Well...I don't have the actual beginning to end photo's on this the final product, but I have some from the failed pen that morphed into this one. The process isn't too difficult, I just had to make a few changes for what I wanted. First pic is basically the one that I forgot about the mortise for the cap, and the width of the blanket was too wide for it to be a full blanket. I also wanted the color pattern slightly changed anyhow. It takes some thought as far as calculating your size and you don't want to forget about the dimensions needed for your pen which I sort of did. You want the width of the blanket to not exceed about 1/8 the width of the tube size you use. Less is better.
Your blank needs to be extra long..each of these triangle type segments is 1/2 of your blanket. I removed the white trianle in the center and replaced it with a brown one. I also had to make the triangle center piece come to a complete point to shrink the length. I added a second white line. The lines are 1/8 wide and the blank itself is about 1 1/2 wide. It's way wider than need, for safety sake at the table saw. You can make your blank the same way as you see here too if you want the effect of the blanket up top, which is fine too. Glue it all together, I use epoxy and lots of clamps. Picture quality blows, but you get the idea!
Next up, rip the blank into 1/32 wide strips using a thin kerf blade. I use a thin kerf circular saw freud blade that only costs about $20 at the hardware store, mounts fine in the table saw. Use a board about 3" wide, tack a strip onto the bottom edge of the board that sticks out the side...that becomes your push stick. Tape the blank to your jig and cut the 1/32 wide strip, then repeat..never needing to move the fence and never needing be close to the blade. Keep all the strips in order. When done, take all the strips and flip them over one at a time.. Tape the bundle together and cut the bundle in half. Take the two halves and put them together for your full blanket. I think if I remember I only cut 4 strips, which then becomes 8 strips. The bundle is maybe a bit of 1/4 wide. Cut two solid strips of wood at 1/4 wide to become the outside of the blanket. Glue it all together. It takes a bit of thought, keeping it all in line while gluing, but you can do it!
Remember..this is a half blanket from my experiment, not the full blanket I'm trying to explain and what my actual pen looks like. The concept isn't difficult, but making the pen isn't that easy!
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