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Wimbledon is upon us here in the UK and this signals the beginning of summer and everyone going tennis loco. So here is a very nice quite simple little project for making some fun tennis bats in a steampunk style. I have used a scroll type pattern, but you could design them with any pattern you like. The key is to make them look like wrought metalwork. The design, using a flat sheet with lateral reinforcing vanes gives a very light composite material that is reasonably strong. This means that when you hit a soft squashy ball with one of these bats, the handle does not bend or snap off. So not only are you making something beautiful and well at least vaguely steampunky, but you are learning something interesting about structural composite materials.
The ball is made from a couple of carrier bags, so all in all this is a very nice little project that doesn't require much in the way of special materials or equipment. Like with just about all my projects, a glue gun is very handy to make the project go quickly, but you can use white woodwork glue (Elmers or PVA) if you want to and you have the time and the patience to sit holding each bit while it dries.
What you need:
The ball is made from a couple of carrier bags, so all in all this is a very nice little project that doesn't require much in the way of special materials or equipment. Like with just about all my projects, a glue gun is very handy to make the project go quickly, but you can use white woodwork glue (Elmers or PVA) if you want to and you have the time and the patience to sit holding each bit while it dries.
What you need:
- Piece of thick corrugated packaging card (you can use foamboard if you have it)
- Glue (preferably hot melt / glue gun glue)
- A strip of material, felt or leather
- Some clear plastic sheet like drawing artcel sheets or an overhead projector slide, or old bit of packaging window (I used the thick cellophane window from the top of an old Christmas cracker box)
- Two plastic carrier (grocery) bags
- Some spray paint (preferably gold or silver, but any colour will do)
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Signing UpStep 1Design your pattern
The first step is to design your pattern. The bat is made much stronger by the addition of the vertical strips that are going to make up its thickness. As long as some strips go from the tip of the handle right into the body of the bat playing area, you can design them to be as decorative as you like. Copy this design by eye, or make one of your own up, or go to thedadcando project where you'll find a free download of the template pattern.
Of course you could design yours on a computer too using any simple drawing package. When you have a design that you are happy with, mark it out on a piece of corrugate cardboard and carefully cut it out. I agonized about the direction of the flutes (corrugated card), for the best performance. A bat will not really have much lateral force applied to it, but given that you putting longitudinal strengthening, it makes sense to have the flutes running across the face of the bat. That way you'll be making the strongest composite possible (from the given materials).
Of course you could design yours on a computer too using any simple drawing package. When you have a design that you are happy with, mark it out on a piece of corrugate cardboard and carefully cut it out. I agonized about the direction of the flutes (corrugated card), for the best performance. A bat will not really have much lateral force applied to it, but given that you putting longitudinal strengthening, it makes sense to have the flutes running across the face of the bat. That way you'll be making the strongest composite possible (from the given materials).
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The Arts and Crafts Movement was a British and American aesthetic movement occurring in the last years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century. Inspired by the writings of John Ruskin and a romantic idealization of the craftsman taking pride in his personal handiwork, it was at its height between approximately 1880 and 1910.
So says Wiki. Arts and Crafts movement was that time of swirly flowers and long droopy vines and leaves that slowly changed into the Art Nouveau movement at the end of the Victorian era in both the US and Britain.
Like good things always come around more than once, the whole swirly graphics thing nearly made it back into style in the 70s with the pop-scifi artist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Dean_(artist) Roger Dean].
This also shows that a) influences are fantastic and inspire and b) there's nothing new under the sun.
i dont really shop in supermarkets so they don't leave boxes lying around like that but i can go to one maybe get some, don't really see good ones thanks =] now, to get there >.>