Yesterday I got a belt sander, I've wanted one for ages but couldn't afford one, anyway long story short I have one now, as it turned out I needed one because I started a build out of wood( I know right!!) but that's for another instructable when it's finished, in between the other build I had a bit of time to sort out my friends wish for a wand from Harry potter, dumbeldores wand to be exact, it has a name but for the life of me I can't remember, I'm not that into Harry potter to be honest, anyways back to the belt sander, it was the perfect little project to do in a few hours with my new toy. So here's how!

Step 1: Research,

I got my friend ( I'll protect his identity just incase!) to send me a few snap shots of the wand, he sent me two, both different lol, so anyways I went with one of them and found a bit of round wood and marked out the size and basic shape ( 15 inches long, with "knuckles" every few inches)

Step 2: Sanding

So after marking out I clamped the belt sander to my work bench and set about shaping the wand ............. Elder wand! Ha ! Remembered it's name!

Step 3: Detail

So after about an hour of playing with my new toy, I had the basic shape, next was to add detail, on the picture the wand has loads of little dents and holes in the knuckle bits, I used a dremel tool and about 3 different sized bits to make the holes, starting with the big holes and randomly drilling them so they aren't uniform, then working on the middle size drill bit then small, the the time I have the wand clamped down and doing one side at a time

Step 4: Staining

So after the shape and holes where done, a light sand and that's about it,
I used a walnut stain and gave it three coats and waited for them to dry, while working on my other project I got a text saying he sent the wrong picture, the new picture had one less knuckle at the end, so I redid the end and restained it,

Step 5: Detail White Bit,

So the wand has a white band, I used a white gloss and carefully painted it in, called my friend to find a good picture of the detail, he came through with a great picture and that helped loads!
I used a black fine liner to mark in the detail, then clear coated the lot with a satin finish, and that folks is it!

It was a nice little project to break in my sander, the whole thing only took a few hours tops! and my friend loves the wand, so very one wins! Good times !
If your going to have a go at this elder wand I recommend going steady when sanding, it can get pretty thin and fragile very quickly!

Thanks for looking! Happy building!

Participated in the
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Participated in the
Makerlympics Contest

Participated in the
Woodworking Contest

2 People Made This Project!

21 Comments

AndrewL5

5 years ago

I occasionally like to make wands with my kids, I've always thought about documenting the process after I've finished, so they never get uploaded. Over the past few years I've made Voldemort's wand, Dumbledore's wand, Miss Granger's wand, and McGonogall's wand. I use dowels for the base, and add paperclay, and hot-glue. The jewel on the end of my McGonogall wand is a broken lite-brite peg. I'm better with additive sculpting than I am subtractive, so I appreciate what you did with yours.