Wicked Witch of the West's Broom

MaulWalker

Sr Member
Based on a couple of requests in an off-topic thread, this is the broom I made for my Wicked Witch of the West costume. I make much better costumes than props. :lol

First the original -
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Not having access to a 6 foot lathe, I had to get creative. I found a bun foot at Rockler that is very close to the turning on the witch's broom. I had to cut the top part off and drill out the center, but it worked.
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The rest of the broom is a wooden closet rod (shaped with a spokeshave), leather, aluminum flashing, and grass from Pottery Barn.
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ETA: I'm not happy with the handle and it needs more "pouf" under the leather bands. They are on my list to fxi someday. I know the grass is too long, but it breaks off and sheds like you wouldn't believe. I figure some day it will be the right length on its own.

I also posted a pic of the hat in the Costuming forum.
 
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My Ex will be phoning shortly she needs a new one.

Seriously though great job on a cool prop from a classic!!
 
Not too shabby at all :):thumbsup

I have seen some old flat-shovel handles that have that bulb-end that may work.

I thought of that, but the shovel handles aren't long enough. But I did take a piece of brown paper, laid it out on the floor of Home Depot, and traced a shovel handle. I just haven't used the pattern to modify the handle yet.
 
I thought of that, but the shovel handles aren't long enough. But I did take a piece of brown paper, laid it out on the floor of Home Depot, and traced a shovel handle. I just haven't used the pattern to modify the handle yet.

IF I ever get around to making mine, I plan to sculpt the whole thing from a 4"x4"x8' ..using a reciprocating saw, files and sandpaper.
It's crude, but, I've used that method to make a totokia war club and I was very happy with the results. ..not very safe..but, got the job done.
 
It's been a while , but when I saw this thread a while ago, I thought it would be neat to make a broom myself. I thought it would make a unique gift for my Mom for mother's day , since she loves the Wizard of OZ, and I already gave her a pair of ruby slippers a few years back.

This is what I managed to do

I noticed while going through the DVD for screen caps, there must have been several different brooms used as the webbing changes size. The burnt broom has a much wider webbed portion, similar to what I replicated, but the pictures from the Munchkin village, the webbing is shorter. Even in the scene where she lights it on fire, the bristles look more like coarse straw, while in others, it drops like grass.

I kinda made my broom a mish mosh of the various incarnations.
 
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I noticed while going through the DVD for screen caps, there must have been several different brooms used as the webbing changes size. The burnt broom has a much wider webbed portion, similar to what I replicated, but the pictures from the Munchkin village, the webbing is shorter. Even in the scene where she lights it on fire, the bristles look more like coarse straw, while in others, it drops like grass.

I kinda made my broom a mish mosh of the various incarnations.

The variations drive you crazy, don't they? Your version looks very nice.

To keep my grass version from being so floppy, I went to a craft store and found small, thin branches. I inserted about five of those into the end of the dowel rod and cut them so they were about seven inches long. They help keep the grass from flopping over so close to the wrapping.

Lynn
 
It's been a while , but when I saw this thread a while ago, I thought it would be neat to make a broom myself. I thought it would make a unique gift for my Mom for mother's day , since she loves the Wizard of OZ, and I already gave her a pair of ruby slippers a few years back.

This is what I managed to do

I noticed while going through the DVD for screen caps, there must have been several different brooms used as the webbing changes size. The burnt broom has a much wider webbed portion, similar to what I replicated, but the pictures from the Munchkin village, the webbing is shorter. Even in the scene where she lights it on fire, the bristles look more like coarse straw, while in others, it drops like grass.

I kinda made my broom a mish mosh of the various incarnations.

That handle looks great! I love how it tapers. May I ask where you got it?
 
I actually turned the handle myself. A friend has a shop and I used one of his lathes. It was a pain because the thing was so long it began to wobble in the middle. The lathe was a metal turning lathe that could handle long bar stock which you could feed through the back of the chuck. I had to turn the dia of the handle down in about 1 ft sections, then push it through the back of the chuck, then turn down another section until I got toward the end where the bristles attach.

The oval knob just below the bristles is a seperat piece. The dia of the handle wasn't big enough for that part, so I just turned a seperate piece and attached it afterwerd.
 
hello i know this hasnt been replied to in some time but wondering where you got the metal circular pieces you used in the holding the straws together?
 
The metal pieces are strips of aluminum flashing with the ends rounded (to keep from stabbing yourself on them.) Cut them long enough that they overlap, drill two holes in the overlap, and thread wire through the two holes. Twist and tuck the ends into the straw.

Lynn
 
The metal pieces are strips of aluminum flashing with the ends rounded (to keep from stabbing yourself on them.) Cut them long enough that they overlap, drill two holes in the overlap, and thread wire through the two holes. Twist and tuck the ends into the straw.

Lynn
Mahalo nui loa(thank you very much in Hawaiian)
heres a variation of the wicked witches broom(this one is of the East) im doing for a little short film were doing
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Looks great! I'm working on mine and wonder if you would help with a couple of questions.... What is supporting your large metal ring, to keep it from working its way down? Is it just so tight around the gathered straw that it doesn't slide? Also, do you have something underneath your metal rings that you have woven (wrapped) the leather straps around? Finally, your red stripes on your handle look very neat. Are they painted on, or strips of red tape, etc? Thank you so much for all of your help!
 
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