Making Athames and wands

[Dragonmother]

If you noticed my user designation, "Toymaker" you might have wondered what kind of toys I make! Well, I make Athames, and wands. My athames are mostly made with Copper, Brass or Bronze blades- because no one else makes them this way, as far as I know. I sell them on ebay, and I used to sell on a wonderful Pagan auction site called e-witch that went down for repairs and hasn't come back up again. I miss it, it was so nice.
If you want to see some of my work, I have a little storefront site; http://shop.auctionwatch.com/dragonmom
BUT- I want to know more about people's Athames. What do you use? Have you made your own? How did you make it?

[Yvonne Belisle]

Mine is a dagger I was given while I lived with an abusive spouse. It felt right when chosing my athame that I use it since he tried to destoy it to but we both servived maybe a bit worse for the wear but we made it through so much together I knew I would feel protected by it in ritual as I did with it by my side then. Also If anyone is interested in the woods for athames there is a lest of trees and the magical significance in the green room.

[Dragonmother]

That is an amazing story, and just the kind of thing I expect to hear! Your dagger has a protective aura.
I was talking to a woman who has her first athame still, too- a letter opener with an owl for the handle, that she bought at Pier One, back in the 70's when she was about eight years old.
My coven leader has an Athame that she made herself, nearly 25 years ago. She cut the knife shape out of a sheet of copper, and cut a slice into a piece of driftwood, and glued the metal into it. She's not a great craftsman, and the metal was only as thick as she could cut, so the length of the blade is wrinkled and flattened again. Plus, the driftwood has, much of it, rotted away. When she holds it to make the circle, the power and energy that emanates from it is tremendous. If she decides to let me do it, I would use a solution that would stop the rot, and re-stain the exposed wood black again, but I wouldn't change a thing about it.
I am kind of "animistic" about my work. I just made an Athame for a woman, with a flame shaped handle, and a big piece of Carnelian Agate in the handle. It seemed so firey, so I poured sea salt into the handle before i cemented the Carnelian in. It needed some grounding! You could feel the difference in the way the knife feels in your hand, instantly. Better balance.

[Yvonne Belisle]

That's cool I also have a warding dagger that I use in the spells that gaurd my house. The spells on that are a bit blacker so to speak but they keep the nasties out.

[Emerald Sky]

Your work is beatutiful, Dragonmother. I'm currently working on a staff and a wand. I just grabbed some sticks from my woods. I believe they're both maple wood. So far, I've only stripped the bark off and let them dry. I carved a small tripple moon on the wand, but that's as far as I got. I don't have the means to make them terribly fancy (as in a lathe), but I want to add some decorations to the wand especially. What do you recommend? I'd like to add some type of a stone (probably an emerald ;) ) to the end and maybe wrap leather or some other type of cloth around the handle. What works best for affixing the stones?

[Lady Tana]

my athame is a letter opener that i found in a wonderful little antique shop by my house several years back... it looks like a small bronze dagger and it has a jeweled handle... (goes with all my bronze things :) ) i wasnt going to buy it.. in fact i ended up not buying it the day i saw it but after dreaming about the dang thing for several weeks i had to go back and hope that it was still there... and it was ;)
just waiting for me...

[oskila]

My athame was (it's broken and buried) a thin edged piece of flintstone with a handle of black oak. I found that rock in denmark when I was 10 and decided to keep it. One day I accidentally stabbed it into a wall and half the blade went into small pieces, so I buried it.

[Rævyn Cigány]

I just checked out your site, Dragonmother...you are very talented!! Your wands and athames are beautiful! I myself don't have anything like that right now (I'm still trying to find somewhere to hide all my magickal tools so my kids don't get at them when I do get some!), but after checking out some of your items, I may have to save my pennies or add a couple items to my wish list!

BB
Rae )0(

[Lady Raven]

I love your work! Does making them require blacksmith talents? I have a friend in the UK who is interested in making Athames, what would you recommend for him? He says he can become an apprentice to a blacksmith but there aren't many blacksmiths there, or schools or classes to take. Are there any books that you could recommend? I asked him, that maybe he can go to school in another country or something to learn the art, are there any here? Again, I love your work and I'm saving my money for one of your wizard wands!~raven

[Dragonmother]

First of all, sorry it took me so long to get back to this board! Okay, now, the advices. For affixing stones to wood, I like epoxy. I prefer the kind that has a thick consistancy, like a gel or putty. I carve out a hollow where the stone is to go, it doesn't have to be a perfect fit, just let the stone rest inside the wood a little bit. On the ends of my wands, I drill right in with a power drill, That's pretty tricky-If I can, I use a drill press, but I don't own one, so it's only when i can borrow someone's shop. Otherwise, I've learned to use a drill in the hand, which has taken me some time and busted some wands! YOu can glue the crystal to the end and wrap some leather for a holder and glue that with the epoxy, and that works pretty well.
AS far as making Athames, I use Copper or Bronze, for the link with ancient technology and also because hardly anyone else does. I cut out the shape of the blade on a bandsaw- both metals are soft and easy to cut- and then I shape the edge by grinding the material away on a grinder and then a band sander. Brass and soft bronze are so soft you can use a hand file, and you will be surprised at how fast the work goes. You can do the same with tin or soft forged iron, and you can re-shape steel knives the same way
I do believe taht hammering and forging are excellent ways to shape a magical tool, and you hammer a lot of your energy into the blade- but i am a kind of shrimpy lady and don't want to hurt my arms with all that pounding!
Lady Raven, there are blacksmiths in the USA- I have met a few at historical reinactments and rendesvous. There is a good website, you can order their catalogue, atlanta cutlery (http://www.atlantacutlery.com/sys-tmpl/door/) and they sell a book called "Making the knife you wear" which your friend might find usefull.
Oskila, What do you use for an athame now?
I have made handles for athames with knapped stone blades, I think they are terific. They seem to remail neutral and grounded forever!
atlanta cutlery (http://www.atlantacutlery.com/sys-tmpl/door/)

[oskila]

I use a brass letter opener when I feel the need, right index finger ( mighty long nails for guitar playing:)) or my ash wand.

[Dragonmother]

two fingers for an Athame... (You want to create a cutting plane, remember) :p

[Wyrdsister]

Hello all! This is a fantastic thread!

First of all, your work is absolutely gorgeous, Dragonmother! It's obvious you have talent and creativity and love for your work! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. :) (P.S. Have you ever auctioned your creations on E-Witch (http://www.e-witch.com/)? I'm sure you'd be a hit! :))

Anyway, I have a question about wood used in wand making (this question is for all, btw). I have a piece of driftwood that I found on a canoe trip about 4 years ago. I immediately thought it would make a good wand! (this would be my first official altar tool, and found waaay before I started identifying myself as Wiccan!)

I've had my doubts about this piece of wood though: I have no idea what kind of wood it is; it is very light weight; and most of all - I'm afraid of ruining it if I try to do anything to decorate it!! Are wands supposed to have a good heft to them? What properties might my wand have that I don't know about because I don't know what kind of wood it is?

I'm sure I shouldn't be so uptight about it 8O, I guess I just want to be absolutely sure before I try to do something to this piece of wood! Have I mentioned my "chicken wiccan" syndrome lately? ;)

Thanks for all of your help!

Wyrdsister

[D~M]

Originally posted by oskila
My athame was (it's broken and buried) a thin edged piece of flintstone with a handle of black oak. I found that rock in denmark when I was 10 and decided to keep it. One day I accidentally stabbed it into a wall and half the blade went into small pieces, so I buried it.

mine's basically the same as that, a piece of flint with a dark coloured silvre birch handle (?!?!?! dunno how that worked out, but n/m). i do :heartthro my athame!

[Dragonmother]

I've had my doubts about this piece of wood though: I have no idea what kind of wood it is; it is very light weight; and most of all - I'm afraid of ruining it if I try to do anything to decorate it!! Are wands supposed to have a good heft to them? What properties might my wand have that I don't know about because I don't know what kind of wood it is?
Well... I doubt that any wood has any negative qualities!
One reason I prefer wood for wands as opposed to metal for instance, is that its structure is of many fibers running along the length. It's kind of... Directional, I suppose. And I like using whole branches for the same reason, I envision the energy being corralled by the heartwood line and blasting its way through!
Another reason I like wood for wands is that it's AVAILABLE to everyone! Most of us can pick up a stick. And us pagans tend to bond to the stick we pick up- like you did!
I have been compiling a list of attributes of different trees- and it's hard to find stuff for North American trees. Some of it I can extrapolate, from similar trees in Europe. But, it's mostly extra. For your primary wand, i would say use your driftwood. It came to you, after all!
If you want to make it wieghtier, you can;
Wrap wire around part of it. You could use many metals; Iron, Copper, Brass, Silver, a combination of them all.
You could add Crystals. You can put a couple of quartz crystals, one on each end. It will feel like the whole thing is satisfyingly heavy.
If you can do your own work, that is best, but there is no shame in gettting help. If there is a good craftsman around who can drill the ends for crystals, for instance, ask him to do that! and I'll be glad to give you any advice on wire-wrapping or anything like that. If you want to, you could send your stick to me for the basic work. I like doing custom the best! ;)

[Vinga]

Originally posted by Dragonmother
I sell them on ebay, and I used to sell on a wonderful Pagan auction site called e-witch that went down for repairs and hasn't come back up again. I miss it, it was so nice.
I noticed the date of your post was June 21 (so you might already know this), and E-witch was back up and running at that time and still is :).
Everyone has had to re-register since they had to switch systems after the old one crashed, but they are definitely back in business.

[Lady Raven]

Dragon Mother~ Thank you! I'll turn him loose on the catalog:) I think he'll like it. ~raven

[Shy Hawk]

My Athame is handmade....and yes I know who made it. My father!
In his tradition (whatever it may be.....:rolleyes: ) it is customary for every man to make a daggar at puberty.
For some reason he passed it to me instead of one of his 4 boys....lol

[Dragonmother]

Send me a picture!
Do you have a scanner? You can just lay it right on the bed and scan a picture of it- it'll come out incredibly dark, but if you email it to me I can clean it up-
Unless, of course you already have those skills- no offence....

Here's one i am working on just now... ISIS tradition.

[Dragonmother]

I am trying to post this one on e-witch, but the new system doesn't seem to work with my mac machine. kind of frustrating... but I can show you guys!

[Shy Hawk]

Those are quite pretty, and I'll try and take a pic as soon as I can....(seems I take a lot of pictures but never get them developed).....I wonder if i can just scan the knife.....lol 8O

[Dragonmother]

Put a piece of fabric over it, and set the PPI to at least 250. The scan will come out dark, usually. You can adjust the levels (make it darker or lighter) in your art program, Photoshop or Kai's Photo Soap, or email it to me and i will gladly try me hand with it. I scan most of my things that way.

[Shy Hawk]

I am gonna try that, just hold on a bit.

[Shy Hawk]

Here is my blade in it's sheath.

[Shy Hawk]

Here it is again...sorry i accidentally scanned the side they welded in this pic....it's still pretty okay though.

[Tarot Collector]

Beautiful work Dragonmother. I particularly like the "Egyptian Artifact" !! Beautifully aged.

-Jesse-

[bloodstone20]

My wand is a maple branch from a tree ouside my window, and I am currently making one of pine.

[Dragonmother]

I thought I had posted a reply to you, Shy Hawk, and I can't believe i didn't... I meant to, really.... Anyway, it's very nice and looks like a Mid-Eastern/ Eastern European style. Hungarian? Turkish? Lebanese? That shape is more common than you'd expect it to be. I just saw a pair of knives that are supposedly Gypsy knives, and they had a similar shape.
More pics, please, everyone!
Wyrdsister, have you done anything with your stick yet? And, BTW, I signed up with e-witch, but have not been able to place an auction successfully yet. Something about the software she's using that doesnt agree with my mac system. DARN!

[Shy Hawk]

It's very common, lol all over Eastern Europe and into Asia and the middle east.
This particular one was made by my cousin and father by hand between 15-20 years ago. It was made in Jordan, and in Jordan this style is still extremely popular.
Though the metals change...sometimes as rich as silver....sometimes with jewels and whatnot, but those are meant for show and meant to look fierce (even wore during holidays and in the presence of royalty, as a testament to their wealth and level in the community), as opposed to knives used solely for protection....and are a little...well, cheaper to make. This would represent the latter case.

[flar7]

Remember when dealing with wood, that sometimes they dont respond well to certain epoxies. For my medicine stick, I simply shaped it and let my hands do the work. But if you want to attach things to the wand, staff, or stick, you might try fastening with wrapped leather, rawhide(can be tricky), cotton or even thread. Using copper on wood can stain the wood(kinda blackish) but that is not necessarily a bad thing. By the way my medicine stick is made out of Cedar.

[Dragonmother]

The original all-purpose material... Rawhide was the primitive duck tape!

[PRINCE_SALO]

I made my first Wand from an old piece of wood I had found. Now I need a new one. I recently read Harry Potter and I think their Wands are so cool. What I want to know is: Can you make Wands like that? What makes a wand a Wand?

[Dragonmother]

YOu know, I have lain awake at night trying to figure out how to make wands like that! LOL The only thing I can imagine would be to cut the thinnest slices of wood- like veneer, only even thinner, if it's possible- and then, probably using Magic, roll the wood around the magical core, like one of those bees-wax candles. You might get a slim, slightly flexible wand. But, you wouldn't see the beautiful grain of the wood any more, because of the way it's been sliced, and just like Plywood, you'd be denying the wood its character.
Don't forget the author was merely spinning a tale, at least at first- another thing she put in that makes me a little nuts is the idea of "Pewter" cauldrons. My kids agreed that they would have to have some kind of a anti-melting spell on it- My daughter wrote a funny scenario about the spell suddenly wearing off and the potion spilling out and burning hole in the table and then through the floor.
Here's a site that does its darndest to re-create the Harry Potter experience. http://www.thewandshop.com/
I think she drills a hole in the end and glues a shred of something into it, for her "magical core" It's a pretty cute site, and her wands are cheaper than mine!
what makes a wand? Intent, wouldn't you say? I can direct my energy with my finger, if I have the concentration for it. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[flar7]

I agree, intent. Desire also plays a role in it.
I feel that I could switch my medicine stick to any other at any time, all that I would need would be the intent and desire or feeling to do so. But I wouldnt actually do it without a really strong feeling. -I like my stick-

[was]

where can i buy an athame or wand?

[mucgwyrt]

where can i buy an athame or wand?

Wands are best cut yourself, as they are a personal item. You should 'ask' the tree for its permission either aloud or in your mind, stating your intended purpose for the wood, and 'feel' its response.
Hazel is a good wood for a general wand - you can identify it by the bright yellow catkins at this time of year :)

[Dragonmother]

where can i buy an athame or wand?
You can come visit my website- http://www.dragonmother.com
:)
I have made friends with some other wandmakers on the net, too- http://www.bardwood.com/
is one, and http://www.autumnspath.com/ is another- she doesn't make her wares, but she has collected some terrific craftsmen together.

[Dragonmother]

Wands are best cut yourself, as they are a personal item. You should 'ask' the tree for its permission either aloud or in your mind, stating your intended purpose for the wood, and 'feel' its response.
Hazel is a good wood for a general wand - you can identify it by the bright yellow catkins at this time of year :)
Where are you living, Macha? Hazel is one of the all-time great wands- but I don't know where it grows here in the mid-west part of the USA :) I have so many requests for it, too.
On my website, I have "instructions" for finding your own wand- written in simple language, for kids.
http://www.dragonmother.com/wandquest.php
What do you think of them?

[mucgwyrt]

Where are you living, Macha? Hazel is one of the all-time great wands- but I don't know where it grows here in the mid-west part of the USA :) I have so many requests for it, too.
On my website, I have "instructions" for finding your own wand- written in simple language, for kids.
http://www.dragonmother.com/wandquest.php
What do you think of them?
I'd heard about the red string before, though in this case I was told to tie red ribbon to the knife or saw if used (even your wrist I guess?).

I'm in England, blessed with all of the 9 sacred trees! Hazel grows in scrubland and hedges; pretty much all unkempt areas. This is the best time of year to look for hazel imo, as it's ~so~ visible with its bright yellow catkins - you can see it from really far away, out of your car window etc. We have a lot of it over here (and I mean a ~lot~). Although I believe in picking your own wand, I'd be happy to send you piece if you'd like, for that or for other magical uses :)

-Me

[mucgwyrt]

PS I think your wands are beautiful :)