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shifuimam · Sep 6, 2009, 12:41 PM

So I know it's totally lame to want a magic wand, since Harry Potter is fake, but I had seen various wands online (like at alivans.com) and thought it would be cool to have one. My best friend's mom bought a house a few years ago that came with a pole barn full of stuff, including a pretty nice lathe. He and his brother made a really awesome chess set for their dad for Christmas, which got me thinking about how we could use the lathe to make a wand.

So when he went to get wood for the chess set and some other projects, he found this really cool African wood for my wand. Ten months later, we finally got around to going down to his mom's house to make it. He did all the work on the handle, and his mom's boyfriend helped sand it down (it's ridiculously smooth for being unvarnished and unsealed) and round off the tip.

The whole thing turned out fantastically well, in my opinion, and it made a really great gift that my BFF could make for me right before we move 700 miles away from. Anyhow, I thought I'd share it for anyone interested. The handle detail is based off a design I made back when I first had the idea. It's not exactly like what I originally came up with, but I really love how it turned out. I'm going to go to a lapidary at some point and find a round, cabochon semiprecious gemstone to mount on the end of the handle. From tip to handle, it's about 14" long. The tree that provided the wood produces a toxic sap, which I think is what has given the wood a really interesting, spicy scent.

Pics are here.

design219 · Sep 6, 2009, 01:22 PM

That's nice work. I made one for my daughter three years ago. She was seven then.

shifuimam · Sep 6, 2009, 01:29 PM

Yes, yes, I know I'm way too old to be pretending I'm a wizard. That's not really why I wanted it.

It's more along the same mindset as people who like buying and displaying medieval or Japanese-style swords and other weapons.

design219 · Sep 6, 2009, 01:56 PM

I wasn't making fun. Well, not too much. It is nice.

Chuckit · Sep 6, 2009, 02:10 PM

Hey, you don't need to be insecure about it. It's cool. Out of curiosity, is the base really wide? Imagining at at 14 inches long, it seems like the base is really big relative to the length.

SpaceMonkey · Sep 6, 2009, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

Hey, you don't need to be insecure about it. It's cool. Out of curiosity, is the base really wide? Imagining at at 14 inches long, it seems like the base is really big relative to the length.

I imagine it comes in handy for cudgeling muggles.

shifuimam · Sep 6, 2009, 02:34 PM

The widest part of the base is about 1" wide. It's fairly wide for the length,, but it's a good size for holding it - any narrower would have been too small, I think. We might have been able to make it slightly longer, but I think the dimensions turned out pretty well. Making it too long would weaken the tapered end of the wand above the handle, I think.

I think I may drill a hole in the base of the handle and add a threaded insert, so that I can screw in a setting on the bottom with a stone attached to it. I'd like to be able to switch out the stones, so a threaded metal insert would be best for that.

Here it is against a ruler to get an idea of the size:

besson3c · Sep 6, 2009, 02:37 PM

When I first saw the title to this thread I was wondering if it vibrated...

Just kidding

Congrats on your first wand, one of many more to come, I'm sure. A wizard can never have just one wand. What spells are you working on, shif?

besson3c · Sep 6, 2009, 02:38 PM

Hey, maybe you could learn a spell to teleport your cats to Virginia, if UPS won't take them?

turtle777 · Sep 6, 2009, 03:05 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Hey, maybe you could learn a spell to teleport your cats to Virginia, if UPS won't take them?

And if that doesn't work, she can still use the wand as a bat and try for a home run....
Wonder if BF is a good thrower.

-t

besson3c · Sep 6, 2009, 03:47 PM

Hehhe... try for a home run! That made me laugh!!

Did you ever find your remote control for your TV, turtle buddy?

turtle777 · Sep 6, 2009, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Did you ever find your remote control for your TV, turtle buddy?

Yes, actually, it was in your car's glove compartment.

You don't miss your car, do you ?

-t

BlueSky · Sep 6, 2009, 07:15 PM

Harry Potter is fake? wtf, guess that lightning bolt tat on my forehead was silly after all.

- - e r i k - - · Sep 6, 2009, 07:37 PM

Nice work on the base, but the front seems a bit gimped to me.

besson3c · Sep 6, 2009, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by BlueSky

Harry Potter is fake? wtf, guess that lightning bolt tat on my forehead was silly after all.

You should see what I have on my ass...

Chuckit · Sep 6, 2009, 08:32 PM

I really did know a girl who had a Dark Mark tattoo on her neck. Cool chick, actually.

shifuimam · Sep 6, 2009, 09:50 PM

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - -

Nice work on the base, but the front seems a bit gimped to me.

How so? It's almost perfectly rounded off.

It'd be really difficult to get it any narrower at the top without an extra stabilizing piece somewhere in the middle of the wand, which we didn't have.

- - e r i k - - · Sep 6, 2009, 10:01 PM

What? It doesn't even have a phoenix feather core? For shame!

shifuimam · Sep 6, 2009, 10:13 PM

Hah - I mean an attachment you put on the lathe to steady the middle of a long piece of wood while you're whittling it down. That's difficult to do without risking snapping the wood as it gets thinner and thinner.

I'm just saying - for something that a more-or-less amateur made (and keeping in mind that it's more about the sentimental value it holds than the craftsmanship), I am thoroughly impressed with the thing and love it. Aside from a narrower tapering off at the tip, I don't think the wands at a site like alivans.com are really all that better, to be honest.

besson3c · Sep 6, 2009, 11:38 PM

What happened to your old Harry Potter magic wand, just out of curiosity?

suganutz2 · Sep 7, 2009, 01:11 AM

I like it. Here's my magic pipe, er I mean magic wand.

shifuimam · Sep 7, 2009, 01:17 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

What happened to your old Harry Potter magic wand, just out of curiosity?

I stuck it up your mom's ass the last time she was servicing me. She liked it so much she begged me to leave it there, and the rest is history.

olePigeon · Sep 7, 2009, 02:21 AM

[Reynolds] Huh. [/Reynolds]

besson3c · Sep 7, 2009, 02:44 AM

Originally Posted by shifuimam

So I know it's totally lame to want a magic wand

I want to know why you would say such a thing?

mattyb · Sep 7, 2009, 05:06 AM

Originally Posted by shifuimam

I stuck it up your mom's ass the last time she was servicing me. She liked it so much she begged me to leave it there, and the rest is history.

LMFAO.

shifuimam · Sep 7, 2009, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

I want to know why you would say such a thing?

Has it ever occurred to you to not thread crap?

Seriously. It gets old pretty quickly.

besson3c · Sep 7, 2009, 11:55 AM

Shif: I'm sorry, I just saw your thread and got really excited. Try to understand, some people would think of this as an interesting thing you did or something somebody might do for fun, I think it is much, MUCH more than that, okay? I *really* like Harry Potter magic wands... It would be like if somebody created an awesome clamshell iBook thread and George Clooney was in there eating TGI Friday's beef stragnoff naked, if you see what I mean?

That being said, I'll restrain myself.

design219 · Sep 7, 2009, 01:28 PM

Besson always had a way of explaining things so we could understand.

ort888 · Sep 8, 2009, 01:48 PM

It looks like a chair leg.

andi*pandi · Sep 8, 2009, 02:26 PM

^that was my thought too.

However, it's still cool. My kid has just started reading Harry Potter and would love a magic wand. I'll put in a request to my brother the carpenter.

Laminar · Sep 8, 2009, 06:16 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

I want to know why you would say such a thing?

Are you going to give us the lecture on how you've rationalized being awkward and out-of-place by deciding that you were going to define for yourself what was cool? That you believe you live on a higher plane than the rest of us because you're not fettered to the enigmatic rules of "cool" that modern society imposes upon everyone else?

Oisín · Sep 8, 2009, 06:40 PM

Originally Posted by Laminar

Are you going to give us the lecture on how you've rationalized being awkward and out-of-place by deciding that you were going to define for yourself what was cool? That you believe you live on a higher plane than the rest of us because you're not fettered to the enigmatic rules of "cool" that modern society imposes upon everyone else?

Dude. Do as your wife says. Stop coming on here talking about shif’s magic wand and go put your own to some use. Now!

turtle777 · Sep 8, 2009, 08:10 PM

*gets popcorn*

-t

wallinbl · Sep 8, 2009, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by Laminar

Are you going to give us the lecture on how you've rationalized being awkward and out-of-place by deciding that you were going to define for yourself what was cool? That you believe you live on a higher plane than the rest of us because you're not fettered to the enigmatic rules of "cool" that modern society imposes upon everyone else?

You're on your honeymoon, banned from the Internet by your wife, and you choose to read a thread posted by a woman about her "magic wand". Seems like a bad idea. You're pretty slow on picking up this whole marriage thing.

besson3c · Sep 8, 2009, 10:23 PM

This thread just needs a little Macgeek, Monique, Abe, or somebody like that and this could become epic.

SpaceMonkey · Sep 8, 2009, 11:20 PM

Originally Posted by wallinbl

You're on your honeymoon, banned from the Internet by your wife, and you choose to read a thread posted by a woman about her "magic wand". Seems like a bad idea. You're pretty slow on picking up this whole marriage thing.

Maybe he's looking for some tips? I'm sure we can oblige.

I'll go first. Laminar: make sure you get into the habit of clearing your browser history every night.

Wiskedjak · Sep 9, 2009, 12:07 AM

I think the wand is cool. Geeky ... certainly. Immature ... without question. But, we're all boring if we don't let our geeky and immature sides out once in a while.

hyteckit · Sep 9, 2009, 12:30 AM

Here's my Harry Potter magic wands.

I have 4 magic wands stuck to my bed post just in case I need it.

besson3c · Sep 9, 2009, 12:34 AM

hyteckit: Do you have any spells where you make stuff come out of the four magic wands all at once? I never understand why more wizards don't use multiple wands.

hyteckit · Sep 9, 2009, 12:40 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

hyteckit: Do you have any spells where you make stuff come out of the four magic wands all at once? I never understand why more wizards don't use multiple wands.

Yeah. The 4 magic wands is great for tying down naked girls onto my bed in any position I want. 4 magic wands is required to tie down 2 arms and 2 legs.

hyteckit · 01:23 AM

As for you question why more wizards don't use multiple wands.

It's quite simple really.

If you play tennis, you'll know that even though you carry multiple rackets as backup, you tend to play and practice with your main racket. That's because you know the feel of the racket, the weight, the tension of the strings, and so forth. That's why you tend to stick with one racket. Switching to a different racket or magic wand throws off your game because you are not use the feel of it.

As for why wizards don't use more than 1 wand at a time. Using 2 magic wands at the same time is like driving and texting at the same time. It divides up your concentration. When casting a spell, you want to concentrate on that one particular spell.

The other reason why wizards don't use more than 1 wand at a time is because it split up your power. The power of the spell gets split up and becomes weaker.

The purpose of the magic wand is to concentrate and amplified your power.

Think of the magic wand as an amplifier antennae similar to you WIFI antenna. But instead of an omnidirectional antenna, it's focus it power on the tip of the wand similar to a lightning rod where all the energy travels out of the tip. However, if you add another WIFI antenna or lightning rod, the power/energy gets split up between the two wands, so your spell becomes weaker.

So most of the time, you would want to stick with one magic wand to maximize your concentration and power.

I've taking apart one of my magic wands.

Notice it looks a lot like a WIFI antenna.

wallinbl · Sep 9, 2009, 06:28 AM

Originally Posted by hyteckit

Yeah. The 4 magic wands is great for tying down naked girls onto my bed in any position I want. 4 magic wands is required to tie down 2 arms and 2 legs.

I'm not sure that's what he meant by "make stuff come".

shifuimam · Sep 9, 2009, 06:37 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

hyteckit: Do you have any spells where you make stuff come out of the four magic wands all at once? I never understand why more wizards don't use multiple wands.

Besson.

Seriously.

STFU.

paul w · Sep 9, 2009, 11:15 AM

For me, Besson made this discussion interestring.

hyteckit · Sep 9, 2009, 11:22 AM

This thread has given me the idea of turning old chair legs into magic wands.

besson3c · Sep 9, 2009, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by shifuimam

Besson.

Seriously.

STFU.

No. I've respected your request to cut back on my posting, but I'm not going to shut up entirely. This is not the magic wand board, this is the lounge where screwing around is the norm. I do not wish for my free speech to be stifled, especially on this most important issue which I feel most passionate about. Lighten up.

Oisín · Sep 9, 2009, 11:37 AM

^^ That’s the most unwieldy magic wand I’ve ever seen.

olePigeon · Sep 9, 2009, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by hyteckit

If you play tennis, you'll know that even though you carry multiple rackets as backup, you tend to play and practice with your main racket. That's because you know the feel of the racket, the weight, the tension of the strings, and so forth. That's why you tend to stick with one racket. Switching to a different racket or magic wand throws off your game because you are not use the feel of it.

Rowling hints to wands having an innate intelligence. Having multiple wands causes conflict and has unpredictable results. Also, using other peoples' wands causes problems. Magic just doesn't work correctly unless you're using your own wand.

Oisín · Sep 9, 2009, 03:30 PM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Rowling hints to wands having an innate intelligence. Having multiple wands causes conflict and has unpredictable results. Also, using other peoples' wands causes problems. Magic just doesn't work correctly unless you're using your own wand.

Exactly. Viz., Ron using his old wand before it breaks and never achieving anything proper (and that’s a family wand, so it’s not even that bad).

besson3c · Sep 9, 2009, 03:44 PM

Yeah, but could you use one wand to control another wand? In other words, you wouldn't be using the wand yourself, you'd be having your single wand control this other wand, thus adding additional magic power.