Project Information
Here are some pictures from a recent toy project that did. I started by carving a 2D maze prototype with a Shinwa Full Size Carving Tool Set. When I had finished carving it, I put a steel ball bearing in and covered the maze with a thin plastic product called flexipane (or so they called it at the hardware store). I then made a stylus with a neodymium magnet on the tip so that the maze could be completed easier.
After seeing the prototype work pretty well, I decided to be a bit more ambitious. So I grabbed a block of basswood and carved a 3D maze with holes drilled for the ball to travel to all 6 sides. I used wood dyes to color the different sides so that it would be easier to solve. I covered it again with flexipane and made another magnet stylus. The toy is very popular with my kids (they constantly fight over it) and it has even been fun for some of my adult friends as well. It was definitely a good project to help me get used to carving by hand. Before this, I had done very little carving by hand. Now I feel much more confident in that whole arena.
After seeing the prototype work pretty well, I decided to be a bit more ambitious. So I grabbed a block of basswood and carved a 3D maze with holes drilled for the ball to travel to all 6 sides. I used wood dyes to color the different sides so that it would be easier to solve. I covered it again with flexipane and made another magnet stylus. The toy is very popular with my kids (they constantly fight over it) and it has even been fun for some of my adult friends as well. It was definitely a good project to help me get used to carving by hand. Before this, I had done very little carving by hand. Now I feel much more confident in that whole arena.
