Halloween wand for my wife

Thoughts?

Will varnish it with walnut varnish, so it would be darker in the end

7 years ago my son needed some wood for a school project. I had a piece left over and no idea what to do with it. He was just getting into Harry Potter so I started my first ever attempt at carving. It's a bit crooked and thick, but it came out better than I expected and I found a new hobby.

The wood is Cedar. 34cm/13.4 in long.

(I made a similar post, but I'm going to go into more detail here in Wandland.)
Many of you may have a Harry Potter Magic Caster Wand; if you don't, they are $30 off on eBay. Unfortunately, the original software to make these devices work was discontinued. Thankfully, there are community-run options. I'm going to talk a little about each project and what you will need to run it.

1. OpenCaster
   • OpenCaster is a Python-based option for running your Magic Caster wand or wands. The application will support up to 5 wands at any given time. (Yes, this means 5-player game modes.) This application has all the original spells, duel mode, a dueling club with multiple players, and a fun blast-a-pumpkin activity. Additionally, this project has an always-on setting for passive wand use, and a display setting to allow your wand to be whatever color you want when on display or casting! The project has plans for a ESP32 variant will make an edit when that's available. The program also has an API, but no external devices have any support yet.
   • Requirements: A computer, or mini computer like a Raspberry Pi. There's also an EXE if you're a Windows user who does not like setting stuff up.
2. Magic Caster Wand for Home Assistant
   • Eigger's Magic Caster Wand has all of the original spells and hooks up directly into Home Assistant, perfect for those who are looking to wire this in for some fun household tricks quickly and easily! This project is really nice if you already have Home Assistant and things you wish to connect it to. (Also Python based.)
   • Requirements: A device running Home Assistant.
3. Magic Caster Offline Server
   • At present, this one falls into the #coming-soon department. This project will enable the user to use the Android APK with a localized server to use the original app and get the full original experience. I'll make an edit when I see the developer release it to the public. I'm including it here in case I don't see it.
   • Requirements: You will need an Android device loaded with APK 1.7.1 or earlier. (One Android per wand is required.)
     • (Not available at the time of writing)

How do people finish their wands?

Found in my driveway. Think the universe is trying to tell me something

A friend of mine was hosting a witches themed party for Halloween and added the floating candles from Harry Potter to the mix. Now we’re adding all of my hand carved or lathed wands from the past 3 years. There’s a lot of beautiful pieces that I’m proud of. It’s exciting to see them finally get the love and use that they deserve!

I’ve never done this sort of texturing before but I think it’s going pretty well.

I carved this from a tree branch, I am not sure what species, 13.5 inches, I think. Very quick, and agile, without being delicate. When it is finished I will post the completed pictures

Made this over about 6 hours(not including glue drying time). It's Ebony and Bokote with Brass spacers. The stone is Tiger's eye. Sanded down to 1200 grit. It's like glass.

I carved channels for my twine wrap to seat into and did a test wrap just to see how it might end up looking and I’m pretty happy with it so far. Now I can start adding in fine details to the wand’s body and get the quartz point pommel fitted up. After that it will be on to finishing and fine tuning the final details

A wand I made for a birthday gift for a friend. Carved using an oscillating spindle sander and the edge of the belt on a belt sander, just like all my other wands. I accidentally made it thinner than intended above the grip, but thankfully since it's purpleheart, it's still incredibly strong for being so thin and it doesn't flex at all. The case is just a one I bought and stained/weathered. Then I hot glued the fabric onto some foam that I cut for the inside. Then I wrote out a quick little wand description to go without it, splashed some coffee on it and burnt the edges to make it weathered as well. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with how it came out. Especially since I thought I had ruined it by making it too thin.

Hi - I just picked up a stick and a pocket knife and that’s how I started. I haven’t looked into wand making but I do have a couple of books on the way to me. I did get wood whittling knives in yesterday. Any tips, pointers, or suggestions for this one are welcome. I am excited to learn and make more.

This is one of the them, I am not really happy with it, so it'll not be the gift she gets for her birthday, I am already working on a different one, longer and straighter. But please let me know your thoughts on it.

Made the stand as well

it’s supposed to be elder wand (made of pipe cleaners and chopsticks!

First one I’ve made. Made this out of rocks/crystals gifted to me by a beloved relative. I’m considering adding wire wrapping. Used oven dry clay to make connecting points to the irregular shapes.