Instructions

Building the pencil station

The hardest part of this project is getting the beaver outline onto your piece of wood. Enlarge the plan to actual size using a photocopier (about 250 per cent), then fasten the pattern to your wood blank using spray adhesive or brush-on rubber cement. Position the pattern so its flat bottom is flush with the edge of your wood, allowing the pencil caddy to sit flat on your desk. Next, use a scrollsaw or bandsaw fitted with a 1/8"-wide blade to cut around the perimeter of the beaver. Proceed slowly when cutting and try to stay about a pencil-line width on the waste side of the pattern.

Next, sand the edges of the beaver, by hand or with a spindle sander if you have access to one. Measure and mark the pencil holes on the top, then drill using a 5/16"-dia. bit chucked in a drillpress. Make the holes end at the same depth so that the tops of the pencils line up (see plans). Switch to a 3/16"-dia. bit and drill a couple of holes for the eyes. Add the maple leaf to the side of the caddy using another copy of the pattern as a stencil. Cut out the maple leaf using an Exacto knife and spray or dab some red paint through the stencil. Finish the caddy with two coats of polyurethane, and you're done.