Scythe - Make PVC Look Like Wood or Metal

My son and I were at Target looking at the Halloween items and a Scythe caught his attention. He decided then and there that he wanted to be the Grim Reaper for Halloween. He asked if I could buy him the Scythe but it didn't look very realistic, it was too small and looked very much like plastic; so, I told him I would make one for him instead. This is my Instructable on making the Scythe out of PVC pipe and my process for making it look like wood and forged steel.

3/4 - inch Schedule 40 PVC pipe 6 - foot length

1 - inch Schedule 40 PVC pipe 4 - inch length

2 - inch Schedule 40 PVC pipe 24 - inch length

Dremel Tool

Bandsaw

1x30 Belt Sander

Respirator

Hacksaw

Vice Grips

Blow Torch

Heat Gun

Long Screw with a Large Head

Black Spray Paint

Clear Satin Spray Paint

Acrylic Paints (Yellow, Barn Red, Burnt Umber, Khaki)

Silver Rub-n-Buff

Brushes

5 minute Epoxy

Fast Cast

Paper Towels

Sandpaper

Spring Clamp

Bar Clamps

2 - 24-inch long 2x4s or equivalent

PPE

I had some 3/4-inch Schedule 40 PVC pipe in my garage that was left over from a sprinkler repair, so I decided to use it as the wooden shaft of the Scythe. I cut a 6 foot length of the pipe if you child is smaller than mine, he is 5 feet tall at the moment, then you can cut a short length. I used a hacksaw to cut the pipe but you can also use the Dremel tool fitted with a cutoff disk to make this cut.

Using my Dremel tool fitted with a cutoff disk I began to add the texture that would make the PVC look like dried aged wood. This is a very simple process where you can't really go wrong, just don't cut through the wall of the PVC. I use the cutoff wheel and make long shallow grooves the entire length of the PVC pipe. I continue this over and over trying to go for different depths, so it doesn't look too uniform, the more variety the better the end result. Alternate between heavy passes and light passes, light cuts and deep cuts.

Make sure you wear a respirator you don't want to breathe in the PVC dust.

To add some more detail and to remove any of the burrs left from the Dremel tool I sanded the entire shaft with 80 grit sandpaper. The course grit will not only remove the burrs, but it will also add some light scratches that will give the pipe a more realistic wood look. The only thing here is to remember to do long strokes with the sandpaper to create long grain lines.

After sanding you may notice that there are some fine little whisps of PVC 'hairs' along the length of the shaft to remove these I used a small blowtorch and singed off the little hairs. When preforming this step make sure to keep the blow torch moving you don't want to burn a hole in the side of the shaft. Also do this in a well-ventilated area PVC smoke and fumes are very bad for your lungs. I kept my respirator on and used a fan to blow any smoke away while I did this step.

This 2 - inch Schedule 40 PVC pipe is left over from a plumbing project I did at my mom's house. I cut a 24 - inch-long piece to make the blade portion of the Scythe. First, I found the halfway point of the pipe and used a sharpie to draw my cut line. Then while the pipe is held in place with a clamp, I used the Dremel to cut the pipe in half lengthwise. You end up with two pieces but you only need one half to make the blade.

Next, I needed to flatten the half pipe, so I used my heat gun and warmed up the entire piece. This can take a few minutes to warm up to the point where it is flexible enough to shape. Be patient and take your time and remember to keep the heat gun moving back and forth. Eventually the plastic will become malleable enough bend. At this point I place the warm plastic on my workbench and place a piece of granite on top of the plastic to flatten it. I also clamp down the granite just to make sure I get as much flattening pressure as possible.

Not everyone has a scrap piece of granite lying around but, you can also use two pieces of 2x4 that are as long as the plastic or longer for this part. Just slip the warm plastic in between the two 2x4 pieces like a sandwich and clamp them together.

I let this cool down for about 15-20 mins until the plastic is cool to the touch and will hold its shape.

I used a sharpie marker to draw on the rough shape of what I think the blade should look like, I should have done an image search for this (foreshadowing) and used my bandsaw to cut out the rough shape. You could use the Dremel tool to make this cut, but the bandsaw was faster. Then I used my 1x30 belt sander to refine the shape and add some bevels to the blade. I didn't go crazy with beveling the blade I just wanted to add a bit of an angle to suggest a bevel.

To make the Ring of the blade I used some 1 - inch Schedule 40 PVC pipe. I used a 4-inch piece for this section. The 1-inch PVC will not slip over the 3/4 - inch PVC so I cut a slit down the length of it, with my Dremel, which would allow it to expand and slip over the top of the 3/4-inch PVC. The slit is also necessary for the blade to attach to the shaft, more on this later.

I did a quick dry fit to see how everything will go together. I marked and cut a slit in the shaft where the blade will slide into it. I had to widen part of the slit in the Ring to allow for the blade to fit.

I realized the shape of the blade wasn't quite right, so I did an image search and decided to modify the shape a bit and give the cutting edge more of a curve. So, I went back to the bandsaw and cut the blade shape to what I thought looked better and then went through the process of the refining the shape with my belt sander. The belt sander has a 120-grit belt on it. I wanted it to be course so that it would leave some texture on the blade.

To give the blade a hand forged look I first used my blow torch to heat up a small metal spoon and melt indentations into the plastic blade. This worked okay but I wanted bigger divots so instead I heated up the head of a large screw, that I gripped with some vice grips, and used that to make the pock marks in the plastic. The more pressure I applied the bigger the divot the less the pressure the smaller the divot. I also used the side of the head of the screw to make different shaped marks. I repeated this on both sides and just did the upper half of the blade.

When I was happy with the look, I took some 80-grit sandpaper and sanded the pock marks down. I didn't sand them completely I just wanted to smooth out the surface a bit and knock down the rough spots. While sanding I made sure to use long horizontal stokes and only in one direction. You want to get uniform scratches along the length of the blade. Also make sure not to sand the beveled area you want to keep those vertical sanding lines.

I used the same burn technique to the Ring and spray painted it black.

I drilled a hole in the blade section that would be hidden inside the shaft to use as an attachment point for some wire. I used the wire to hold the blade while I spray painted the entire thing black. And I also used the wire to hang the blade to dry. I also spray painted the entire shaft black. Make sure you get in all the nooks and crannies of the shaft. I set both of these aside to dry.

Once all the paint was dry, I used some Silver Rub-n-Buff on the blade and the ring portion of the Scythe. Rub-n-buff is super easy to apply you just simply place a small dab on your fingertip and spread it over the entire surface you are trying to color. You can use a paper towel to buff it and make it shiner. I used some 120-grit sandpaper to emphasize the horizontal and vertical sanding lines in the blade. Use light pressure when sanding you just want to expose some of the black paint underneath but don't worry if you are too aggressive you can always add more Rub-n-Buff.

In order to give the PVC a wood appearance you have to apply several different colored washes to the piece. I start off with the yellow wash first. In this case the yellow was a little too bright so I added a small dab of barn red to it. This is not a precise process the goal is to get a decent coverage with really running paint. To achieve this, you need to add water to the acrylic paint. How much, you may ask well I don't measure it I just add a splash of water and mix the paint until its very running and watery. You want the paint to be runny, so it gets in to all the crevices you created. If it's too runny you always add more paint and vice versa. The more layers of different colored paint the better. Also remember that the paint dries dark especially over the black, so don't be intimidated and just try and have some fun.

First, I coat the entire shaft with the yellow paint wash and let that dry.

Next, I use the Barn Red, you are not trying to completely cover the whole thing in one uniform color so working haphazardly is fine and its entirely alright if you miss a few spots. The more random and sporadic the more natural and organic it will look. Trust the process. Let that coat dry.

Then, I use the Burnt Umber wash on the shaft. Let that coat dry.

And lastly, I dry brush on the Khaki. Dry brushing is when you take a little bit of paint on a dry brush and dab away the excess until there is almost no paint on the brush. Then, you take that brush and drag it over the work piece. This adds a nice highlight to the high spots of the work piece. You want to apply very light pressure when dry brushing, you want to achieve highlights and not full coverage. Let that coat dry.

In order to lock the blade in place I decided to drill three holes in the blade section that will go into the shaft. This section of the shaft will be filled with a fast-casting resin which will hold and lock the blade in place. The holes will provide an internal mechanical connection.

As I stated in the last step the inside of the shaft where the blade will be inserted is going to be filled with a fast-casting resin but I don't want to have to fill the entire shaft so I will need to make a stopper that can be inserted into the shaft as a plug. In order to make this plug I will be using a small cut off of 3/4-inch PVC as a mold. I taped up the bottom and greased the inside of the PVC with petroleum jelly. Then, I mixed up a small amount of AlumiRes fast casting resin and poured it into my makeshift mold. This fast-casting resin hardens in 10 minutes. After 10 minutes I demolded the plug. Now I have a perfectly sized plug for my wooden shaft.

Before I place the plug in the shaft, I decided to epoxy the Ring on to the shaft. I mixed up some 5-minute epoxy and added it to the inside of the Ring and slid it over the shaft. I made sure to align the blade holes in the shaft and the ring so they wouldn't obstruct the blade. I wiped away any excess epoxy and set it aside to dry for 45 minutes.

Once the epoxy was dry, I inserted the plug in to the top of the shaft and used a wooden dowel to hammer it in place. You want to make sure the plug is seated below the blade slit so that it doesn't obstruct the blade from entering the shaft. I did not use any glue or epoxy for the plug since the fit it so tight it was not necessary.

I'm including this step even though it didn't work. I wanted to temporarily attach the blade to the shaft and thought that some medium thick super glue would do the job. Unfortunately, this did not work, the glue failed. So instead, I just had to hold the blade in place for the next step of the process.

Fast-casting resin has a very short working time, less than 2 minutes, so make sure you have everything in place before you start mixing up a batch of the fast-cast resin. I made the shaft was propped up and steady and I inserted the blade into the shaft. It was a decent friction fit so the blade stayed in place.

with everything ready I mixed up some more fast-casting resin and poured it in to the top of the shaft to fill the cavity. As you can see in picture #5 some of the resin leaked out but it sets up so quickly it basically sealed itself closed. I made sure to hold the blade in place for a couple of minutes while the resin set. The last picture shows the cavity filled with the fast-casting resin.

Once, the resin cures it will lock the blade in place making it on piece with the shaft.

I had to touch up a few spots where the resin leaked out, so I just used a brush and some black paint to cover up those spots. Once I was happy with the touch ups I sprayed the shaft in a Satin clear coat.

*DO NOT CLEAR COAT RUB-N-BUFF IT WILL RUIN THE LOOK. JUST LEAVE IT ALONE. ONLY CLEAR COAT THE WOODEN SHAFT PART.

It's hard to get a good picture of something long and tall sorry. I was really pleased with how well this turned out and that I was able to make it from stuff I had in my garage. And most importantly that my son loved it. It looks way more realistic than the one at the store. I witch you all a Happy Halloween!