Ship Wheel Style Pendant / Key Fob

In terms of the creative idea and reasons for making this project:

Firstly I had some square oak cut-offs from previous projects that I wished to make into something. I also had a few pieces of Lime cut-offs.

Secondly, due to the small size of the Oak cut-offs I decided to make some kind of wooden Pendant / Keyfob.

Tools used during the construction of this project

1. Saw (e.g. Tenon Saw)
2. Disk Sander
3. P120/P240 Sandpaper
4. Flexcut KN18 Pelican Knife
5. Flexcut KN27 Mini-Detail Knife
6. Ruler and/or Vernier Caliper
7. Pencil/Marker Pen
8. Various Sized Paint Brushes
9. Hobby Drill and/or Pillar Drill
10. 1.5mm Drill Bit
11. 6mm Drill Bit
12. 20mm Flat Wood Drill Bit
13. Bench Vice

Materials used to make this project

1. Piece of Oak (approx dimensions 40x40x15mm)
2. 4x 6mm Sapele Dowel (Length = 30mm)
3. 4x 6mm Mapel Dowel (Length = 30mm)
4. Piece of Lime (minimum 20mm Diameter & 5mm Thick)
5. Metal Loop (Net curtain)
6. Linseed Oil
7. Wood Glue
8. Colron Georgian Medium Oak Wood Stain

A: I took a piece of oak and found a circular object whose diameter (about 40mm) matched the dimensions of the wood. To create a circle, I placed the circular object onto the wood and marked around its edge. Then, using a metal ruler, I found the centre point along each side of the oak square and drew a horizontal and vertical line onto it. I also drew two diagonal lines between each opposing corner which, along with the other two lines, intersected the centre of the circle. Finally, I drew four lines (perpendicular to the diagonal lines) to mark where I was going to cut the corners off.

B: I marked the centre point of the circle then used a pillar drill, with 20mm flat wood bit, to drill a hole through the centre of the piece of oak. The oak square was then placed in a vice and a tenon saw was used to cut the four corner bits off, the subsequent flat surface made drilling the corner dowel holes easier. In terms of the position of the dowel holes, I decided I would reduce the thickness of the oak to 15mm so each drill point was measured to about 7.5mm down from (each line) the top edge of the oak piece. I then used a pillar drill with a 6mm wood drill bit to create the 8 holes.

C: Finally as the piece of oak was 20mm thick I used the tenon saw / disc sander to remove about 5mm of wood from the underneath. This made the dowel holes more central on the sides.

A: Firstly, I used a combination of carving knives, disk sander and sand paper to remove excess wood from the main oak piece and give it its final ring shape. A marker pen was then used to draw 8 lines of motion (vortex) onto the top of the ring.

B: Next, I took a piece of 6mm maple dowel and cut 4x 30mm lengths from it, the process was then repeated with the 6mm sapele dowel. I choose dowel made from these two different types of wood because of the contrast in colour they gave. Each piece of dowel was inserted into the holes drilled in the sides of the main oak ring as shown in the photos.

C: I then used the kn27 mini detail knife to carve a 1-2mm deep groove on each line of the vortex. I also used the carving knife and sandpaper to bevel the outside edges of the oak ring to give the edges a more rounded (aesthetically pleasing) look.

D: Finally, each piece of dowel was removed, wood glue applied, then reinserted into the dowel hole with (measured using a Vernier Caliper) 20mm of it's length protruding from the oak ring.

A: To enhance the vortex's grooves, I took some Colron wood dye and used a small paint brush to paint the inside of each groove. The dye was left to dry for a few hours before another coat was applied on top of the first one.

B: Next, I used the kn27 mini detail knife and some sandpaper to create bevelled edges on the ends of each piece of dowel.

C: Finally, I used a hobby drill with a 1.5mm drill bit to drill a hole into the side of the oak ring between two of the dowel pieces. A metal eye was screwed (usually supplied with net curtain wire) into the hole so as to allow the attachment of a piece of chain / string to the pendant.

A: To create the central piece, the ship wheel pendant was placed on top of a piece of lime and a pencil was used to mark around the oak rings inside edge. The piece of lime was then placed into a bench vice and a tenon saw was used to cut out the circular shape.

B: I then used carving knifes and sandpaper to remove excess wood and shape the piece of lime until it fit snug into the centre of the oak ring.

C: I searched on google and found/printed out some runic (Elder Futhark) symbols. The Tiwas (arrow) Symbol was then cut-out and glued to the lime piece.

D: Finally, I used the kn27 mini detail knife to carve the symbol into the wood.

A: To Enhance the tiwas carving, I again used Colron wood dye and a small paint brush to paint the inside of the arrow. The dye was again left to dry for a few hours before another coat was applied to the first one.

B: Finally, I poured some Linseed oil onto a jar lid and used a small paint brush to coat the entire Ship Wheel pendant. This was then left to dry overnight before a second coat was applied. The Pendant was now complete.