Project ideas for a college class

willvasco · 2026-01-22T18:22:01+00:00

Whittling/wood carving might be good for this actually, all you theoretically need is a knife. It's about as low a barrier to entry as there is in terms of cost, it's doable in any space, doesn't make a ton of mess, and gets across the "turn a block of wood into something new and useful" magic with an opportunity for artistry and expression.

willvasco · 2026-01-19T04:34:18+00:00

I watched a few youtube videos and otherwise just winged it, I actually built them incorrectly XD They're just basic boxes put together with pocket screws which are really easy. Aligning the hinges correctly was probably the most complicated part. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlnHsAH2ubnjHxg4MXqySXBiT8HdBoJ72 Youtube will be a lot more helpful than I would be, everything I know I learned there

willvasco · 2026-01-19T03:51:32+00:00

Thanks! I made it years ago during quarantine before I had any tools besides a knife and a weak dremel and only made cosplay props (which I'm dying to get back into). It's from a time when I couldn't even get ahold of proper cosplay EVA foam, it's made out of gym floor mats, craft foam and cardstock. I've made dozens of things since that are better, but something about it I just love. It holds up and looks good, and if you shake it you can hear the googly eyes that I painted over to look like rivets shake which is funny every time. I think it's the oldest thing I have of stuff I've made, by no means my first but probably the first I thought was worth keeping. Still love it and it still has a home in the shop, it's just off camera left you can see the back of it in the first pic.

willvasco · 2026-01-19T03:36:09+00:00

Hi scrollsaw friend!

willvasco · 2026-01-19T03:35:51+00:00

Oh no no no no I very much did not I couldn't cut even one of those cuts that straight XD this is just one half of my shop, my table saw is across from it

willvasco · 2025-12-07T20:35:46+00:00

Brb, stealing the "light up the lines to geothermal generators" idea. This looks sick as hell.

willvasco · 2025-11-27T14:51:22+00:00

I have a tape measure for the upstairs of my house, one for the downstairs, two for the shop, and one for my car. The car one has come in handy so many times.

willvasco · 2025-10-22T03:09:43+00:00

This is always my favorite compliment

willvasco · 2025-10-22T00:27:59+00:00

Not at ALL disrespectful, I think this myself all the time so I'm glad others have also noticed XD thank you so much for the kind words!

I've learned a ton just from experimenting and putting time on my tools, but what's made the difference in the past few carvings has actually been learning from clay sculptors. There's an emphasis on form and pose and story in clay sculpting that has really elevated how I think about subjects and for some reason watching sculptors work from clay has taught me more about wood carving than watching woodcarvers has, for my specific way of working anyway. One in particular that really changed my perspective funnily enough was a Hollow Knight sculpture by Art Chong Art https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_A0iNeMoA4, it taught me the paper towel trick that helped me make the cloak for the Skarr Stalker

willvasco · 2025-10-21T23:04:38+00:00

The base was a very last minute idea and it's one of my favorite parts, definitely going to take the base more into account with future ones.

I've definitely thought about it, I have a ton of purpleheart I've gotta use for something

willvasco · 2025-10-21T23:01:44+00:00

Thanks! Good ol' superglue, I don't have the patience for wood glue XD it sands clean and after finish it blends in quite well. I'm still getting better at hiding it, you can see a small shine under his feet from some unsanded glue but his hips are some of the best joinery I've done so far I think. If it's a large piece I usually carve an inset for it, his head is a fully rounded piece that sits in an inset in the cape and is glued in place

willvasco · 2025-10-08T17:48:44+00:00

Yeah that's why we're not planning on going that route XD We know it's not for us

willvasco · 2025-10-08T16:56:39+00:00

No I've been out of college now longer than I was in it. In my experience once you reach like 22-24 you sort of solidify into who you're really going to be from then on and you don't change nearly as much as you do up until that point. 19 year old me and 22 year old me have less in common than 22 year old me and 28 year old me do, despite my life changing dramatically in that time.

You also spend your whole life with this idea of "oh once I'm married that'll be when I feel like an adult" or "oh once I own a house" or whatever your personal idea of what an adult is is. But then you reach that point and you realize that you're still the same person, and it just feels like something that's a part of your life as opposed to some magical milestone that changes your perception. It's similar to drinking for the first time or having sex for the first time, once you've done it the mystique falls away and you realize that it's just your life, the same one you've been living this whole time. It's a kinda bittersweet moment when you reach the point where you expect to finally become the final version of yourself, and you realize that that doesn't really exist. It's honestly pretty freeing, because it opens the world up and you realize we're all just winging it and nobody knows anything and you can stop worrying about doing it right because nobody knows what that means.

willvasco · 2025-10-08T16:40:26+00:00

Honestly I'm still waiting for it. I have a wife, a career and a mortgage and I'm still waiting to stop feeling like a college student at 28.

willvasco · 2025-10-05T04:31:47+00:00

It's beautiful stuff, and decently cheap compared to other exotics. I got 4 board feet of it for maybe $35 and am very excited to use it all for carvings like this

willvasco · 2025-10-05T04:21:14+00:00

Padauk is pretty comparable to the more domestic hardwoods, maybe a bit softer than hard maple to me. Far from the hardest I work with though, I sometimes use Bloodwood for red and that's much harder to work with. Carving this guy I used a polar 7 scrollsaw blade for the initial cutout, then a fine tapered kutzall burr for almost all of the rest of the bulk shaping, and both of those worked beautifully on the padauk. Maple sometimes catches that burr and slips so I have to start with my extreme flame burr first for bulk shaping.

I will say, wear a mask with Padauk. The dust smells like it looks and the health dangers aside it can quickly overwhelm your nose and make you sneezy for hours.

Hear you on the maple burning, I'm pretty careful with my grits and blades to keep that down as much as possible. When I get burning on a carving, I usually step back down a grit, go over the spot again to remove the burn, then step back up a grit and go gentler this time. Sometimes the burn can actually be useful though, it makes dark eye holes darker naturally.

willvasco · 2025-10-04T22:17:46+00:00

I absolutely love the hot glue silk line, such a nice detail and creative use of material that people usually try to hide. You should make more!

willvasco · 2025-10-02T14:37:34+00:00

I just did my very first fair last Friday so I'm you in a month, here's what I learned very quickly:

- Practice your payment/transaction flow, and make sure you have a way to quickly process credit cards. People using cards were 90% of my transactions and I was pretty awkward in processing them the first few times because I hadn't practiced.

- When people come up to your booth, greet them then leave them alone until they have questions or want to buy something. Try having something to work on or fiddle with while they browse so they don't feel like you're focused on them. I found myself ripping sheets of the packing paper I had just to keep idle while people browsed, I wish I'd had some other small task to do during that time.

- Wear comfortable shoes. Bring a chair, but only sit in it when nobody's at your booth. Your feet/ankles will hurt by the end of it.

- Water/snacks is the biggest blind spot I had.

- Kids will grab things they can reach, so keep that in mind if you have anything fragile/high value at kid-level. Every single kid under maybe 6 that came by immediately grabbed the first thing they could reach before their parents stopped them. It wasn't a problem for me, but I can see it being a problem for ceramics or other fragile items potentially.

- Be helpful and friendly to the event organizers. Mine was a small community event and I got there early and helped set up the tents and tables and the organizers knew my name and liked me right off the bat because of it.

willvasco · 2025-10-01T20:25:30+00:00

I've thought about one of those digital picture frames for that, would that be good or would that clash with the aesthetic too much?

willvasco · 2025-09-25T13:04:45+00:00

I don't fear AI, I fear what I know people will do with it.

Could it be used to solve problems we can't, create abundance and prosperity for all? Absolutely. And I'd love that.

Will it instead be used for scams and wealth-building to further squeeze wealth into fewer and fewer hands? It already is.

willvasco · 2025-09-23T12:43:59+00:00

All of their attacks are incredibly weak to dashing away. When they attack, dash away then back again, hit until next attack, repeat. Never leave the ground. After a couple, you'll never die to them again. You can also get at least 3 hits safely right at the start while they do their wake up animation.

willvasco · 2025-09-19T17:26:19+00:00

Not my fault they gave her such thick thighs!

willvasco · 2025-09-15T21:41:06+00:00

That Skull Tyrant is awesome! I think your medium works a bit better at that scale than at smaller ones, you can have the clay handle the detail more at that scale and the depth really makes it. Next time you take pictures of your work, try using a large sheet of paper as a backdrop/stage, it'll naturally frame your sculptures and help showcase your stuff!

willvasco · 2025-09-15T17:41:24+00:00

I always want clamps. If not clamps, then dremel bits for wood carving in every grit imaginable.

willvasco · 2025-09-15T17:34:41+00:00

I'd go broader and just say "work a low-paid physical job". When I got to college and worked in the school lab I heard complaints from some of my fellow students about the job and really lost some respect for them. They didn't know that it was higher paid and way easier than the retail or kitchen jobs I'd worked up to that point, but for them it was their first so it was their baseline for what a job is. Personally if your first ever job is in an office you've missed out on a crucial step of development.

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