Just a quick warning for everyone: make sure you do not use open grained wood for the 3D keychains. Yea, you are probably thinking "duh!", but it was a rookie mistake on my part! Open grained woods (especially oak, which I used) split easily. With the keychains being fragile, they break very easily if a very solid hardwood is not used. I have successfully done keychains in purpleheart, yellowheart, wenge, and even padouk although its a softwood. All have lasted a very long time and still haven't broken. I made one out of walnut which lasted a long time, but eventually busted out. After a visit to Keim Lumber in Charm, OH (which I still have to upload pictures of), I bought some small pieces of Bacote and Black & White Ebony ($$$), and made some keychains out of those. I bought a 3/4" x 3/4" pen blank in the B&W Ebony to use for the keychain, which turned out to work perfect. It is a beautiful wood with brilliant color and texture.
 |
The keychain reading "Barb" is made of Bacote,
while the one reading "Johna" is made of B&W Ebony. |
The program used to design patterns for these 3D keychains was created by
Steve Good. You can see our
write up on how to make 3D keychains and download the program
here.
Post a Comment