Every year for the past three years, a group of us YouTube Woodworkers select album covers and recreate them out of wood and other materials and give them away. We call this event Makers Rock Album Art Collaboration. This year, we chose 90's rock albums as the theme. My choice was the Foo Fighters' "The Colour and the Shape" because I like the artwork, it's my favorite FF album, and I'm taking the whole family to see them in concert soon. Check out my video of this project and follow this step-by-step Instructable for more details.

I don't expect anyone to try to copy this exact Foo Fighters fan art project, but I hope that you can find some useful tips in here and be inspired by your own favorite album covers. If you want to join us next year, keep an eye on the Makers Rock website for updates later.

(Note: Congrats to Brian P for winning this album artwork in my giveaway on Sunday, March 25th, 2018.)

Supplies: 1/4" Plywood, 1.5" Pine, 1/4" Cherry, Spray Paint, 3/16" Dowels, 1/8" BBQ Skewers, Wood Glue

Tools Used (affiliate links):

X-Carve CNC Machine

Lathe and Lathe Cutting Tools

1" Belt Sander

8" Drill Press

Drill

Box Cutter

Step 1: Backboard

I started by cutting a 12" x 12" backboard for the album artwork and painted it blue. Vinyl record album covers are actually about 12-3/8" square.

Step 2: Hemispheres

I measured the spheres on the album cover and cut circles from a 2x6 that were close in size. I mounted them on the lathe between centers and turned the hemispheres. There was a little nub left on the top of each one, so I cut off the head of a screw and put it in the drill, then screwed on each hemisphere and sanded it smooth against a belt sander and a sanding pad. This worked great!

Step 3: Foo Fighters Logo

I used the Inventables X-Carve CNC Machine to carve the Foo Fighters logo out of 1/4" thick cherry. I just couldn't bring myself to paint cherry, so I sprayed it with Deft Clear Wood Finish satin spray lacquer.

Step 4: Connecting Hemispheres

I used 1/8" thick bamboo BBQ skewers to connect the hemispheres together. I marked where the holes needed to be drilled. In order for the skewers to cross each other, some holes needed to be closer to the base of the hemispheres and some further up. Getting the holes drilled at the correct angles and cutting the skewers to the correct lengths took a lot of patience. Once glued together, I painted them gray.

Step 5: Mounting Hemispheres

I put wood glue on the back of each hemisphere and glued them into place. They say you can never have too many clamps, but I say you can never have too many hammers! A bag of sand or bird seed would make a good clamp as well.

Step 6: Mounting the Logo

I cut some small 3/16" dowels to use as standoffs for mounting the logo above the skewers. I painted them blue to blend in with the backboard. I drilled shallow holes into the back of the logo sections and backboard, then glued the logo into place. I must have misplaced the dot for the letter "i" about 5 times and wasted too much time looking for it, but I never actually lost it.

Step 7: Foo Fighters Finished!

The spheres on the album cover have a few black markings on them, so I just used a black Sharpie to reproduce those. Overall this was a really fun project. If you are ever having trouble coming up with a project idea, pick one of your favorite albums and try to recreate the cover art. It's a blast!

Update! I made a second one but left the wood natural with a lacquer finish. Picture attached!

Would you like to join the Makers Rock event next year? Keep an eye on the Makers Rock Website for info coming soon. Click here to see the other 90's rock album covers that were made!

To see more of my projects, visit my Website and YouTube Channel and Subscribe!!!

Thanks for checking out my Instructable, Steve...