Animal Cutouts

An opportunity arose. I was asked whilst at the Petone Carnival about the animal shapes we had suspended from our Fire Sculpture. Someone was inquiring how much it would cost to purchase similar shapes from me.

For me this is big. HUGE. As a designer interested in D.I.Y. being given a job where I can spend a few hours playing with tools and making things is a dream come true. After the exchanging of details I planned how it would be done.

The Four animals I would be creating were a Kiwi, a Tuatara, a Morepork, and a Pukeko; this would end up in a kindergarten so they shapes had to be easily recognizable and safe to touch (no sharp edges). The Pukeko is a shape I'd not yet created before, this was going to be a learning curve.

I had to find an image of a pukeko and edit the shape to make the outline as recognizable as possible. I had saved the silhouettes for each of the other shapes from when I created them for the sculpture.

Using the same technique, I projected the image using a computer projector onto ply wood and sketched around the outline of all four animals in pencil. Making the most of the plywood I have; with the leftovers I'll be able to create more shapes (Hopefully for another client).

The oultines of animal shapes on the ply, seen resting on sawhorses ready to be cut out.

Tuatara Outline

Morepork and Kiwi Outline

Then it was out to the garage to cut out each of the shapes using the jigsaw. The process is one of time and precision. I need to move my body around the large piece of ply wood to find the best angle for cutting at. 

When cutting with the jigsaw, eye and ear protection is a must.

Finished cutting out the Pukeko

When all four pieces are cut out I am left with a large off cut which I put aside. The four animals are then sanded by a piece of sandpaper held in my hand. This ensures that no heavy tools will damage the shapes. For any areas that need sanding a little firmer, I use the multi-tool which has a triangular shaped sanding head, but is not powerful enough to damage the wood. The edges on each of the shapes were smoothed out making them safe for children to touch.

Pukeko cutout.

Morepork cutout.

Four Animal Shapes: Tuatara, Morepork, Pukeko, Kiwi.

The four native animal shapes were sold. This was a fun project for me, D.I.Y., craft, and working with power tools is something I am passionate about. I enjoy the creation process and I love knowing that my effort is going somewhere where it will be appreciated, loved, used, and built upon; such as a kindergarten. To the best of my knowledge the next step involves the kindy children decorating the animal shapes however they see fit. Brilliant, we are growing our next generation of D.I.Y.ers.

Making a Bookshelf out of scrap.

It feels like the Happy Valley Tip Shop is my second home recently. I love the place; there is so much cool stuff that has been salvaged from the landfill that they will give away for a couple of dollars. On my latest trip there I managed to purchase some recycled timber pieces I thought ideal to build a shelf out of.

Earlier this year, a generous Auntie needed to find a new home for her previously treasured Early Childhood Education (E.C.E.) books. They were offered to my partner Shellie as she is currently studying E.C.E. and so two big boxes of books ended up in our house taking up floor space.

The timber from the tip, as well as some leftover pieces of decking timber from around the property were the perfect materials to create some storage furniture for the books.

Decking timber from around the property, it is a bit green.

Timber from the tip shop.

The timber needed some prep work, cutting to the correct lengths and sanding down certain areas. The decking timber had previously been used as a deck and was replaced, the old stuff which I used had a tinge of green to it from twenty years of moisture and mould buildup. This was sanded off with a belt sander pretty easily.

RYOBI electric belt sander.

While I'm showing off tools, below are my RYOBI tools that I have purchased recently. They are a fairly expensive purchase, yet are hard wearing, and a long lasting investment.

Battery and charger.

The bag can holds some tools, I have four batteries, an impact driver, a jigsaw, a multi-tool, and a radio.
Also seen here are a sharp saw, and a measuring tape. Both essential to a handy-man's toolbox.

I began to cut the pieces to their correct lengths with saw. I follow the old adage that my dad has told me time and time again, "Measure twice, cut once".

The small pieces of decking timber will hold the sides together, and will have the shelves nailed to them.
The earmuffs and visor keep me safe from loud noises, from powertools, and even hammers. The visor protects my eyes and face from projectiles e.g. splinters.

Each of the two sides of the bookshelf were created by nailing joining three lengths of decking timber together as one solid piece.

The two bookshelf sides.

Two saw horses helped to stand the two sides up while I nailed the shelves to them.

How to join it all together.

Seen here is the final shelf. This was an easy project that took only a couple of hours. If you have a lot of belongings with nowhere to put them, or are striving for a tidier house, this is an easy piece that can serve your needs.

The finished shelf

Does it look like recycled timber? Yes. Does it serve its purpose? Yes. It does what we need it to, as students we are looking for practicality. We don't need to own expensive brands of furniture to give us a certain financial status, we are content with practicality. The aesthetic of the book shelf is simple, clean, and functional. There is some textural beauty in the corrugations of the decking timber. These were sanded with the belt sander, giving the tops of the corrugations a clean and not green, fresh timber look, but this is contrasted with the dips in the wood which still show the old, dark, weathered timber. These little details appeal to me. I find that recycling of materials into something practical is beautiful.

The book shelf is full.

There is one more thing I would like to do to this book shelf, in accordance with my manifesto, and that is to inscribe into the wood the origin of the materials, as far back as I know; and the processes that these materials undertook in becoming the bookshelf you see now.

The timber shelves would have a history to them, a past life, a purpose for which they were previously used for. As for the decking timber, it knows twenty years of family life; twenty summers of family BBQ's and childhood adventure; twenty winters of rain, wind, and sometimes snow. These stories are something I would like to celebrate in the creation of this book shelf. 

Job done. I no longer have education books all over the floor.