Rocking horse plans?!

[mouldysandwich]

Hi there, not sure if anybody can help me.
I'm wanting to make a laminated rocking horse. I've considered purchasing the pre-cut plywood to make the Large Rocky from rockinghorseshop but I'd prefer to cut my costs and cut the plywood myself. Does anybody have any plans for the large rocky horse and the large stand to go with it? I don't want to pay ridiculous prices for the cut timber as it's an expensive enough project as is!
Many thanks
Becky

 

[Kalimna]

Why dont you buy the plans from Rockinghorseshop?

Adam

 

[mouldysandwich]

Why dont you buy the plans from Rockinghorseshop?

Adam

Would this give me exact dimensions of the pieces that I have to cut? I thought the whole point of it was to explain to you how to use their pre-cut pieces to make the finished piece. Sorry for the misunderstanding, I don't think it's clear on their website that the plans are in the step by step guide.
If you're certain that they are then I have no problem buying them from the website!

 

[NazNomad]

https://www.rockinghorse.co.uk/shop/pro ... n-140.html

PLAN CONTAINS.

Actual size drawings (no scaling necessary)

Step by step instructions

Cutting lists

Colour Pictures

 

[lurker]

Have you costed the ply wood?

You are aware there are different grades?

 

[mouldysandwich]

Have you costed the ply wood?

You are aware there are different grades?

Thank you for this info.
My dad is a builder so I have spoken to him about it and he is aware of the type and grade of wood that we must use for this project, thank you!

 

[Glynne]

No offence whatsoever to your Dad, but until I went on Peter Sefton's routing course (ply used to make jigs) I realised I didn't really know about the various grades of plywood. Even then, I bought some BB ply which is absolute rubbish.
You will be looking at top grade birch ply, so £65+ a sheet.
I actually bought some plans from the Rocking Horse shop and then realised if I built one, it would have to stay at our house - so I sold them, on this forum.
Don't forget the accessories, bridal, saddle, stirrups etc. A fantastic project to undertake, but not a cheap one.
If you go ahead, please post some WIP pictures so I can see what I am missing.

 

[mouldysandwich]

No offence whatsoever to your Dad, but until I went on Peter Sefton's routing course (ply used to make jigs) I realised I didn't really know about the various grades of plywood. Even then, I bought some BB ply which is absolute rubbish.
You will be looking at top grade birch ply, so £65+ a sheet.
I actually bought some plans from the Rocking Horse shop and then realised if I built one, it would have to stay at our house - so I sold them, on this forum.
Don't forget the accessories, bridal, saddle, stirrups etc. A fantastic project to undertake, but not a cheap one.
If you go ahead, please post some WIP pictures so I can see what I am missing.

Will try my best to see what I can produce! I'd like mine to look more like a carousel horse actually so may eventually add a pole and potentially paint the horse but I haven't decided yet. I wouldn't want to take away from all of the effort I will potentially put into the project in the first place, but will definitely post photos if I go ahead with it!

 

[dickm]

Depending where you are in Oxfordshire, you might find a guy near Milton Keynes could be helpful. Name is Bob Wellings, if I remember right, and he was a near neighbour, between the villages of Chichley and Astwood, in Bucks. He makes superb horses, and occasionally has accessories that aren't quite up to standard, but fine for non-perfectionists like me!
Well worth getting good ply, though. Saves an awful lot of time filling unexpected voids. DAMHIKT.

 

[graduate_owner]

There's a nice book by Anthony Dew called Making Rocking Horses. I managed to get a copy off fleabay for about £4. He suggests using jelutong but I was thinking of using pine. There are 3 plans in the book, one basic and two fully carved. Could be a good starting point for you. There's a copy on fleabay now for under £3 buy it now with free postage.

K

 

[mouldysandwich]

*Small update!*
I've now ordered the plans for the Large Rocky!
I'll be buying some plywood soon, but still have a couple of questions.
A blog post that I saw used an Arbortech Wood Carver to carve the eventual shape of the rocking horse. From what I can find, these are pretty expensive! Anybody got any other ideas of something cheaper but as effective? I don't necessarily want to buy something if I'm only going to use it for this one project and waste £50!
Will start posting progress pictures when I get everything up and running!
Becky

 

[marcros]

the book is very useful- i also have a copy. if the ebay one has gone, I will sell mine for the same £3 including postage. It contains a lot of information on the "how" of making the horse.

You could just use a big carving gouge and hog out the waste with that. It will be slower, but I imagine that you will still make good progress. Ply might be an issue with that approach though.

I would be tempted to use solid timber of some form. friendlier for carving and cheaper. i never got around to starting mine, but i had priced up lime as an option.

 

[mouldysandwich]

the book is very useful- i also have a copy. if the ebay one has gone, I will sell mine for the same £3 including postage. It contains a lot of information on the "how" of making the horse.

You could just use a big carving gouge and hog out the waste with that. It will be slower, but I imagine that you will still make good progress. Ply might be an issue with that approach though.

I would be tempted to use solid timber of some form. friendlier for carving and cheaper. i never got around to starting mine, but i had priced up lime as an option.

I might leave the book for now as the plans do have quite good information in for making the horse.
The website does suggest using plywood and I feel ill be able to get a nicer colour, I think I might paint it white or do a white wash so that you can still see the laminated design!
Which tool do you think would be best for shaping the horse? Or which is more fool proof. I've never done this before and whilst my dad is a builder, he's no carpenter so this will be a real test for us both.
Many thanks

 

[graduate_owner]

You could try power carving using a chainsaw blade on an angle grinder - arbortech make them in several types. That would take the bulk out. I would practise on scrap first, with plenty on personal protection. Then I suppose it is down to gouges and perhaps a narrow arm belt sander. I haven't tried it though, but I would really like to give it a go.


K

 

[bugbear]

the book is very useful- i also have a copy. if the ebay one has gone, I will sell mine for the same £3 including postage. It contains a lot of information on the "how" of making the horse.

You could just use a big carving gouge and hog out the waste with that. It will be slower, but I imagine that you will still make good progress. Ply might be an issue with that approach though.

I would be tempted to use solid timber of some form. friendlier for carving and cheaper. i never got around to starting mine, but i had priced up lime as an option.

I might leave the book for now as the plans do have quite good information in for making the horse.

£3 - what's to lose?

BugBear

 

[graduate_owner]

I agree, for £3 you would get some nice ideas to supplement your plans.

K

 

[Kalimna]

For carving a Hal Taylor rocking chair, I bought a King Arthur Tools Holey Galahad. A bit of a mouthful, but it is rather like a curved-disk rotary burr for an angle grinder, the trick being that it has holes in it to allow you to see exactly where you are grinding away. They come in a variety of grits, and would be perfect for carving a horse. Not the cheapest, but good tools frequently aren't. Here's a link :
https://www.classichandtools.com/acatal ... Discs.html

Good luck,
Adam

 

[dickm]

Started to use an Arbortech on the horse that I did some years ago, but have to admit it scared the shh... you-know-what out of me. Settled for a cheapo B&D Powerfile, which was much more controllable and gave a nearly useable finish. For those who don't know it, the Powerfile is a hand held, narrow belt sander. I think there are others out there, but don't know names.

 

[munkypuzel]

Hi,

I bought these plans 7 years ago and made a medium rocky. I purchased my Birch Ply from B and Q and it turned out to be a nice piece of material.

Roughing this out with a Jig saw only took an hour, you will need lots of clamps to glue it up.

I bought the Arbortech blade for my 4" grinder which was quite scary, but superb at carving. Didn't snag at all and made carving the less detailed parts quite easy. I also bought some drum sanders for the cordless drill - very useful.

As mentioned by DickM. I would HIGHLY recommend the Black and Decker powerfile - it was without doubt the best tool i purchased for this project and really helped with the detail and the harder to sand areas. (under the legs). I think they look a bit naff, but has come in handy over the years.

 

[munkypuzel]

Just come across another photo!