About 1-1/2 years ago I was blessed with a granddaughter, Remi Isabella. This girl has brought such joy to my life. If you are a grandparent then you know exactly what I mean.
My wife baby sits her during the day, so generally I get to see her when I get home from work. And let me tell you, she is like magic, melting away the stresses and negativity of the day.
I had made a rocking horse for my nephew about ten years ago and knew that I would be making one for little Remi as well. (Photo credit; Chrystal Photography)
I decided that I would make the horse this year for Christmas. I had a feeling she would be old enough to enjoy it.
Deciding to make the horse out of oak, I placed a order through a local sawmill. Generally, I will get my lumber planed to save time and wear on my equipment. All material was either 6/4 or 3/4 thick.
The rockers are made out of two pieces of 6/4 stock and rabbited and glued together. I had a plywood template made for each half of the rocker for the previous horse but, I decided to make a mdf template of the whole rocker this time around.
After cutting the rockers a little larger than the line on the band saw, I drilled holes through the dadoed section of the rockers and glued 1/2 inch dowels through both sections.
Next I used my Porter Cable router with a pattern bit to trim the rockers nice and flush. 6/4 stretchers were used to connect the rockers. This is also where the horse will be connected to the rocker assembly. Then 3/4 inch boards were used for the mounting/dismounting platform.
The customer stopped in for a little quality control at this point. Fortunately she did not realize what she was looking at. 😊
The base had a nice smooth rocking action. Everything was looking good at this point. In part two I will be working on the body glue up.
LaurieSue says
Love to see the step-by-step process!
Nick Schweinsburg says
Well I can tell you she definitely loves it!