Hand-crafted Burl Heart | Key-Chain

How to make a Hand-crafted Burl Heart Key-Chain. This is a keychain from 100% scrap wood, and came from unwanted firewood. This is a great gift to practically anybody, and what better way then give it to somebody for Valentines day! So, let's go ahead and get started!

Materials and tools used in this project:

1. Drill

2. 1/8 drill bit

3. sand paper (120-2000 grit)

4. saw

5. wood (i used a burl from firewood)

The first thing you'll want to do is find the wood you would like to use. In this project, I used an Unknown wood species that i have no idea could be. This wood is a Burl, and came from firewood: but you can do this with any other wood of your choice.

The next thing you want to do is cut it into slabs, so that way we have nice Burl/ wood slabs to trace, and cut. I used a coping saw to do this, but you can do anyway that suits you best.

Materials used in this step:

1. Burl/ wood

2. Coping saw

Now that we've gotten our Wood slab cut, we'll clean it up a bit by using sand paper. I used 120 grit to get rid of more material.

After you've cleaned up both sides, you can now start tracing your heart shape unto the wood. During this process, i had to work around all the voids and cracks of the burl; So be careful of the voids if you get some, because any fractures will make the key-chain/ necklace even more fragile.

Materials and tools used in this step:

1. sand paper (120 grit)

2. Pencil, and heart template.

After you've traced your heart unto your wood, use a coping saw blade, or any type of fine saw, and start cutting out the heart. Here I put it into my vice between 2 pieces of wood, to prevent any dents that might occur from the Vice teeth. And after you've cut out your shape, you can begin refining your edges so that the heart is more symmetrical. I used 200 grit sandpaper for this.

Materials and tools used in this step:

1. Coping saw

2. 200 grit sandpaper

3. Vice (or clamp)

After you've refined your heart shape, round it with 120-200 grit sand paper. This step might take a while depending on how hard your wood material is, but the wood i used was very soft, so this took almost no time at all. So after you've rounded your heart, it's time to make it shine. To make it glossy, I sanded every scratch from the 200 grit sandpaper out with 400 grit, then to 1000 grit, and then finished it off with 2000 grit.

NOTE: Take your time with sanding your product, because when the project is done you don't want any scratches that might leave an unpleasant look to the glossy heart.

Materials and tools used in this step:

1. 120, 200, 400, 1000, and 2000 grit sandpaper.

Once you've gotten your finish on the heart; you can drill the hole where the ring will go to make it a key-chain, or if you like, a necklace. Here i drilled it with a 1/8 in. drill bit, be careful not to drill too close to the tip of the wood, because doing that ensures more likeliness for it to fracture.

After you have drilled your hole, you can add a finish! I chose to use Beeswax, but you can use anything from Walnut oil, to boiled linseed oil. But because this will be something that will most likely have a lot of contact with skin, I chose to use something more natural.

When you've added your finish, you can put on your ring to make it a key chain. But if you want it to be a necklace, you can put on the materials for that.

Tools and materials used in this step:

1. Drill

2. 1/8 in. drill bit

3. Beeswax (or any oil that suits to best)

Now your wooden Heart is finished! It is ready to give to your valentine, or anybody in mind. This was a super interesting project, and i will definitely make more in the future. This was a simple project and was by far the funnest. I hope you all enjoyed this project, but 'till then: 'Create Something'.

For more projects, visit my Website and YouTube Channel.