Rocking Horse Documentary

[Roy Wall]

Louis,

Looking VERY GOOD my man....this is fun to watch! Well Done!

You bench looks terrific....I remember you starting the thread when you built it.....but never saw the finished product until now. I bet you are well pleased! How thick did you make the top? Would you change anything about the bench?

Keep up the terrific work!!

[Mike Armstrong]

Lookin' good, Louis!

So, do you have photos or sketches to look at as you work? Frontal view, profile, etc.? Do you transfer any measurements from them to your work?

In the case of the Indian I'm doing, I have a front view photo of him, but only a generic Indian profile. My carving instructor says that in trying to do a particular person, I should transfer measurements from the photo to the carving to get an accurate carving. Otherwise, the final result may very well not look like the real person.

I guess after you've done a few horses [or Indians], you get feel for that particular look and can carve it without having to rely as much on a photo or model, right?

Looking forward to more in progress photos.

Mike

[Howie French]

Louis,

this is really looking great, your work is very impressive !
I can't wait to see the head blend into the body.

Keep up the great work !



Howie

[Louis Bois]

Thank you all for the comments...

Roy - the bench is "almost" finished. I still haven't glued down the top caps on the tail vise, or put a "finish" on the whole bench. Right now, it's "au-naturel" as they say. I'm not putting glue anywhere near it! I was well on my way to finishing up the tail vise when I noticed how much time I had left to finish my son's horse. So I stopped. I'll probably finish it over the holidays. As to the top? It's 2 1/2" thick. So far I'm pleased with the bench's versatility. One thing I will be adding is a "sliding deadman" on the front. I'm not a big fan of having extra little stands to hold long lumber. I'd rather have it as part of the bench.

Mike - I'm basically just looking at images in the book I'm using, as well as using the internet as a model resource. I downloaded a bunch of pics and simply apply the features that I like. It does get easier as you carve more of the same subject. The first one was pretty hairy! I also have templates that I made when rough cutting the shapes - I made a few sketches on them to get a feel for the locations of various parts of the face, such as the eyes, ear positions and nose. I refer to these often to make sure I'm on the right track. The rest just comes from slowly working both sides and trying to keep some symmetry.

Howie - hang in there...I need to get the wood for those legs first!!! If my initial source falls through, I'll have to drive a few hours to pick it up myself...hopefully this weekend!

[Pam Niedermayer]

Pam, what happenend to your reply? I was just about to answer it and found it to be deleted...

No worries and I didn't take it personally. In fact, many of those stereotypes still exist today! Thanks for the post.

Louis

Oh, I didn't intend to kill the thread, so I deleted it, decided to chalk it up to a bad day. Not that I didn't mean what I said, but that it didn't need to be said here.

Pam

[Louis Bois]

Well, I'm back in the saddle...so to speak.

My wood source came through (thanks Exotic Woods in Burlington) and I was able to forge along with the legs.

At this point, I'd like to thank my mom...for she bought me my bandsaw many moons ago. My wife and I had just bought a house and were short on funds...and my mom bought me the best Craftsman bandsaw at the time. It's been a real timesaver...especially with projects such as these legs! I used a coping saw for the first horse I made...something I'm not eager to repeat unless it's absolutely necessary. So in honour of my mom, I nicknamed my bandsaw "La Toune" which is a short, affectionate form (in French) for my mom's middle name, Antoinette. THANKS MOM.

Now we move along. The next step is to shape the legs to near completion before attaching them to the main body. It's easier to manipulate them at this stage, much as the horse head was before attaching it to the body. I'm hoping to have enough time to finish the rough carving this weekend...though I'm having trouble shaking this bloody cold!!!

Cheers.

[Louis Bois]

This day yielded a little more time but I'm finding time constraints are starting to be a bear!!!

I rough-shaped the legs with various rasps.

The next step will be to cut the notches in the bottom body block (slab) to receive the legs. These notches have to be cut with included angles to get the legs to splay correctly. The rear ones are relatively straightforward...but the front notches are a bit of a compound affair. There's no rocket science here, it just all seems to work out. The plans in the book illustrate this fairly well and the text reinforces the geometry involved. It pays to be careful here...as it's fairly easy to get wrong. Everything must be marked carefully so that the legs splay out...not IN!!!

Tomorrow, I'll hopefully be able to get the legs attached to the body...and possibly finish gluing the head and neck muscle blocks to the upper body block.

Right now, things look like an abattoir! Legs here...head there...kinda messy. Let's see what Frankenbois can do!

Goodnight.

ps...here ya go Roy...an end vise without the top caps istalled...guts to the air for all to see!

[Louis Bois]

This cold is getting the better of me...didn't make much progress with getting the whole body together.

I did get the lower body block milled to spec. and those pesky compound cuts for the front and rear legs. It's pretty thick material to be doing fancy joinery, especially when all the joints will get rounded over once the parts are glued together. The only crucial part is to make sure the joints are nice and flat to get the best glue bond.

The following photos show the legs screwed to the lower body block as I check for the correct splay before gluing them together and adding the leg muscle blocks.

Once these are glued together, the top of the lower body block gets planed flat to receive the rest of the main body blocks.

It may be a few days before I post more...need sleep.

Adieu.

[Roy Wall]

Louis,

Things are er...er..shaping up nicely!! Looks good!

On the topcap....you could put a series of dowel pins protruding from the lower section in perfect register with MULTIPLE TOP CAPS! You know, different woods and colors for the four seasons, holidays, Democrats or Republican Elections...etc..... You know....a little change of pace when you see fit!!

Some of my ideas are off color.....best not to post........

[Louis Bois]

Thanks Roy...and I like the idea of multiple top caps, but perhaps just a different coloured flag in the bride?!?...and I still don't understand American politics. Go Florida...or is it Ohio?

Another sick day...this thing's been going on longer than most. Must be a good strain!

Managed to glue some stuff up tonight...as the pics will attest.

Now back to bed.

[Pam Niedermayer]

Still great stuff, Louis; but what a load of wood they require. Do you have an estimate of the materials costs? Different woods for different parts?

Pam

[Louis Bois]

Pam,

Here's the basic material breakdown...

Main body minus the legs - Basswood - about 200 CAN

Legs - Hard Maple - 70 CAN

Stand - Black Walnut (this is what I'm using) - 150 CAN

Just under 500 bucks for the wood. The big expense lies in the accessory kit! That's about 400 bucks and comes with all the hardware, leatherware and real horse hair main and tail. Much of the cost can be cut down if you make your own saddle, etc... I won't have the time to do it myself this time around...so I'll have to bite the bullet on this one.

Now you can appreciate why these things sell for 3 to 4 thousand dollars!!!

Cheers.

[Pam Niedermayer]

I've never priced a new horse, but based on what you're doing, I'd say $3-4,000 is cheap. And basswood is not all that easy to come by these days, especially in big chunks. Just for kicks I checked out the completed auctions on ebay. There are only a couple or three that appear to be of your quality, and they are antiques.

Thanks,
Pam

[Louis Bois]

DAGNABBIT Pam!!!! You mean I could've just bought one?!?

[Pam Niedermayer]

Nah, they look kind of scruffy.

Pam