Grim Reaper's Scythe

The Grim Reaper has his own unique scythe. It is a scary curve blade to cut one's head off. Of course I am not going to make one with real blade. I was thinking of cardboard or any other safer materials.

Step 1: The Blade

Finally I picked up a piece of scrap plywood. This is no safer than cardboard for kids and people around, but with plywood, the shape of the blade is durable. Since I only make it for decoration and fun, I decided to use plywood. This is also a training for my new woodworking hobby, to cut curves.

• Pick a board about 25 x 8 inches, 3 mm thick. I picked one a little wider than my shoulders.
• Sketch your blade on the board.
• Cut the curves with a jigsaw.

Step 2: The Paint

• Spray the blade with grey for initial layer. Let it 10 minutes to dry.
• Spray a little black doff. Do not cover all the grey but simply make it darker.
• Cut curves on a piece of cardboard to cover the blade and leave only its sharp edges.
• Spray silver metallic paint on the sharp edges and let it dry.

Step 3: The Stick

• Walked to my backyard to get a piece of stick with weathered look. It is bamboo but it is old enough and the shape is just cool, just like those used by Wizards or ancient old man as walking stick.
• Mark the position on the stick where the blade is going to be.
• My blade is just too wide and it gonna take long to cut a hole on the stick, so I cut the blade off near its tail and cut the joint narrower. 1" x 0.5" is good enough to be plugged inside the stick.
• Cut out holes in front and at the back of the stick to plug the blades in.
• Fill in the holes with hot glue, plug the blades, then fill in the remaining gaps around the blades.

Step 4: Enjoy Your Scythe

A simple natural look scythe costs only your time and effort and some paint. Together with my Rusty Candle Lamp they are waiting behind my door, waiting for the time to get one's head ...