Professor Dumbledore's "Incredible" Illuminating LED Elder Wand, the Death Stick, the Wand of Destiny !

Well after making my first paper LED Harry Potter inspired wand for my 9 yr old ( https://www.instructables.com/id/Another-LED-illuminating-Harry-Potter-inspired-Wiz/ ), my older son of course then wanted one based on his favorite character, Professor Dumbledore's Elder Wand. My oldest son was only 5 when Harry Potter came out so he kinda' grew up on it...like I did with Star Wars!! Geeks! :)

 Dumbledore's Elder Wand proved to be a bit more tricky to shape and add details than the first wand I first constructed, but once you get the hang of working with a hot glue and learn the glue's behavior, it becomes a lot easier. The Wand of Destiny, as it is also known, has raised knots in the elderberry shaft, lots of texture to it, indeed a very nice looking wand. And then there is the end cap to top it off. This will be a fun hot glue challenge!

 I took the same approach as I learned fromKaptin Scarlet's Harry Potter's Lumos Reveal Wandinstructable ( https://www.instructables.com/id/A-really-magic-Harry-Potter-wand-for-Lumos-and-Rev/ )...PAPER and HOT GLUE!

Here we go....

MATERIALS
- Reference picture of Dumbledore's Elder Wand.
- Two sheets of heavy paper (Two sheets are needed to make the wand long enough - 15 3/4 inches)
- Elmer's glue or any white glue, even wood glue will work fine
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks (lots of 'em)
- Soldering gun and flux core solder
- E-Light LED Ear Piece (I found mine at Harbor Freight for a couple bucks) You can use any LED and make your own battery pack....there are instructables on here for doing so.
- About 20" of wire (to solder LED and battery pack together)
- White primer
- Acrylic paint (red, blue, yellow and black) and small brushes
- paper towels, rags etc....

You might find yourself needing a couple extra items I may have not listed, but that is the basics.

Step 1: Let's Get This Rolling...making the Wand Body!

 The wand's shaft is pretty simple to do...

FIRST to REMEMBER THOUGH: You want a NARROW TAPER as you roll the tube. Dumbledore's wand is slender..don't worry, we'll build up the body with hot glue.
SECONDLY: Apply glue to the paper as you roll  it to form the wand's body. Don't just put a dab on the end...lay down a bead of glue like you see in the photo. Spread it out evenly with your finger if you'd like to help it dry faster.

Ok......
Take a sheet of paper and roll it in a nice long NARROW tube. Now take the second sheet of paper and do the same. Insert one tube inside the other and now glue in place. Now set that aside to dry. The main part of the body is DONE.

 (See the three tubes pictured? The top tube is what you want the taper to look like, this is GOOD! The middle tube is NOT good and the bottom tube is a BIG NO!)

Turn on your soldering gun now and get ready to solder...

Step 2: Let's Do Some Soldering....making the Elder Wand Glow!

  This part makes the wand "magical"...the LED. I just so happened to have a bunch of these green LED ear piece things laying around I purchased at Harbor Freight. They were a couple bucks and my youngest son and I used them when camping and playing army commando's in the dark. :)

I took the ear clip off and seperated the bulb from the battery pack.

Take the 20" length of wire (strip the ends) and soldered the LED to the wire. I use a bit of the hot glue to insulate the wires once they are soldered.

DO NOT SOLDER THE BATTERY PACK ON YET...Ya gotta' put the wire thru the tube first!!!

 Now take that wire/LED and thread it thru the tube and hot glue the led in place at the point of the wand...the TIP! Now solder the battery pack to the other end making sure you connect it appropriately negative to positive ends. Insulate those connections with a dab of hot glue.

SOLDERING IS DONE. Turn it off. :)

Step 3: It's Getting Hot in Here!!! Time for Hot Glue...OUCH!

  Using a picture of Dumbledore's Elder Wand as reference build up the knots of wood that go along the shaft. Try to follow the picture as close as you can to get proportions correct.

 When applying the hot glue spin the wand as you apply the glue, try to spin smoothly and evenly. Let this layer cool and go over it again. Repeat this process till you have the knots built up like the reference photo. This takes some time, don't rush. and do not worry about details yet, just concentrate on building up the surface right now.

I mounted the LED on/off switch INSIDE the tube and built up around it with hot glue, I also filled the tube with hot glue and let it cool completely. The wand will be much more stiff when the glue dries.

TIP:Once the hot glue dries you can come back and shape it with the edge of the glue gun tip as you see in the photo. Don't push down hard, just enough to get the glue warm enough to manipulate and smooth it over.

Step 4: Adding Some Texture & Detail...

 The top of Dumbledore's can was made by rolling a small piece of paper in the shape of a cone and then hot gluing it on top. Then it was just a matter of building it up like the knots. Hot glue, cool, hot glue, cool, etc....

 Now the project has taken the shape of the Elder wand. The knots are spaced well, the little end cap is shaped well enough....it is now time to add the dimpled look. This is achieved by taking the glue gun tip and pushing it slowly in the hard glue knots. Gently push down and then easily pull back. Takes a bit of finese', but once again you will get the hang of it. This is my first time making texture like this as well...I can do it, you can do it!

Step 5: Time to Paint and Prime......

 It is time to prime the wand. For my primer I used "KILLZ". It's all I had and worked fine on the last wand I made. I applied a light coat and came back with a second.

NOTE: I took a picture with the first coat of primer painted on so you can see the texture better.

Next I want to mix a brown for the wood coloring. I used acrylic paint. Red, blue, and yellow will make brown. Use varying amounts till you get the shade you are looking for. Apply 2 coats, let dry in between coats.

 REMEMBER TO LEAVE AN AREA WHITE FOR THE SYMBOLS...or you can come back later, paint it white and draw them in...I chose to leave an area unpainted, only primer. Your choice.

 For giving the wand an aged, or distressed look you will take black acrylic paint, water it down slighty, and do a portion of the wand with the black wash, let it dry only slightly and then wipe it off with a damp paper towel. If you try to do the whole wand with black wash at once there is a great chance some will dry too quickly before you can wipe it off, NOT GOOD....so do a little bit at a time. DO NOT GO OVER THE WHITE AREA! Leave that for the symbols. The black color will be left in the nooks and crannies giving it the appearance of being worn an old.

**I used pictures from the "distressing method" I used on the previous wand...the method is the same here.

Now just copy the symbols with acrylic paint or a black Sharpie marker like shown in the photos. I drew mine with pencil, then sharpie marker...THEN decided to paint 'em.

 On to the next step.....

Step 6: You're DONE! Enjoy Your Elder Wand....That's It!

 Turn it on, use it for a flashlight, walking the dog at night, pretend to turn your neighbor to a toad, etc...Have fun and be safe casting spells!

If you enjoyed this instructable please rate it, leave comments and most of all cast a vote for this "ible" in the contest. :)