Project by clarklacy | posted 08-02-2017 01:21 PM | 1005 views | 0 times favorited | 4 comments | ![]() |
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First project and post on Lumberjocks!
This is a rocking horse I built. several firsts on this one.
1. using rough lumber
2. CURVES!!! bent laminated rockers.
3. Compound angles…. see “Legs” below
4. Dovetail/tenon joints
Construction:
The whole thing is made out of Hard Maple with Walnut accents. The head and tail are attached to the body with a single large dovetail.
Rockers:
This was my first time bending wood. I spent some time debating lamination vs steam bending. In the end I chose bent lamination. Mostly because it meant I didn’t have to come up with a steaming rig. Also I saw some posts that maple, let alone, kiln dried maple is a bad choice for steam bending. The Rails are made up of 5 pieces, just a hair under .25” thick. The lamination’s came out great, no gaps, no noticeable spring-back. and both pieces match each other perfectly.
Legs:
The compound angles for the legs gave me one hell of a time. My first design was going to have the legs screwed into the body piece, and into a stretcher connected to the rockers. But noooo. that was too easy and I just had to be fancy. So I probably spent a day just thinking about the angles before I realized the legs cant be square, but have to be parallelograms! That fixed some of the issues. I ended up being a bit off, so when I went to mount the rockers I had to scribe, and square up the lap joint.
Finish:
100% Pure Tung oil. first coat 1:2 Oil to mineral spirits. Final coat 2:1. Wet sanded to 800 grit.
4 comments so far
XrayJay
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272 posts in 2994 days
#1 posted 08-02-2017 04:41 PM
From afar it looks like a simple horse, but get up close you have some impressive looking woodworking in a small package. The wood and finishing are beautiful, but the angles and joinery are amazing! Great job.
-- Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might,... because there is no work in the grave...Ecclesiastes 9:10
helluvawreck
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32122 posts in 3881 days
#2 posted 08-02-2017 06:30 PM
This is a very nice rocking horse and the kids will love it.
helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
-- helluvawreck aka Charles, http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
ralbuck
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6689 posts in 3281 days
#3 posted 08-02-2017 08:20 PM
Summed it up very well.
Making rocking horses is a special joy!
-- Wood rescue is good for the environment and me! just rjR
htl
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5360 posts in 2174 days
#4 posted 08-02-2017 11:47 PM
All Of the above!!!!!
So nice!!!
ralbuck says it just right.
Making rocking horses is a special joy!
-- An Index Of My Model making Blogs https://www.lumberjocks.com/htl/blog/130264
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