Video HERE
Apologies for the alliteration... some things just happen...
Ok, part of the reason why the Dragon Shed includes woodworking projects is because I really enjoyed it when I was at school... not that I was actually any good at it (not that I've actually gotten any better in the meantime) but a number of the projects I made in my teens are still rolling around in my head. If I can find my original crocodile I will add a few pictures here...
[OK, so I haven't found it yet. It's in the loft somewhere, probably next to the complete fail of a final project that actually got me an A - nothing better than failure to encourage self-reflection, a philosophy that has come in handy ;)]
From memory, the original project was based on a 45cm/18" long piece of strip wood. I'm using 2.5cm/1" square, but whatever you have will work [as long as you have around 16-18x the width of your wood] - adjust the plan to fit as you like. If you are a very confident scroll-saw user then there is no reason why you can't cut the pieces as one, rather than individual pieces... I'm not, and this method recalls the struggles I had with tenon saw, coping saw and - eventually - bandsaw in the school workshop. If I had a solid table vice in the Shed there is a high probability that I would have made this entirely with hand tools... OK, probably not THAT high.
If you don't have children then this project could be adapted into a trivet or pot-rest instead... maybe, unless you don't cook either, then it makes a really nice fidget toy for the office.
[Plan]
- Crocodile - Long Body, Legs, 2 Short Pieces*, Tail and the Head is in 2 pieces**.
- Snake - Head, Tail and as many Pieces as you have wood for.
**I could have glued the pieces together and then made the cuts, but I am not keen on (that is confident with) cutting thick blocks on the scroll saw so I decided to cut the halves separately then glue them together - remember to cut the top pattern on the opposite side on one piece so that your head pieces are mirrors of each other.
- Stick your templates to the wood - be careful to line up the fold with the edge of the wood to keep the joints even. Wrap the wood with packing tape/sellotape.*
- Unlike me, you will use an awl or nail to make pilot holes for drilling BEFORE you move on.
- Load your scroll saw with an appropriate blade (when I work out what this is I will have no more 'learning experiences') and cut out the pieces. The compound cuts around the head and tail can be a bit loose, but the jointed pieces need to be as close to the line as possible to save on sanding later.
- Fit a sanding strip to your scroll saw - if you have some and you haven't snapped all the nubbins off previously - and sand on all sides, rounding over sharp edges and adding contours to the head and tail.
- Fit together the pieces of your snake/croc and drill a hole 3/4 of the way through** [You'll find it easier to number the pieces as you drill them] and pin together temporarily.
- Flex each joint and mark wherever the wood jambs, then return to the sander and shape until the pieces move as smoothly as you want.***
- Rub all over with white spirit to remove any sawdust then leave to dry.
- Rub down with 180 grit sandpaper then decorate however you like. [Not essential, but I also added a bit of wax to the joints, even though they weren't that tight] I went for a simple Pyrography stamp pattern and a wash of acrylic paint with a little metallic gold and bronze rubbed in. I also added red diamante eyes on the croc and pearls for the snake.
- Add a finish if you want, obviously nothing too nasty if you're making it for a child.
**So that whatever you use as a pivot will not be visible... also it's a good idea to make sure the hole is big enough for whatever dowel/pin you intend to use.
***I chose to keep the croc quite limited, then give the snake loose joints in one direction and tighter ones in the other, just because I like to have some variation.
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