How To Make A Vampire Stake
This time of year, and particularly considering the political climate in the Unites States these days, I decided it was important to make some vampire stakes. Here's a photo of the finished stakes:
I don't have any photos of the process, but I'll try to describe it. I believe the tool of choice would have been a wood lathe. Without that, I believe a band saw and a belt sander would have been useful. Perhaps someone with more wood-making experience would have a different opinion. Since I don't have any of those tools, I made my stakes with a scroll saw and a drum sander attached to a drill press.
I primarily worked with one-foot-long lengths of one-inch diameter dowels. It was useful to have a long "handle" to work with while shaping the points. Plus, I've always felt a two-sided vampire stake is the best way to go. However, you probably wouldn't need to make it longer than one foot, and you can see that about eight inches — the square stock on the bottom of the photo — also worked well. Since I chose to make my points about three inches long, a six-inch long stake would be the smallest I could make, and would probably be too short for practical purposes.
Measure your desired point (in my case about three inches), and then mark the rough cuts on one side of your stock. It's easier to imagine this using square stock. Cut one side, turn a quarter turn, and then make your next two cuts. I made my rough cuts taper to a 1/2 inch diameter center rather than an actual point, and this turned out to be a good idea since I wasn't able to be very precise with the scroll saw. The square stock was balsa wood — far too soft for a vampire stake, but the experiment proved that square stock is easier to work with than round. The drawback is that there's more finish work required at the sander, since you'll probably want a round shaft to your stake. Interestingly, the balsa wood wasn't substantially easier to work with than the harder wood in the dowel (probably pine); it was the squareness that helped the most.
Once you've made your rough cuts, sand everything smooth with the drum sander. This will take awhile (particularly if your cuts weren't smooth or even), and I strongly suggest you wear a dust mask.
If you survive the coming weeks with no need to use your stakes on vampires or other ornery creatures, here's a suggestion:
and here's a close-up, though not a great photograph:
Oh, and apparently, I could make some money on these stakes. As it was, I made some money on the jewelry.
I don't have any photos of the process, but I'll try to describe it. I believe the tool of choice would have been a wood lathe. Without that, I believe a band saw and a belt sander would have been useful. Perhaps someone with more wood-making experience would have a different opinion. Since I don't have any of those tools, I made my stakes with a scroll saw and a drum sander attached to a drill press.
I primarily worked with one-foot-long lengths of one-inch diameter dowels. It was useful to have a long "handle" to work with while shaping the points. Plus, I've always felt a two-sided vampire stake is the best way to go. However, you probably wouldn't need to make it longer than one foot, and you can see that about eight inches — the square stock on the bottom of the photo — also worked well. Since I chose to make my points about three inches long, a six-inch long stake would be the smallest I could make, and would probably be too short for practical purposes.
Measure your desired point (in my case about three inches), and then mark the rough cuts on one side of your stock. It's easier to imagine this using square stock. Cut one side, turn a quarter turn, and then make your next two cuts. I made my rough cuts taper to a 1/2 inch diameter center rather than an actual point, and this turned out to be a good idea since I wasn't able to be very precise with the scroll saw. The square stock was balsa wood — far too soft for a vampire stake, but the experiment proved that square stock is easier to work with than round. The drawback is that there's more finish work required at the sander, since you'll probably want a round shaft to your stake. Interestingly, the balsa wood wasn't substantially easier to work with than the harder wood in the dowel (probably pine); it was the squareness that helped the most.
Once you've made your rough cuts, sand everything smooth with the drum sander. This will take awhile (particularly if your cuts weren't smooth or even), and I strongly suggest you wear a dust mask.
If you survive the coming weeks with no need to use your stakes on vampires or other ornery creatures, here's a suggestion:
and here's a close-up, though not a great photograph:
Oh, and apparently, I could make some money on these stakes. As it was, I made some money on the jewelry.