I’ve been meaning to do this for a few years, but now I’ve done the woodshop induction (thanks Ed!) I think I’ll be starting it properly soon. I’m really not sure how I’m going to go about every part of it, I’ve had some ideas but if anyone has thoughts on alternate ways to do things please let me know; novice doesn’t begin to describe my level of experience!
Also, on the extremely off-chance that the RPG “Ferrymen” means anything to you, I can only ask that you stop reading now. You’ve already seen too much, but the more you read the more you’ll spoil the surprise!
What I’m wanting to make
So, brief background: I’ve been playing in a RPG with five of my friends for five years now, every month. The game has developed a lot of lore and we’re very invested, and it’s getting towards end-game now. To commemorate the game, I’m planning on making some gifts for all the other players (and myself!). It’s a sci-fi game set in a homebrew world we created using the Microscope system, with a series of solar systems connected by faster-than-light travel points that link some systems together into a ‘cluster’. The eight systems of the cluster are mapped together thus (forgive the hand-written addition):
It’s not escaped my notice that these eight points can be mapped onto a cube following the edges and crossing faces as most once (i.e. with no ‘crossing over’), and no links between opposite vertices. So what I’m planning on making are six identical cube maps of our cluster, one for each player. A rough sketch of what I’m wanting it to look like in the end (two viewpoints from opposite corners) is:
Initial thoughts on how I might make it
I’m thinking two-tone, with a lighter wood for the base cube and a darker wood for the raised edges and for each vertex. In terms of size, I’m thinking the ‘inner’ cube will be 70mm on a side, with the raised parts coming out about 5mm from the surface, so the ‘outer’ cube would be 80mm on a side. Because these are intended to be ornamental, I’m aiming for a very clean finish and consistent sharp corners etc. Which may mean going through multiple revisions as I get practice.
The main decision I need to make is how to make the inner cube - I think once I’ve got that, cutting out the channels and layering in the edging / corners should be relatively easy. I think there are a couple of options for making the inner cubes; I could cut them out of prepped stock so they’re a solid piece, or I could construct them out of six faces. I’m minded to go with the latter even though that’ll probably add a lot of complexity to the project - I’m not really sure how I would go about making a 70mm x 70mm square with four 45-degree mitres on one face, which is the only way I can see making something that would look really nice on the finish. The main reason I’m wanting to do that is so that no face is end-grain, both because I think end-grain faces will look worse than the other faces, and because want the faces to be as consistent as possible so that there isn’t a ‘right way’ to orient the final product.
So I’d need to make six of these (per final product):
And then cut off some of the edges, stick them together, and hope that the all the measurements and cuts have been accurate enough that it ends up looking good. I don’t know how possible this is, particularly for a newbie whose only woodworking in the last five years has been making a spice rack on a supervised course. If anyone has any thoughts on whether it’s feasible, and if so how best to do it, I’m all ears.
My current best plan is to make some kind of jig to hold a load of rough-cut squares of wood at a 45 degree angle, run them through the table saw (either with supervision or having been taught how to use it without lopping off a limb), rotate them all 90 degrees so the freshly-cut mitre is now facing up, run them through again, and repeat 2 more times. I’m imagining something like this (overhead view, hastily-sketched):
Is this crazy? Someone please tell me if this is crazy.
Anyway, I’ll aim to take pictures as I go and will update this post periodically with progress. Hopefully in a few months I’ll have something I can be proud of!