I wanted to whip up a little something in the shop for the Love Of My Life, but I needed something I could build quickly, since the shop is freezing. This is what I came up with.
It’s made from the last bit of naughty pine — sorry, KNOTTY pine — from the Step Stool project. I freehand drew half a heart onto a scrap of plywood, cut it at the bandsaw, cleaned up the edge with the sanding drum, then drew the outline onto the workpiece, flipping the template for the other half to ensure symmetry. Back to the bandsaw to cut the final shape, back to the sanding drum to clean up edges. Hand sanded the inside of the curves at the top where the sanding drum can’t reach.
Finally, I laid out a line that would cut off enough of the bottom to allow it stand on its own, but at an angle so that the front is intact, retaining the full heart shape. To make the cut, I taped the heart to a wedge-shaped scrap that happened to be the right angle and took it to the bandsaw. Final sanding, quick coat of mineral oil, and back inside to thaw out my hands…
Lynda loved it. Yay!
So you’re saying your knotty heart was not for naught?
No, I would never stoop to such low brow wordplay… unless it occurred to me…
What DID occur to me was that I should try and carve something into it… but unlike you, Kari, I don’t have any carving tools… or skills… and I was beginning to lose the feeling in my frozen fingers…
The best part about carving (try chip carving–just one knife) is you can do it anywhere, which means you can bring your work in from your frozen shop and make chips while sitting at the kitchen table, in front of the TV, or in bed. Just make sure you carve while sitting in a carpeted room. Your wife won’t mind. Really.
Are you trying to get me killed? But I take your point… B-)