Something Historical

January 14, 2026

The last project of 2025 was to make a medal for the student television event in January. And this year the theme was “Something Historical”.

As the medal needed to match the theme, I went for a rustic design made from wood. And looking through my scrap pile the oldest piece I could find was a fence post that I’d dug up earlier in the year. I sawed a slice off one side so the grain was parallel to the face of the medal.

The resulting square was turned into an octagon by sawing off the corners and then rounded into a circle using a rasp. I didn’t want to make it too perfect to keep with the rustic style.

Block is now a wooden disk, resting on a bench hook

I roughly pencilled the design onto the medal, taking care with the spacing of the letters. In previous years I found that I can start too large and end up squashing the last couple of letters.

The carving was done using a handheld rotary tool with a ball shaped bit. In some places it got a bit smoky but I think that added to the effect. I also drilled and deburred a hole to allow it to be suspended. I also roughed up the back a bit to make it look hand carved.

For finishing the medal was lightly sanded and all the edges rounded over. The whole medal was then coated in a wax stain and polished. The finishing touch was a leather cord.

A carved wooden medal with the words PSTOIC and the year 2026

The meetup was in Covent Garden with a few new faces who had travelled in from Norway and Bournemouth. And we had lots of chats about shed, electronics and telecommunications. The “Something Historical” competition entries were varied with old coins, medals, early mobile phones, watches and recording media.

My own entry was some old Radio Spares components still in their original packaging which I’m guessing date to around 1970 as the company name changed to RS Components in 1971.