Recovered Gondorian spear and pennant

Here is my most recent project, a Gondorian spear.  I had collected the components over the years. The pennant banner here, a spearhead there...but I could never bring myself to spend the money on a shaft. I could only find what I was looking for online. The shipping alone was murder. All I could find at home depot was pine or poplar curtain rods in 6 foot length.  Then one day at work I found an 8 foot ash pole sticking out of the dumpster.  Destiny or something.

The spear assembled very quickly and to my dismay I wasn't happy at all with it.  It looked so clean and new.  It didn't look real to me, no soul or story.  So I gave it one.  In the LOTR movies Peter Jackson motivates the artists at Weta to get into the mindset that they were recreating true events.  He wanted the crew believe Tolkien's world was a real history and these fantastic people and creature did at one time tread the earth.  That notion set me into motion.

So in a way, I didn't make the spear.  I simply climbed into my inter-dimensional time machine I keep in my driveway (to the common eye it's an old Toyota Corolla) and shot off to Gondor.  I found the spear laying in the grass plains just outside of Osgiliath.  Dead men, orcs and horses were strewn over the plain and black smoke rose from the river city but no battle commenced. It appears it had recently ended.  I quickly snatched up the spear and got the hell out of there...not before a short struggle getting it into my compact time machine.

Once home I gave the piece an in depth study.  It appears the spear belonged to a standard-bearer of a Gondorian cavalry. I assume in desperation he resorted to using the banner as a lance or spear leaving the whole thing smeared and splattered with orc blood.  The pennant itself appeared aged and worn from a long campaign.  It seemed to be stained with mud, ash, oil and salt. The shaft was notched and cracked from all sorts of trama.  At the same time the shaft did have rudimentary adornments of the white tree and the seven stars.  I assume this is the work of the missing standard-bearer.  Perhaps the product of boredom during the campaign nights.  Who knows.

Anyway, I'm thrilled to have a piece of Gondorian history in my possession.  It hangs beautifully in my "geek haven" second bedroom.

I am considering returning to middle earth for other relics.  The "red arrow" would be a nice addition to my collection...

Viking Shield

A friend of mine had some budding talents in blacksmithing so I ask him to make me a shield boss. So I made a shield to put it on. The shield is made of (period accurate) plywood and the rim is lined with raw hide. The hide came from a large dog chew soaked in water to soften it. Then it was cut into strips and soaked in dark, strong coffee to dye it. The strips were then nailed to the shield with black carpet tacks. The handle was carved and formed from a pine 2x4 and afixed with (period accurate) carriage bolts. The grip is wrapped in leather lace. The shield was used in a sword fighting class I was in at the time and held up perfectly.

A box for my Magic.

In the mid-90's I was really into Magic the Gathering. As my collection grew, storage and transport became a problem. I had finished all my required projects in my sophmore shop class and had time to make another creation of my choice. So I made a simple box to hold my Magic cards. Simple enough. As I grew older, fellow players grew sparse,I had moved away from my hometown and the box and cards were kinda forgotten about. My sister started dating a guy who played back in the 90's too. I dug out the cards to play a game and the first thing I noticed was the box could use a spruce up. So that's what I did. The "guy" is now my brother-in-law and we play every couple of months or so. All my cards are Legends through 4th edition and I love to play green and white. As you can see the the box is woodburned with a conflicting mix of Tolkien drawn motifs. Smaug, Feanor's Star, seven stars and the Magic the Gathering symbols. Yes, I know the skull is wrong. The hardware is cheap home depot crap that barely works but I still like it.

A box for my ocarina, my first geek project.

The project that started it all. About 12 years ago a good friend of mine got me a ocarina replica from the videogame "Ocarina of Time" for my birthday. I was so excited I decided to make a box for it. One trip to Home Depot for supplies made me realize I didn't have the means to make a box. So I bought a antique cedar box and a wood burner. The inside is simply stuffing on top on cardboard wrapped in red velvet. I had no idea I'd have so much fun making it.