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Description
Welcome to stage two; production!

Now that I had my patterns traced on to a piece of 3/4in thick pine wood, it was time to cut it. I used a small jigsaw to cut it out, as I do not have a bandsaw anymore. I then used a handheld belt sander to flatten out the edges, and the jigsaw to cut the circle in the middle. After that was done, I put the main body of the weapon aside, and went back to my patterns.

I took the pattern for the weapon I had made earlier, and cut the tape holding it together. I then took the top and bottom pieces that I needed, and traced them onto a piece of wood, about 1/4in thick. I cut them out, and after checking them for a good fit with the main body of the weapon, I re-attached the patterns and put them into storage for the time being. Then, in order to attach the parts for the upper half of the handle, I had to round the edges of the base piece of wood, as it would be nearly impossible to do so correctly later. After rounding the edges, I then proceeded to use wood glue to fasten the parts to the handle, and left it overnight to dry.

Now comes the fun (time-consuming) part; tapering the edges. I'm not going to lie, this part really had me annoyed for a while. I had managed to use my handheld belt sander for most of the edges that needed to be tapered, but unfortunately some of the interior angles were simply too tight for it to reach. This caused the build to be delayed for a while, as I needed a better tool for the job. A trip to Harbor Freight later, I had found a lovely little belt sander designed for small, tight spaces. It worked great, and the build was able to continue. (It's worth noting that when tapering the edges, it pays to mark the half-way point before you sand it down. This will ensure the edge remains evenly tapered when it's finished.)

Now I had my tapered, glued together hunk of wood.. It's starting to look more like a weapon now, but it still needs a little work. Some areas like the "counterweight" on the end of the handle had to be rounded out without using any patterns, so it helps to have a good eye when doing this. Also, the top of the handle needed to have the edges rounded to fit the shape properly, and to complete the look. The tiny belt sander worked wonders for that stage, as it was able to get into the tight spaces with precision. After that, the only thing I needed to do was sand it down. This was done with a combination of a file for the roughest areas, and some medium grit sandpaper. Now that the weapon was smoothed out, it was time to proceed to painting it...

--> Stage 3! -->

Description
Welcome to stage two; production!

Now that I had my patterns traced on to a piece of 3/4in thick pine wood, it was time to cut it. I used a small jigsaw to cut it out, as I do not have a bandsaw anymore. I then used a handheld belt sander to flatten out the edges, and the jigsaw to cut the circle in the middle. After that was done, I put the main body of the weapon aside, and went back to my patterns.

I took the pattern for the weapon I had made earlier, and cut the tape holding it together. I then took the top and bottom pieces that I needed, and traced them onto a piece of wood, about 1/4in thick. I cut them out, and after checking them for a good fit with the main body of the weapon, I re-attached the patterns and put them into storage for the time being. Then, in order to attach the parts for the upper half of the handle, I had to round the edges of the base piece of wood, as it would be nearly impossible to do so correctly later. After rounding the edges, I then proceeded to use wood glue to fasten the parts to the handle, and left it overnight to dry.

Now comes the fun (time-consuming) part; tapering the edges. I'm not going to lie, this part really had me annoyed for a while. I had managed to use my handheld belt sander for most of the edges that needed to be tapered, but unfortunately some of the interior angles were simply too tight for it to reach. This caused the build to be delayed for a while, as I needed a better tool for the job. A trip to Harbor Freight later, I had found a lovely little belt sander designed for small, tight spaces. It worked great, and the build was able to continue. (It's worth noting that when tapering the edges, it pays to mark the half-way point before you sand it down. This will ensure the edge remains evenly tapered when it's finished.)

Now I had my tapered, glued together hunk of wood.. It's starting to look more like a weapon now, but it still needs a little work. Some areas like the "counterweight" on the end of the handle had to be rounded out without using any patterns, so it helps to have a good eye when doing this. Also, the top of the handle needed to have the edges rounded to fit the shape properly, and to complete the look. The tiny belt sander worked wonders for that stage, as it was able to get into the tight spaces with precision. After that, the only thing I needed to do was sand it down. This was done with a combination of a file for the roughest areas, and some medium grit sandpaper. Now that the weapon was smoothed out, it was time to proceed to painting it...

--> Stage 3! -->