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Carving a Wand from a Plank of Sycamore

Wooden cane with measurements and braided handle.


Kevin Alviti makes a wand appear out of a plank of sycamore

I have to confess to being a complete and utter sci-fi and fantasy nerd. My teenage years were spent with unhealthy doses of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, Terry Brooks’ Shannara Chronicles, Douglas Adams, Frank Herbert (the list goes on for some time), always daydreaming of adventure in some imagined world. It’s something that has stayed with me, the magic and wonder created in fiction. Although my reading tastes are certainly darker, I still end up listening to a lot of stories while I work in my workshop for hours on end – the company of a good book should never be underrated. I’ve even given up the majority of TV so I can attempt to write my own story (61,000 words in and no end in sight) when I’m not in the workshop.

I have one friend who is equally geeky in his tastes and when we were talking about our love of fiction the other day he mentioned he was creating a display of some of his fantasy books – luckily, being a geek is something we no longer have to hide as we did at school. I decided there and then I’d make him an ornate wand to act as a prop for his collection and as a thank you for being an ‘alpha reader’ to my own writing. I wanted it to be quite different to what you can get off the internet, I wanted it to be hand carved so it was one of a kind and I wanted it to have a ‘used’ look about it, like the item was already an heirloom from some wizarding family or a coven of witches passed on through generations. To make this I decided to go for sycamore, as it is good on the lathe and easy to carve, as well as the light wood being ideal for burning in detail. The whole wand can then be stained darker if needed at the end.

Things You Will Need

  • Lathe
  • Tablesaw (optional)
  • 18mm spindle roughing gouge
  • 32mm skew chisel
  • 12mm skew chisel Parting tool
  • 9mm spindle gouge 45° 12mm V-tool
  • No.6, 9mm gouge
  • No.3, 12mm gouge
  • No.7, 6mm gouge
  • Carving skew chisel
  • Small Microplane rasp
  • Pyrography pen with a medium tip
  • Small blowtorch
  • Sandpaper

Wood pieces and bandsaw in woodworking workshop.
1. I had a nice plank of sycamore that was perfect for this. Make sure when turning something relatively thin that the wood is straight grained and clean of any knots or defects. I ripped it down on the tablesaw – use push sticks to keep your hands at a safe distance and extraction. If you don’t feel confident using a tablesaw, it is fine to use a hand saw. I ripped it so it was 25 x 25mm
Hand gripping file tool on wooden surface
2. Mark centres by joining the corners on your blank and mount on the lathe. I used my four-prong drive centre and a standard rotating tailstock drive
Carpenter using a lathe to shape wood
3. With the blank mounted, take a spindle roughing gouge and make the whole piece a cylinder. Always work from wider spots down to narrow when working between centres
Woodturning on a lathe with chisel
4. With a parting tool, make a cut at either end to mark out where the wand will start and finish, making sure to leave enough wood to turn the project comfortably. Using the spindle roughing gouge again, start to taper one end to the other, trying to make as smooth a line as possible
Woodturning process with hands and lathe tool.
5. With the general shape roughed out, use a skew chisel to smooth the surface. I found that even with a freshly sharpened skew chisel I had to support the wand from behind with my non- dominant hand as I worked, making light cuts
Hands woodworking with chisel and lathe.
6. Again, with some support behind, take a small skew chisel to make a mark between the handle and the shaft. Approach the workpiece at about a 60° angle and let the bottom tip of the tool just touch the wood, then lift your arm to make a clean cut. Repeat this process from the other side and a chip of wood should come loose, leaving a nice clean V in the wand
Carpenter's hand shaping wood on a lathe.
7. Use a small spindle gouge and round over the two ends to the wand. Do this with a rolling, lifting motion that keeps the cutting edge in contact the whole time. Sand the whole piece on the lathe, starting at 120 grit and working up to around 400 grit, taking care to stop the lathe at each grit to sand with the grain to remove any scratches
Person sawing wood with a handsaw on workbench.
8. Remove from the lathe, either by parting off one end or by reducing down as far as you dare then using a saw and bench hook to finish. Sand up any cut edges
Wooden handle with etched patterns and pencil nearby.
9. With the wand of f the lathe, it’s time to start marking it out for carving. There are two ways of marking out the lattice work for the handle. You can divide it all up evenly, draw a grid and make sure you follow those lines. I decided to draw it freehand, to make the lattice look more ‘handmade’, and because it’s far easier. Starting with one line, draw it up the shaft while twisting the piece, then add another about 6mm apart to be the straps. Then leave 10mm and start again. It will be quite busy so the eye won’t be too drawn to it, so it doesn’t need to be perfect
Woodworking jig clamping wooden rod on workbench
10. As with any carving, finding a way to hold a workpiece so it will only move when you want it to is half the battle. I did originally do some lattice grips like this while they were still mounted on the lathe but I found it cumbersome. This time I made a simple wedge shape, the same taper as the wand. When the work was pushed in it held easily, but was simple to release and turn as I needed to
Carving detailed wood pattern with precision tool.
11. Using a V-tool, make two cuts into the lattice. As this is to weave it’s essential not to get confused here. Make the two cuts so they go over one ‘strap’ running perpendicular, but finish before they reach one on either end
Wood carving with chisel detail on workbench.
12. Turn your tool roughly 90° and work on the strap going the other way, making sure it crosses over one strap but finishes before the next
Intricate wood carving with wood shavings.
13. Repeat this pattern all the way up the handle of the wand. It’s surprisingly easy not to make a mistake when doing this if you keep a system going and don’t deviate from it
Wood carving with chisel on wooden stick.
14. With the lattice strap work carved out, mark the small squares between. This makes it easier to see what is waste and what isn’t. Using a No.6, 6mm gouge, make a cut from one side of this waste, working towards the other
Hand carving intricate wooden pattern with chisel
15. Then working from the other direction join the cuts up. This doesn’t have to be too tidy as the pyrography pen will burn it slightly lower
Person carving intricate wood design with chisel
16. It might be necessary to use a carving skew chisel to remove any ‘wispy’ bits – something I really hate when carving
Carving wooden dowel on workbench with hands.
17. Now work on the shaf t of the wand. This is a really simple twist and again there are two ways of doing this – mark it all out as a grid, with lines reducing as the diameter gets smaller, or just do it freehand like I did. Holding the piece locked to my middle, I grip the Microplane rasp at a set angle and start making a cut down the wand. Start in one place then increase the cut you rasp out as you go, twisting the workpiece as needed. It’s surprisingly easy if you keep the tool at the same angle. If you’re worried, turn a quick sample piece and practise on that first
Carving intricate wood pattern with precision tool.
18. With one twist done, mark out the starting points of two others and complete them. Once they are all rasped out, go back through them and keep making them deeper until you get to a level you’re happy with
Person chiselling wood on workbench.
19. As the rasp didn’t leave quite a smooth enough finish, I mounted the wand back in my makeshift clamp/wedge and used a No.7, 6mm gouge to tidy it up, working both ways so no part of the cut ‘rags’ as it goes against the grain
Sanding a wooden dowel on workbench
20. Smooth any sharp edges with some sandpaper. The idea was to make this look worn and used so I don’t really want hard lines
Wood carving tools with detailed engravings
21. Time to start burning in some detail. Using a pyrography pen, I started to burn all the cuts I’d made with the V-tool. Make sure you do this in a well-ventilated area, I have a fan running while I do this
Hand holding carved wooden stick with patterns
22. I find this easiest if I’m methodical, so I tend to burn all the lines in one direction before switching back to the other way. When using a wood-burning tool like this surrounded by combustible materials make sure you have somewhere safe to rest it when not in use and make sure it is cool and unplugged before you leave the workshop
Detailed wood carving on workshop table
23. Then burn the perpendicular lines to the original ones
Wood burning tool creating intricate pattern on wood.
24. Burn all the squares in between the straps. I did this almost as a connect-the-dots method, just pressing and holding then moving slightly and repeating. It’s faster than you think, so don’t get disheartened with it being a repetitive job
Wood carving detail with chisel on patterned surface.
25. With the lines all burnt in, it’s time to make the straps look a little more like they’re weaving in and out of each other. Using a No.3 gouge, take a small shaving from the end of each strap where it meets another one, this little chamfer will make it look like it’s dipping below the other one
Wooden staff being burned for design.
26. To add detail to the twist on the shaft I got out my mini blowtorch in the hope it would make it look used and old. Make sure when using a blowtorch like this you do it outside and have a source of water nearby just in case. Lightly scorch the wood, keeping the blowtorch moving. Vary the distance until you get the right amount of burn for what you’re looking for
Sanding wooden spoon handle on workbench.
27. Give the twist a light sand to remove any loose carbon from the burning
Gloved hand polishing a carved wooden stick
28. I stained my wand to give it a bit more age and to blend in the parts we had used the pyrography pen on. This was a light oak stain, applied using a bit of blue tissue. I always wear gloves if I can when I apply finishes. I then built up four layers of Danish oil to finish it

Further Reading

How to Make a Drawer

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