LAMP

CALLED WANDA

Add another useful pet to your household with this clever basket of a fish.

The tongue-twisting term biolumines-cence translates to the production of light by living organisms. Biolumi-nescent fish light up to lure prey, defend themselves and attract other fish. The majority of such fish are found in the deepest regions of the ocean in a realm of perpetual darkness. Wanda (genus Happy woodfishium), the glowing subject of this article, was unexpectedly hatched in broad daylight at an altitude of 837 feet above sea level in the rolling hills of Delaware, Ohio. Talk about a fish out of water. Although relieved from the day-to-day lantern fish responsibilities of luring, defending and attracting, she stands ready to provide just the right touch of mood lighting for the author and his family.

Backbone

As with any good vertebrate, a backbone is the key to a successful Wanda. The pine backbone is the same shape as the first rib as shown in the drawing. All the drawings are half-scale. Enlarge them 200 percent to make them full size. Because I didn't have stock wide enough to create the required 9" x 12" oval, I cut two 4¹/2" x 12" C-shapes from ¹/2" clear pine and glued them together with joints at the head and tail. Don't sweat less-

than-perfect joints. The fins, head and tail will cover them.

Ribs

Apply two body patterns to ^1/4" Finnish birch (Baltic birch or Appleply will also work) plywood. A 12" x 36" sheet will fill the bill. Drill all the ³/16" dowel holes. With a scroll saw, play connect-the-dots and cut out the ribs and the outer oval. Nest the ribs and oval, keeping the original face-grain orientation. Apply small tabs of electrical tape to the front tops to keep it all sorted out. Glue the largest of the basket-like shapes to the backbone.

Dowels

Cut 96 (that's right, 96) ³/4" lengths of ³/16" dowel. Since it is important that the ends of the dowels are square, I used a micro miter box with a stop clamped in place.

Body Half Assembly

On each rib, glue the dowels in the inner notches. Make sure they are plumb and flush with the bottom of the strip. Slide a small rib down over the dowels on a larger rib until the top ¹/4" of the dowels is exposed. With a small brush, apply glue to the inside of the exposed dowels. Now pull the small rib up until it is flush with the top of the

by John W. Hutchinson

After nearly exhausting the realm of land animals to depict in his wooden creations, John has turned to the sea for inspiration. A Lamp Called Wanda will soon be followed by a wind-driven exercise in octopus behavior. We'll give you a little shore leave to rest up for that one.

Pillar coral

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