"Screw" 24 Kobe Bryant - Number DIY Project

No matter who you're a fan of, this project can be done with any number or design (obviously) and may be a great way to make a home address or some type of cool art in your home.

I made this shortly after Kobe Bryant passed away and thought I'd share the process with everyone.

It's somewhat tedious when you make a design this big that is filled in, but I'm considering making a bear design soon that would just be an outline and feel that'd be easy.

Please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel and watch the video in full here:

Supplies

Purpleheart wood

Gold Screws

Drill

Clear Coat

Sander

Step 1: Cut, Sand, and Prep

I began by cutting my wood down to about 14" wide and of course this is completely up to you and your project.

Then I just hit the edges with a sanding block to take out any wood burs.

Last piece here is to mark about an inch from the edges and mark directly in the center to place my 3 dowels which will hold this whole thing together.

You can opt to use kreg screws here if you'd like.

Step 2: Connecting It Together

With a little dowel jig, I drilled out the holes to half the depth of my dowels.

I then applied wood glue to both the purpleheart wood and to the dowel before piecing it together.

Step 3: Finishing the Plaque Piece

The back piece just needed to be sanded a little more thoroughly with an orbital sander and then I decided to bevel the edges a little to give it a finished look.

The hard corner edges cheapen this project so why not add the little detail.

Step 4: Making Holes for the Screws

By using excel, I made the squares the mm of my screw head size.

You can change the settings in Microsoft excel to format sizes based off of millimeters. Then the screw head size should be right on the box.

Once printed, I taped it to the center of my plaque and began nail punching starter holes for where each screw will go.

Now, if you have a drill press, this will be SO much easier for you... but I do not. So one by one I screwed in little starter holes for my screw placement.

Once complete - I sanded it down once more.

Step 5: Polishing the Wood

Now that the holes are all drilled out, I went for some Minwax Semi-Gloss polyurethane here for my final look.

I only did one coat of this because this wood did not absorb the stain like your typical pine you'd get at a regular home improvement store.

Step 6: Screw It!

The final step is to screw in each and every screw.

Once they're all in place and close to the right depth, I took the extra step of going in with a hand screwdriver to get them to the perfect depth AND to make the crosses on the screw head uniform and in the same direction.

I really hope you enjoyed this project! Please share any pictures if you decide to use this concept on a project of your own! I'd love to see it.

Please consider subscribing to my YouTube Channel where the video for this project is held.

Video: https://youtu.be/FLn7j2T06rM