You Have Captured My Heart

I've made a Valentines gift for my wife. I saw this project for a CNC on

http://www.vectric.com/cool-stuff/projects.html. Unfortunately I don't have a CNC. But it can be realized without one.

To build this, you need a Pine board 800x200x18 mm. I've cut one 200x200 mm and three 120x120 mm square.

I cut them into circles on my table saw. Circle cutting can also be done on a band saw or with a router.

On the 200 mm circle I cut a 15 degree bevel around. To do this I put the saw blade to the angle and rotated the board on a nail.

I used a router table and the router bit shown in the picture to shape the three smaller circles. This can be done free hand. But you have to be very careful, because of the small circles. I recommend a router table.

I drilled 6 mm holes for the bars. In the original plan are eleven bars, but I reduced it to eight. The bars are cut from a 6 mm dowel to a length of 13.5 mm.

I tried to carve the letters. I clued the pattern with spray adhesive to the wood. But Pine is not good for carving. Even with a sharp knife or chisel.

For this step i used letter stamps to write the words on the wood. The letters are 20 mm high. I used regular stamping ink.

I cut the heart on a scroll saw. I clued two scrape pieces of 18 mm pine to double the thickness. Then I shaped it on a belt sander and with a dremel tool.

I clued a doorknob onto the top piece, four 20 mm wooden balls to the bottom piece and made a dry fit of the cage. I was happy with the result. I sanded everything smooth. The heart was stained with Mahgoni and the cage with beech. I put two coats on it with sanding in between.

Finally hanging the heart on a small chain and everything is clued together.

Please vote for me in the Valentines Contest. Thank you.