Today, I’m going to tell you about my day using pictures.
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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.
After struggling for a long time to make this business work, I realized that I needed a business partner. It’s just too much work for one person to do alone.
I and a friend of mine were set to team up and combine our talents to breathe new life into my studio. Unfortunately, when he arrived in Finland and we spent a few days together, it became clear that we were not compatible as business partners.
I had already closed my business, Inkblade Studios, in preparation to start a new business so now I am without a company.
I could start again with all the same problems as before, or I could just … not. I’ve decided not to. I’m very tired now. I hope you’ll understand. Thanks for all your support and encouragement.
Hi everyone! Yes I’m still not dead. I have moved, again, this time into a house. While I’m setting up my new and improved workshop, I would like to introduce you to this video by Kamui Cosplay. She is one of my heroes of the profession and today she’s talking to us about prices.
If you are commissioning a custom blade from me, please expect at least 800-1000 euros. That’s practically giving the item to you because I don’t get to keep anything but a tiny faction of that.
I’m able to do these prices because my wife works a good full-time job and I should probably respect myself properly and ask for more … but it’s heartbreaking when a customer simply stops responding to me when I tell them the price even though I’m offering it as cheaply as I can without actually losing money. 😦
How can we overcome this together my friends? I want to give you the pretty artworks but the materials are so expensive and I really can’t spend every day all day working for free. This is a fun job but it’s still a job you know?
I’m not going to stop doing commissions and I’m working all the time on new methods of crafting to make things more affordable. But the reality of the situation means that I’m going to have to offer you all some standard merchandise that nobody requested from me personally, but which a larger variety of people could use to complete their costume.
I’m talking about more “plain” styles that you could use for either a Seraph Blade or an elf mage in your LARP. Maybe a selection like this, for example. Things like custom runes or different shapes of blade would be more expensive, of course, because I would have to make the prototype for you individually instead of making a bunch of the same item over and over again. This way, more people will be able to have something cool and not have to pay the price of the sculpture work or the making of the mould. (Remember, silicone is ghastly expensive!)
This doesn’t mean that my work is about to get boring. I’m still going to make cool, stylish, unique stuff for you to buy. You can have a greater chance of me creating an item that looks like what you want if you engage with my blog, or <a href="http://<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKamuiCos%2Fvideos%2F1157911764676146%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true">my facebook page, or, yes, my Youtube Channel (which isn’t set up yet because my freaking tripod broke and I still have to unpack my microphone from the moving boxes haha! have patience!).
Why? Well if 20 people say “Hey Ethan you should make the Herondale blades next!” then I have a good idea of what people want. I might get five or ten of those 20 people buy those swords right away and that would allow me to get back the cost of the prototypes I made. That way I don’t get stuck with a bunch of swords nobody wants to buy and you don’t have to pay for the mould and the sculpting work. Everybody wins!
You might think that your voice has no importance but that isn’t true. If I put up a poll asking people which sword model to make next and you’re the only one who responds … guess who gets to pick my next project? You do! So don’t hesitate to tell me your suggestions, even if you’re shy. 🙂
Alright, now I have to go unpack some more boxes. Wish me luck!
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!
Hey guys! I’ve been out of commission for 6 weeks with this stupid surgery thing and I can’t tell you how happy I am to be back in the workshop! As soon as the doc cleared me for active duty I hopped on the train, headed directly to the shop, and cast a brand new Clariel.
I like big clamps and I cannot lie …
I was worried about getting back into the swing of things. Would I need some time to get back in the game?
It looks like a creepy but happy fish.
The resin behaved. The vacuum pump behaved (even though I really should probably change that oil …)
Yaaaaassssss
This is probably the fewest bubbles I’ve ever had in a casting and they were all pinhole surface bubbles, easily buffed away with a little sanding. To say that I’m pleased with the results is a huge understatement.
Here it is all trimmed and with its first couple rounds of sanding. I’m starting to leave the handles rough so the adhesive and epoxy putty has a better surface to grip to. I can’t wait to see how it’s going to turn out!
Thanks for stopping by my page. Hopefully updates will be regular again.
So! My vacuum pump has finally bit the dust. Poor thing. 😦 I am going to try to get the filter cleaned and looked at and maybe something replaced but I wasn’t willing to take the thing apart until I knew I had a nice new pump on the way that I could be sure would work. Cause let’s face it, it’s better to have a pump that sort of works for a short period of time than a pump that doesn’t work at all.
I have ordered that new pump and I am awaiting its arrival. Hopefully it will come soon! What am I doing in the meantime? Some design work. Some experiments with clay. Annnd slowly progressing on that neato raven sculpture I’ve been working on.
I’ve been reinforcing the raven statuette with DAS paperclay. You might remember me mentioning that most of the sculpture was made with Sculpy. I got to the point with it that it was too wiggly to safely work on the details without smushing the back of the wings or vice versa so I just decided to bake it and finish the detailing in an air dry clay.
I’m quite pleased with how it’s going.
Behold! A rock!
It’s a lovely rock. I know what you’re thinking. Ethan’s finally snapped. Now he’s showing us his rock collection on his work blog. But before you stage an intervention, let me reveal to you that this rock has a secret!
It’s hollow! Remember that DIY paperclay recipe I said I was going to try out? Well, I did and it is fantastic for creating stone-like textures. It’s quite hard but I found I was able to hollow it out quite easily with a small carving tool. This is to be the beginning of my new witchlight model.
Betcha thought I forgot eh? Nope! I’ve just been struggling with the execution of the project. It’s a rather demanding thing to accomplish and I really want to get it right and make it look cool.
Here’s the video of the paperclay recipe I used. I followed it precisely. It turned out great! After five-ish days or so it got stiff and lumpy so I had to add some more water to it and beat it up a little to get it going again. It was still chunkier than it was when it was fresh so I’d very much recommend only making as much as you need and using it within a day or two. I’ll let you know how the rehydrated clay works, versus the fresh stuff.
So I mentioned design work! I’ve had a request for the tiniest little Seraph Blade I’ve ever made. 15.22cm (6″) total. I was stumped as to how I was supposed to make something that wouldn’t look ridiculous and end up with the handle being longer than the blade. But then my wife mentioned skinning knives to me. Those are short but wide and have a really nice curve to them.
I took some inspiration from various models I looked at and came up with this design. The middle, ring, and pinkie finger rest on the handle proper while the index finger goes through the hole in the blade. I added a thumb guard to keep the hand safe from sliding onto the edge of the blade when it’s all slippery with demon ichor. 😉
Demons thinking they’ve caught a lucky break and found a Shadowhunter unarmed will be in for a nasty little surprise. It might be intimidating to get that close and personal with the infernal, but a hunter’s gotta do what a hunter’s gotta do. I know some of you will have the moxie to pull it off.
I’ll have some more progress pictures for you soon. Everybody cross your fingers for a quick shipping of my new vacuum pump so I can get that pretty Arabian sword cast in resin! Can’t wait to show you the completion of that project!
No that wasn’t a typo. Goo! Sticky slorpy blue goo! It is time to pour silicone all over this beauty!
When you see something halfway buried in clay, you know the wacky wizardry is about to begin.
So right now I have Zaapiel sitting in its mould box (which I didn’t take a picture of because I was dead tired at the end of the day on Friday) awaiting my arrival this morning.
What else is afoot at the workshop? Well, I found a few DIY recipes for air-dry paper clay that I’m dying to try out. If it goes well, I’ll have a supply of much cheaper self-hardening clay I can use to sculpt my prototypes instead of using foam insulation. Foam insulation is not very good for the environment and is also annoyingly porous so it has to be sealed over and over again with layers of glue and paint before I can actually take a prototype mould of it. It’d be great if I didn’t have to do that! Let’s see if I can find those recipes for you and maybe we can try it together.
Hello everyone! I’m so happy to be back from the holidays! I never know what to do with myself when I have time off. I’m kind of bad at relaxing, haha!
So what was I doing just before I ran away to sleep and eat sweets for a couple of weeks? I’m very pleased to present to you the new sleek shape of Zaapiel, my Arabian-inspired scimitar! Let’s take a look at how the sanding and refining process went.
Now careful with the belt sander, or the sword might …
Oops.
Well then! Time for some good ol’ Milliput to save the day. No worries. Good as new.
Now let’s … are you serious?
The other strap on my face mask broke so I was forced to stop and fix it again. Well, now that that’s taken care of, let’s go back to the belt sander and …
Really? Okay Chewie is way too aggressive for shaping plaster apparently. Milliput to the rescue! Again!
I went out and got myself a set of metal files and used them in combination with my wood rasps to get the sword all shaped as I wanted it.
Then smeared Milliput all over any pin-holes, indents, or just anywhere I didn’t like the texture. Look at this thing! It looks like a troll sneezed on it. Ew.
Here we are all sanded nicely (by hand of course) and looking decidedly less sneezed-upon.
Now it’s time to get it all painted and sealed for the final moulding. The paint I happened to have on hand at the time was black. So we get a nice svelte-looking sword to feast our eyes upon.
Hurrah! Now it’s time to order some silicone and do the final layers of sealing. While I await the arrival of my goo, I will polish this beauty up to the best shine I can manage and work on a secret sculpting project that I haven’t yet revealed. What could it be? This mystery item is not related to Shadowhunters nor is it a doll! Stay tuned for future reveals!
Hey This IS My Job 