Check out the video for inspiration

This was a really fun but involved project. I used a bunch of familiar tools we all work with. It's the combination of these tools to get to the finish was interesting. I used a lathe to turn all the main body parts like the head, abdomen and thorax. I used the scroll saw, Dremel and sanders to shape the legs and wings. I also used resin to make the wings and the eyes. So there was a lot of smaller steps that I needed to tackle to get to the finished piece. You get the point. Check out the build video and below I'll show you an overview of the process.

Honey bee out of walnut, poplar and resin

Step 1:

My Bee sculpture is made from Walnut, Poplar and resin. I used a variety of tools to reach the finished piece. I used a table saw, wood lathe, scroll saw and Dremel. I also used epoxy to connect body parts together such as the antennas, legs and wings.

I started with the abdomen. I cut walnut and poplar wood into slices with the table saw.

Step 2: Glue Up of the Honey Bee Abdomen

I glued up the walnut and poplar wood and clamped them together. I set that aside for a few hours before going to the next step.

Step 3: Lathe Work on the Abdomen

I shaped the bee abdomen on the wood lathe. You can see it taking shape.

Step 4: Head and Thorax

I also needed to create the thorax and head of the bee. So I did that on a solid piece of walnut and used the lathe to shaped the parts.

Step 5: The Body Parts

I ended up with 3 oval shapes. I used a Forster bit to open a cavity for the 3 pieces to fit inside one another. Then I glued them together with 5 min epoxy and set it aside to work the next step.

Step 6: Leg Parts on the Scroll Saw

I printed out a bunch of leg parts for the bee and attached the templates to a walnut board. I then cut the leg parts out on the scroll saw and later used the Dremel tool and various sanders to shape them. I attached each leg piece together with 5 min epoxy.

I also used the Dremel to carve out below the thorax of the Bee. Here ( Build Video) I will attach the legs and use epoxy to bond the parts.

Step 7: Resin Wings

I mixed resin with gold mica powders and poured the mixture into a makeshift tray. Once the resin cured I pulled it from the tray and used sanders to clean up the cardboard that had bonded to the resin. This is what I made the wings out of.

I drew the shape of the wings onto the resin sheet and the cut the parts out on the scroll saw.

I used more resin to make the eyes. I shaped them with my Dremel tool. I took my time so both eyes would match in shape and size. I also attached them along with the antennas using more of the 5 min epoxy.

Step 8: Attaching the Wings

I attached the resin wings to the top of the thorax using more of that useful 5 min epoxy and held them in place til they bonded. This did take a bit of a steady hand and patience.