michaelmas :: day 3

On day three of our Michaelmas celebration, we began with a retelling of my story, “The Brave Dragon,” (originally told on day one). Afterwards, we made wooden swords.

The Daddy Monkey and I have collaborated on many swords over the years, so this one was a very simple process. I simply traced my sword template onto a red oak board, and he cut them out with his band saw. Oak is a pretty hard wood, so I then took the swords and did the majority of the sanding with my dremel. I find that to be successful with a project like this, I make it easy on my kids so they do not get discouraged. Perhaps next year, we can spread the sword making over the entire week, doing a bit of sanding each day.

After doing the preliminary sanding, I passed them on to the kids for finishing. We began with 60 grit sandpaper, moving onto 150 grit. With the edges smooth, we used my home made beeswax polish for a smooth and beautiful finish.

And now we have two new oak swords, sure to endure many, many dragon battles!