Here’s to the Holidays!

No matter what holiday’s you celebrate, I think we can all agree that they’re a great time to unleash your creativity and make something for someone special in your life. This year, I decided to make a new wooden ornament for our family Christmas tree. They are fun to design and really easy to make. Plus they’re a great way to use up some of the small scrap pieces of wood that I always accumulate from the off cuts of larger projects. Inspiration for this project struck while I was standing at my desk in the corner of my home that I call my office, so I jumped right into xDesign on my laptop to start modeling. I roughed in the shape of a toy soldier, but wasn’t happy with the proportions, so I headed over to my living room to stare at the ornaments on our tree.

Instead of unplugging my laptop and lugging it, as well as my mouse, across the house, I used the "Send to Device" capability within xDesign to open the same model on my phone. From the comfort of my couch, and with reference material within arm's reach, I finished modeling the ornament.

Then I headed into the shop to cut up some turning blanks and start making shavings! I don't get a ton of time on my lathe each year, but I always enjoy the time I spend there. It's this crazy mix of super focus and totally Zen all at once!

With the soldier clearly in sight, I cut it free from the blank and did a bit of hand sculpting with a rasp and sand paper to tidy up the top and bottom. A small eye hook and a few coats of finish wrap up this project.

It gives me great pride to know that there's one more piece of me that will hang on our Christmas tree each year and that I've made something that my sons and all future generations of our family can enjoy.

I have a few more small turning blanks ready to transform into ornaments and I'd love to hear your ideas. Leave a comment with a suggestion and maybe I'll make it in the next few weeks!

https://youtu.be/ERQM5dQE_ag

 

Feel free to download this design in native xDesign format (3DXML):...as well as this Zip file with STEP and STL formats.

OurNextMake