BEWARE, YE WHO VENTURE HERE. SPOILERS ABOUND!

Many of our customers prefer to maintain their sense of mystery and magic. This page exists to ensure we also serve the needs of those who wish to know exactly what goes into our cores and wands. If you wish to pierce the veil and and see how the magic is made, scroll down and read on. To maintain the mystery, return home.

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Materials

Our wands are made using only the highest-quality materials, selected for aesthetics, strength, and safety. The core enclosure chamber at the heart of each wand is made from solid machined brass. We use a lead-free alloy commonly referred to as naval brass (alloy C464), containing copper, zinc, and a very small amount of tin. Most brass alloys used in consumer products, including plumbing fixtures, contain lead in order to make them easier to machine; we believe the use of lead in products meant to be handled is absolutely unacceptable. C464 is a little more difficult to machine and wears out tooling a little faster, but it is strong, highly resistant to corrosion, and far safer than many brass alloys.

The wand production process

Each wand is produced on a lathe by a skilled woodworker, to order. We do not stock wands; when you place an order, a wand is produced to your specifications. We start with a length of solid wood of the type chosen by the customer, selected for aesthetically pleasing grain; poor-quality woods are discarded. The work piece is first mounted to the lathe, and the cap is cut from the main body of the wand. Next, the piece is worked into a cylinder, and the final shape slowly begins to emerge. When the wand is fully shaped, the base of the wand is carefully drilled to the precise diameter and depth of the brass core enclosure body, which is then seated and secured in place with an industrial epoxy. Next, the core enclosure cap is turned on to the enclosure body, and the wooden cap is shaped, drilled, seated over the wand enclosure cap, indexed to ensure it matches the grain lines of the wand body when the cap is turned all the way to secure the core inside the wand. Finally, the fully assembled wand is finished and polished. We never insert your magical core at the shop – it is up to you to activate your wand upon delivery. While some parts of the production process may be automated in the future, assembly and finishing will always be done by hand.

How our cores are made

Each of our cores begins with a custom-made borosilicate glass vial. Our vials are manufactured in the USA, using a lead-free glass that is highly resistant to thermal stress. Borosilicate is most commonly used in laboratory glassware and heat-resistant kitchenware, such as glass pans and measuring cups. Please note that regardless of the quality of the materials, our vials are still made of glass, and will break if abused.

What are the cores really made from?

Unicorn Hair

Our unicorn hair is in fact genuine horse hair, imported from Taiwan and hand-braided in the USA. Per our supplier, the horse hair is harvested humanely, and is not the byproduct of slaughter. As such, supplies of specific colors are limited, and we may sometimes run out of unicorn hair cores.

Dragon’s Blood

Dragon’s Blood is a resin harvested from any of a number of plants; it has been used as dye, incense, and even medicine. Our liquid dragon’s blood has been dissolved in acetone and is not safe for human consumption. We use Dragon’s Blood resin harvested from plants of the species dracaena or daemonorops, and depending on market availability, our resin may be imported from any one of a number of countries in South America, Asia, or Africa.

Congealed Dragon’s Blood

This is the same natural plant resin, in a solid form. Our Dragon’s Blood is not sold medicinally, and we do not warrant it as fit for any particular purpose. Our vials are sealed. Please do not open vials or attempt to consume the contents. If you are interested in Dragon’s Blood medicinally, please consult your family doctor.

Fairy Dust

Our fairy dust cores are made by suspending ground lepidolite (a silicate mineral in the mica family) in mineral oil, creating something of a snow globe effect; these cores look best when rotated or gently shaken to agitate the mineral flakes.

Dragon Heartstring

Our dragon heartstrings are produced by growing borax crystals on thin strands of leather. Borax is primarily used as a detergent. As with all of our cores, the vial is sealed and the contents are not fit for human consumption. In general, please do not eat borax.

Phoenix Feather

Our phoenix feathers are dyed badger hackle feathers. Full feathers are 4-6 inches, or about 10-15cm long. As our wand core vials are about 3 inches, or 7.5cm, tall, feathers for wand cores are neatly trimmed. Our 6″/150mm display vials contain a single full feather.

Metallic Cores

We offer cores made from sterling silver and 14K gold. Each core is made from a hollow tube, soldered or welded closed at each end, and CNC-engraved with a collection of Anglo-Saxon runes and other decorations. As these are made using a combination of CNC machining and manual labor, production is very expensive. We use hollow tubes to reduce material costs. The total volume of the core is about 4 cubic centimeters, which would require 51.6 grams of 14K gold using the alloy our supplier offers – about one troy ounce of pure gold, valued at the time of writing at about 1200 USD. By using hollow construction, we’re able to reduce material costs by more than half. If your heart is set on a solid precious metal core, fill out a quote request form, and we’ll see what we can do!