So, in all my years of doing this crazy job, I’ve never had a sanding belt break. Today, I had two of them fail on me.
Both of them failed in the same place. Right at the seam. I don’t know if it’s because they’re old or because I should have used a coarser grit for this stage of shaping or some other reason I’m not seeing. What I do know is that Those were my last two belts and I’m not sure how I’m going to finish the project. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’m broke right now.
The good news is that I got the seraph blade all sanded around the edges and I can at least get it measured and marked up for shaping. It’s really important that all those edges make a nice 90 degree angle with the sides (which we know for sure are flat). That lets me make sure I get the edge of the blade right in the middle and not curving off in one direction or the other.
So what now? Well, I shut my machine off and cleaned up the workshop, swore at the broken belts (as is customary), and went for a shower. Now I’m gonna work at clearing my head and conferring with my wife about what sort of budget we can spare for this project. I can’t afford to sink money into it until it’s done which was my way of doing things before financial disaster hit us.
I’ve got some updates and an offer for you. Let’s get to the progress report on the wakizashi first.
No, I didn’t break it. That’s an extra chunk of Plexiglas in there.
At last! The pattern is all cut out. Edges ain’t pretty yet but that gets fixed next.
I like keeping aside the pile of all the off cuttings to see how much plastic gets removed. Some of these bits are big enough to make a pendant or small decoration. I try not to waste plastic unnecessarily.
Now! My proposal …
I’ve mentioned before that my wife and I are struggling financially. If I were back home in Canada, I could put up my Patreon or PayPal and you could simply contribute a buck or two if you felt like supporting my work here. But in Finland, that’s illegal.
Yep. I have to sell a product or a service. I can’t legally take donations. Sucks eh?
So I have to take more of my very limited time and energy and try to make an additional product to sell in hopes of getting a trickle to take some of the pressure off.
That’s why I’ve decided, for the first time, to offer tutorials on how to do what I do, step by step. It’s difficult. It requires a degree of insanity to stay patient and stick with it. But it produces results that you cannot get by any other means.
This kind of clarity, structural strength, and inner “glow” cannot be produced by 3D printing or moulding and casting.
What do you think? Are you crazy enough to try it yourself? Or perhaps just curious about the techniques? Would you be interested in some tutorials?
Today, I’m going to tell you about my day using pictures.
ScreenshotScreenshot
Yep. It’s been that kind of day. I’ve already repaired this strap system once and I don’t have the time or materials to do it again. I have a replacement part coming to me via Temu. Don’t throw shade on me for that. I am BROKE and I literally can’t afford anything better. No, there is nothing available locally in bumf*** Finland. The next cheapest thing I could find was from Amazon at 40€ plus shipping and it would arrive while I’m visiting my relatives in Canada. So, for now, we’ll have grouchy post-apocalyptic Shrek.
Angel blade all cut out, now it’s time to work on the wakizashi!
Got the modified Clariel seraph blade cut out as much as is practical with the plunge cutter. Now it’s time to tackle the wakizashi.
Slow and steady wins the race. There are several factors that dictate the pace of carving PMMA (Plexiglas).
For me, the first consideration is how much work my body can do each day. Because I’m not well, I have strict limitations on my endurance. I still have to do other things each day like prepare food, shower, clean, take care of my cats, and go grocery shopping. If I use up too much of my energy or raise my pain level too high, I won’t be able to do some or any of those other things.
The second consideration is the nature of the material itself. Unlike wood, PMMA will begin to melt if it gets too hot. This will deform the piece you’re trying to make and, if you ignore the warning signs of overheating, it can actually discolour the plastic.
To cut PMMA, you need to use friction. Whether you’re using a saw, a grinder, or a sander, the problem remains. You will have to go slowly and give the material adequate time to cool down during the cutting process. You must work in stages and keep moving the tool to different parts of the piece.
The third consideration is the tools themselves. I consider my Bosch multitool to be a decent machine but even it overheats after a few hours of work. It needs time to cool down as well. It’s also possible for the teeth of the tool to get gummed up with melted plastic and it will need to be cleaned.
Vibration from the cutting tools can cause numbness, tingling, and even nerve damage if used for a prolonged period of time. This can be partly mitigated by keeping the cutting bits clean and sharp. The one I’m using needs to be replaced but I’m having difficulty sourcing Bosch starlock cutting bits in Finland. Ah, the joys of living in a remote corner of the world.
Are you ready!? Me neither. Anyway, I have a reasonably functional work space and some materials. On the workbench right now is a wakizashi and a modified Clariel order that was cancelled when the pandemic started.
My workshop is now located on the upper floor of my house. It was going to be in the garage but it turns out that the heating in there doesn’t work and the water pipe freezes every winter. Oh well. The entire outer wall of this room is windows so I have adequate ventilation.
I haven’t been idle during my long hiatus. I’ve studied some new techniques and gotten a couple new tools which I hope will make my job easier and speedier. Here’s a picture of the wakizashi in progress. I’ve drilled guide holes through the material with my drill press who I call Emily, after Emily Post. If you know who that is, you’re officially cool.
Anyway, drilling nice 90 degree holes around the perimeter of the pattern I intend to cut out helps me keep my plunge cutter straight and avoid straying off on an angle that I’ll have to fix later.
You can see that the Clariel, a Seraph Blade inspired by Cassandra Clare’s “Shadowhunters” novel series, was already into the first stage of material removal when the project was cancelled. While it’s sad that the customer had to cancel, the upshot is that I can now do whatever I want with this piece. I’ve never had this kind of freedom before. It’s exciting and terrifying.
Okay, so on August 1st the Finnish government ended its recommendation to work from home if possible and many of the Covid restrictions were relaxed. I was able to get to my workshop to pick up some stuff after I healed up from surgery. (I’m pretty much all okay now! Yay!)
My plan was to just get together the prototype for my most recent witchlight attempt, finalize any decisions about that design, and then get back in the workshop and start turning out some swords.
Why do I even make plans anymore? Seriously.
Well, the number of Coronavirus cases has increased again in Finland and it seems that we are heading into our Second Wave. The government has, as of August 13th, reinstated the advisement to work from home if possible and here we are. I am, once again, doing what I can on my kitchen table.
Well we knew this was a possibility. I just thought I’d have a little more time in between First and Second Wave to maybe turn out a sword or two. It hurts my heart that I have to answer all you nice people who have messaged me about buying a sword with uncertainty and vague timelines.
The truth is: I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to ‘business as usual’. I don’t have a vehicle of my own and it isn’t safe to be taking public transportation every day. It’s not safe for me to be working in an industrial building with recycled air and people who don’t wash their hands nearly enough. I don’t even have water access to my room. I have to get it from the bathroom down the hall or the communal kitchen.
What can I say? I’ll try to keep you updated.
I mentioned witchlights, yes.
My 3 candidates.Sealed and ready to go.And covered with boogers!
The translucent silicone I have looks … well it looks like snot and handles pretty much the same. Yuck. Hopefully it’ll do what I want it to do and I will finally get a method for making these things that actually works.
So uh, if anyone needs me, I’ll be in the kitchen smearing snot on rocks. Stay safe out there.
Yes, I’m still around. Yes, I still do art. The Work-From-Home recommendation from the Finnish government is currently scheduled to end August 1st. Provided that Coronavirus cases here continue to decline, I will be able to get back to my workshop then.
I promised you that I would always be completely honest with you. That means that some posts are less cheery than others.
I haven’t been posting because … well, frankly there’s been nothing to post. I’ve been working on restoring and modifying an old, broken doll castle and that’s about it. All I have done on that so far is just sanding it in preparation for priming and applying a base coat to the parts. It’s really hard to try and make that look exciting.
When can you place an order for seraph blades again? I’ve taken note of the people who expressed interest in ordering one. I suspect there might be something wrong with my current mould as I’ve been getting a lot of bubbles and delamination in my casts. If there is indeed a problem, I will have to make a new mould. That might take a couple of weeks.
The short answer is: I’m not sure. I’ll have to let you know.
My company has been hit hard by this crisis. As most of you know already, I am a sole-proprietorship. That means I work by myself. A one-person team. While there has been financial relief offered to entrepreneurs, I did not qualify for it. I spent much of last year doing research and development and therefore didn’t make enough money to be “worth” a bailout.
I am disappointed. I was supposed to break even this year. However, I continue to pay rent on my workshop while being unable to work there and because half of the year is already gone, that is no longer a possibility short of some kind of miracle.
What lies ahead for Inkblade Studios? Well, its as good a time as any to rebuild and restructure. I’ll run you through my plans here.
Pressure Casting
Casting under pressure means few to no bubbles. Typically, pressure casting is done in a pressure pot (most often the size of a paint can) or by injection moulding. Neither of these things are suitable for large, long object like a sword. So I must create a “pressure pot” that is long enough to hold the size moulds I need.
This is tricky because if you are sloppy about your construction methods, it will explode. Since I have no interest in making pipe bombs, I will be taking my time and doing this properly. I’ll just have to beg your patience in the meantime.
Carving Blanks
I dearly miss carving swords the way I used to do. Nothing I have cast comes close to the optical clarity of the carved swords.
So, so smooth.
These are very labour intensive, though. I need blocks of acrylic resin in specific sizes and lengths. It’s much more cost-effective and time-saving to cast blanks (blocks of solid resin) myself rather than pestering local industrial plastics manufacturers with my bizarre requests. They’re used to making big thick sheets and slabs of plastic, not rods of weird widths and lengths.
With my new power carving tools and custom-sized blanks, I would be able to carve faster and have less waste material to chew through. It would become feasible to return to carving custom blades without having to sell them at a loss.
To make blanks, again, I need pressure-casting. I don’t have the funds or the space for an extrusion machine of my own. That is too far in the future to think about right now.
Small Items
I have had so many requests for witchtlights. Just so many. I’ve been working on it for ages. It is very, very difficult. My specifications are brutal and I refuse to make an inferior quality product just because it would be easier. Anybody can make a plastic rock with a light inside, but who can make one that doesn’t have a big ugly cap on one side? That’s just a rock-shaped lamp. Seriously, I could do that right now if that was all that was needed.
Thankfully, all that time spent in research and experimentation was not wasted. I have a model that I’m satisfied with producing. I just need to make the final sculpt, take a production-quality mould, and start casting them. Assuming nothing goes wrong–which now that I’ve said so it probably will–I should be making witchlights by the end of the year.
I will also be making some jewelry, amulets, trinkets and such. Smaller items that you can buy for a much more affordable price than the big swords.
That’s about it for now. I have more plans for the future but the others are too far off to discuss right now. Thanks for your patience. I’m doing the best I can with the circumstances and that pretty much means starting over.
Hello! While I’m waiting for electronic parts to arrive, I’ve been working on some doll modifications.
I re-flocked this fella’s hair and gave the top a trim.Yeah, that is actually light outside my workshop window. Finally!
I’m also continuing work on my cat girl doll. You might remember that she came to me with a broken leg. I re-designed her knee joints to make them stronger (using metal instead of plastic). However, the new joints, though strong and very flexible, are rather ugly. So I tried to cover them with some fur-textured epoxy paste.
Hmm, interesting concept but not quite how I imagined it. They look okay-ish when straight but you can probably see a bit of a gap in the back there.
I’ll probably end up using something like this aesthetic as I continue to experiment. For now, I need to study the other dolls I have collected to see how those manufacturers do their joints and see what I can learn.
As an artist or craftsman, it’s never a bad idea to take the time to learn more about your craft. Time spent practising is never time wasted. Perhaps you’d like to follow along as I take a look at doll joints?
Yep. I’m still hacking away at this project. I’m frustrated, but also very, very stubborn. I managed to mess up my first casting of the year and ended up having to clean uncured, sticky resin goo out of my mould. Hopefully that was just a derp in measuring the quantities of part A and B.
Yesterday, I had a bit of excitement while re-doing that casting. When I started pouring in the resin, it began leaking out of the mould. I realised I had not tied the cord around it tightly enough. Now, because the resin had already been mixed and I had only about 10 minutes left before it gelled, I couldn’t go pull the box of ties down from the shelf, fish out the ball of string, wind it around tight and cut it before the whole operation was ruined.
I stood there, holding onto both sides of the mould, pressing them together, trying to problem solve on the fly. Aha! If I could run into my dust tent, grab a clamp, and get back before too much resin leaked out, I could save the casting! So I did. I dashed into my dust-containment tent, grabbed the first clamp I could get my hands on and ran back to the mould.
Yes, the first clamp I could get my hands on … was about 3 times bigger than the mould itself. LOL! You gotta do what you gotta do eh?
Well, it stopped the leakage sure enough! Today, we will see if the resin cured and, if it did, if the casting will line up correctly with the other half of the witchlight. If it does, I can install the magnets and get to work on the electronics!
If it doesn’t … uh … well I learned something from the experience? Yeah, it will be back to the drawing board for the witchlight project. Well, if it was easy, it would already be available on the market. It isn’t. I know because I want one and I’ve hunted everywhere. I think my company motto is going to be: “Screw it; I’ll do it myself.” Hahaha!
Hello everyone! I’ve just shipped out what is probably the most gorgeous Clariel style blade I’ve ever made. It took me a little over a week from start to finish. Remember when it took me 3 – 4 weeks to make sword?!
I’m so pleased with how far I’ve come with my crafting. It’s been a long and frustrating journey with big bites taken out of it for illness and surgery. Life doesn’t always cooperate with what we want to do. We all do the best we can.
I continue studying, experimenting, and swearing at my tools to bring you better and better artwork.
About the piece: This shadowhunter requested only the angelic rune on the handle, a black wrapping, and a frosted finish on the blade.
The snap closure on the wrap is the tiniest I’ve ever used so it’s quite difficult to spot if you don’t know what you’re looking for. I decided to shape the leather flap (which covers the light fixture) in two separate pieces and adhere them together. This resulted in a covering that conforms to the shape of the handle much better than forcing a single piece of leather to go over multiple curves.
If you want your very own Clariel, you can pop over to my Etsy shop and get one made for you. Please note: I go on holiday at the end of this week so your sword will come to you in the new year if you order now. 🙂
That’s all from me for today. Thanks for stopping by!
Hey This IS My Job 