Artist Palette

Shelley has taken up oil painting. She is having a great time.

I decided to make her a paint palette. I could easily have bought one, or many, at very little cost, but I have lots of offcuts of 5mm plywood from The Shed build so it has made a fun small project to do in the new workshop.

I designed the shape in QCAD to help find a suitable position and size for the thumb hole. I did a bit of research to understand the traditional evolved shape. There is a nose which helps to hold brushes and the corners are curved to be comfortable with your body and, I have assumed, to avoid poking the canvas with a bit that sticks out. From that, I created a paper template.

I cut a stack of three at the same time. The plan was to try to stop the ply splitting, but, as it happened, the blade I used in the jigsaw made a fairly clean cut.

I did the detail shaping with a Dremel rotary tool fitted with a small sanding tube. The outside edges I was able to do on my disc sander. I removed a little extra material in a few places, like the thumb hole, to make it more comfortable.

I've sealed them with Linseed oil. It's the same type of oil used to mix with the paints, so I know it's going to do the job.

That's it, Shelley can try one and if she wants any changes I can tweak them as required.

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