Any one know where to get ideas and or plans for a real looking rocking horse. One that is more or less anatomically correct and real looking. I would imagine you would glue bits of solid wood together and carve with that favorite implement, wait for it, ANGLE GRINDER
basilisk
With a Lancelot bit on it, yes. They're _great_ fun if you like danger and adrenaline!
-- You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
Been doing that for days, can't find anything technical enough that does not cost heaps.
No, you need photographs of real horses, and talent as a carver.
The basic process is to stick something together, then to remove all the bits that don't look like a horse. Do it a couple of times and you'll discover if you can or not. Do it ten times, and (if you can), you'll have a horse shape. Unless you're talking about 3D scanning and contour cards for evey slice, I doubt that "plans" will really help by much.
In the meantime, the kid is playing with the box. IMHO, you can over- worry rocking horse shape and reality far too much. A stylised "fairground" style is much easier to achieve and works just as well. Getting the ironwork geometry for the rocking action right seems to make much more difference. Something with a mane that can be groomed and real leather tack that comes on and off extends its playable lifetime by a few years.
Arbortech (angle grinder!) and Microplanes are handy tools.
Please, no offense intended.
Have you attempted to build a more basic rocking horse, before you launch into a carousel project? You can learn quite a bit by tackling one of those before you start investing in gluing bits of expensive hardwood together and attacking with an angle grinder.
Actually, the angle grinder is probably one of the tools of choice. Years ago, before HGTV sold out to real-estate programs, they carried a program called Modern Masters. The program featured several craftsmen in the class of Sam Maloof and others. One of them was a retired Navy officer who was making a name for himself by building beautiful, sculptured rocking horses. One of his main shaping tools was an angle grinder with which he used a variety of rasping tools and coarse grinding and sandpaper heads. He used to have a web site, but I cannot find it now. This one gives you an idea of the work:
I have built five sturdy hardwood horses over the past 5-6 years and the drum is an invaluable tool. I also use an oscillating spindle sander to shape parts that are added such as saddles, tails, etc. My pattern is adapted from about three commercially available patterns and quite a bit of my own design. Two have gone to grandkids, one was sold at cost ($200+) to a friend and two were donated to our church as fund raisers. All use 3-4 different, contrasting hardwoods and some inlay work. I have seen similar horses on the web or at woodworking shows in the $450-700 range. They take 70-80 man-hours to get to the finishing stage. Once we finish 'finishing' our home I want to crank interest back up and perhaps look at building horses that are more challenging. I am proud of my rockers, but they are child's-play compared to carousels.
My point from all of this rambling is, start with a more basic plan before you jump off of a frustrating and expensive cliff. You will learn. Even after five comparatively simple horses, details still haunt me. The seemingly simple act of matching feet to a rocker base is not mastered yet. Each one of my rockers is made up of five laminated pieces of hardwood (10 for two rockers). Planning the cutting and lamination of the pieces will save $ in waste; and matching grain patters adds beauty. Saddles are fun. What you will learn, even from simpler projects, is there is a lot of geometry involved in getting horses to fit together, and getting them on their feet.
So there. Enough blabbing. Good luck!
RonB
like this perhaps?
When you find the plan you like best, using an angle grinder is great There was a mob in OZ who sold an angle grinder cutting disc, but they closed down years ago, Maybe Carbatec?
Ah - I've got one of those wood-shaping discs, too. Great, aren't they?
real looking rocking
real looking.
together and carve
GRINDER
Thanks to all, some helpful ideas.
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