelope the feather had been in for 25 years. I lathe-turned the wand in rosewood. Bolivian, if I remember correctly, but I'm not entirely sure -- I have about five different kinds of rosewood in my lumber racks and I really don't know without going down and checking. After turning the wand, I chucked up an extra-long 1/4" drill bit and bored the wand to an adequate depth to accept the feather. Once I had inserted White Tail's feather into the wand, I capped it with a black ebony cap that I also turned on my lathe.

This was one of my most satisfying projects ever.

And, no, my daughter has not yet allowed my grandson to have the wand.

A.J.

VERY cool story, and I love the wand. That's magical

- - - Updated - - -

kingolaf99,

Just saw this post. Good work on the wands and the boxes are a nice touch - they're done very well!

I just completed a wand too, but I think I'll srtart a new thread to display it.

ATL

Thanks ATL! Youre from the Atlanta area I suppose? I'm not too far off. I've got some lightsabers in the works too, stay tuned haha