Wooden Carved Bowtie

In this Instructable, I will teach you how to make a wooden bow tie, a good way to make an impression at a party. This 'ible is quite easy and the material needed easy to find so it is a perfect project for a beginner.

You can watch the build through the video or simply read the following steps for more details ;).

You will need :

• Wood (obviously), you can use any kind, in my case it was walnut
• An old bow tie you don't use anymore for the locking mechanism
• Sand paper
• Mineral oil (or varnish)
• PVA glue
• A saw : bandsaw, scrollsaw, a regular saw, any will do
• A Dremel rotary tool

Take a rather slim piece of wood (less than 10 mm thick), and draw a bow tie on the wood. If you're not sure about the dimensions, you can still find a model on the web, print it and draw the outline on the wood.

This step is straight forward, you drew the bow tie, now you have to cut it. Just like at kindergarten, you try to follow the line. Anyway it is still possible to correct a mistake with the next step.

First of all, draw lines on the bow tie to mimic folds in fabric, then follow those lines using a Dremmel and a carving bit. While you're at it, use the Dremmel to soften all the angles and correct the small mistakes made at the previous step. Make sure you have the object the closest from what you want it to be, it will make finishing easier.

Take some 80 grit sandpaper and sand all the wood to smooth it out, once it is done you should have a bow tie that looks like a real one. Continue sanding with higher grit (120, 240, 320 and more) to obtain a super smooth surface.

Finally, apply mineral oil or clear varnish on the wood to make the grain pop.

For this step, get an old bow tie that is not used anymore (you can also find them at thrift shop), and remove the bow knot to keep only the choker. The most resourceful of you may even sew their won clip with a band of fabric.

Now, all you have to do is to glue the fabric on the wood with PVA glue and want for it to be dry. I did not have a small clamp on hand to maintain the fabric, I made made one out of PVC tube, a very handy tip when you lack a clamp.

Here is the result worn !
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